Blogs from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, North America - page 13

I'm a little late getting this entry in, but we we out late last night. We left St. Louis at about 9:00 in the morning and headed to Memphis. On the way, we stopped for lunch at Lambert's in Sikeston, MO. It was a pretty cool place, the portions were huge, and this is the place where they walk around with side dishes and serve them family style. They also throw the rolls to anyone who wants one. Then we headed in to Memphis to our hotel. After getting a little rest, we headed out to dinner with Rhonda's brother Rick. He took us to a place called Rafferty's. Al and I both had the catfish, Rhonda had some pasta, and Denise had a chicken breast. The food was really good there too. Then we headed ... read more

November 8, 2009 “Before Elvis, there was nothing” … John Lennon. Today we went to Graceland and speaking as one who didn’t really know what to expect, it was just wonderful. Bill dropped Donna and I off…he and John had no desire, and we went on the tour. Of course the entire area is built up with souvenir shops, restaurants, souvenir shops, museums, souvenir shops….One wonders what the area was like when Elvis bought the place in the 60s. Graceland itself is somewhat modest as far as estates go although the house sits on some lovely acreage with stables and corals for the horses that are still kept there. Touring the inside of the house was like stepping back into the 60’s and 70’s as everything has been left exactly how it was in 1977. Elvis’ ... read more

Mark posting: As Liz mentioned we had an exhausting day of packing on Thursday and we followed that up with a marathon day of driving beginning very early on Friday. More than seventeen hours after leaving DC we arrived in Memphis, TN safely and with all our belongings in tow. We found our hotel, the Holiday Inn Select, with only a minor hiccup - that being when the Garmin proudly announced we had arrived at our destination in the parking lot of an Olive Garden. I could give the little lady (it's a female voice on the Garmin and I call her Alice) the benefit of the doubt but she's steered me wrong on prior trips and distrust lingers. Fortunately, the hotel was in sight up the road and Liz boldly took the lead "bringing us ... read more

Day 8 I awoke in a dingy hotel room, but then I went to sleep in one as well. The bed sucked, and there was no matters pad, just a too small too thin sheet. Alas, that is all a distance nightmare tonight. Four states distance. I started in Missouri, took a bridge into Illinois and another into Tennessee and stopped at the post office and the cross at Fort Jefferson Kentucky. This monument overlooks the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. The photos do not do it justice. The amount of water that flows east of the Continental Divide and into these life givers is daunting to a mere mortal man. There is work beyond man. I pulled into Cairo Illinois. I was heart broken here. This was a wonderful town, full of southern ... read more

Southaven is where we stayed the night. It's just outside Memphis Tennessee. We left the hotel about 10am and arrived at Graceland at 10:30. The 14-acre estate features the mansion that was home to Elvis from 1957 until his death in 1977, as well as an Elvis Presley Museum, stables, and Elvis’ final resting place in the Meditation Garden.. The white columned mansion seems almost modest from the outside but you can see that it was far from modest inside. Of course it's been years since Elvis's death so the decor was of the time when he was alive. More than 30 years after his death, Graceland has been preserved as a kind of time capsule to give visitors an insight into what life was like when Elvis was King. The upstairs level is closed to ... read more