Blogs from Memphis, Tennessee, United States, North America - page 20

Arrived in Memphis after a 2 hour drive through Tennessee from Nashville, weather‘s turned a bit colder now so once again the sandals have been relegated to the suitcase and the Uggs have been dusted off. After decamping our suitcases at 3.00 we decided to go for our usual new town pre-amble, aiming for Beale Street the centre of downtown with its live music bars and soul cuisine galore in order to do a recce for this evening. Great wide streets with old French colonial style buildings and traditional trams. Everything seemed extremely quiet at first as we wended our way down Main Street, and then we hit Beale Street… Enticed into “Superiors” by Michael - who sure did have the gift of the gab and his so called “happy hour” which should actually read “happy ... read more

Gotta start somewhere It's not that we didn't want to move to Krakow, it just happened fast! Serendipity is the effect by which one accidentally discovers something fortunate, especially while looking for something else entirely. And that is exactly what happened with us. Got the house sold, made arrangements with the moving company, we are moving back "home" to North Carolina, after being in Memphis, fulfilling Keith's long range plan for retirement! And then comes the offer to work in Krakow, Poland! Serendipity. There we were, looking at moving back to our home town, back to our little house by the ocean, back to our old life. But what we have found is a life in a foreign country, in a wonderful apartment next to the castle, overlooking the river. We accidentally found something fortunate, while ... read more

Mazel Tov! -- ‘Good fortune’ - a phrase that is often said frequently and loudly at Jewish celebrations. The excited exclamation brings me back from my brief daydream, after a couple of minutes listening to a foreign speech that I can not understand. I look around and find myself sitting among a hundred enthusiast worshippers inside Baron Hirsch Synagogue - an intricate American Orthodox Judaism synagogue in the City of Blues - Memphis, Tennessee. The congregation hall is inviting, with stain glass windows hanging high, depicting several bearded men and various Hebrew inscriptions. High above at the ceiling, the familiar six-sided Star of David adorns the focal point of the room. Two nations flags - the U.S. Stars and Stripes flag and the Israeli flag - frame where the platform Interestingly enough, it almost felt like ... read more

We always planned to visit Graceland, but we hadn’t bargained on turning up in the middle of Elvis Week! Luckily we missed the biggest crowds, here to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death on 16th August. The tour takes you through the Graceland mansion, which is as it would have been at the time of Elvis’ death in 1977, to the Memorial Garden where Elvis and his parents and grandmother are buried. It also includes entry to the Elvis museum (which has an exhibit of many of Elvlis' jump suits), his 2 private planes and automobile collection (including that famous pink Cadillac). The house is beautiful and very homely, and you can easily imagine how it would have been while the family was still here - full of hustle and bustle, visitors and members of ... read more

Memphis: Elvis lives! Mt. Vernon, The Biltmore and now Graceland! Actually it's an interesting 1970's time capsule. The house, while compared to today's McMansions is actually very modest it provides insight into Elvis's values and the fact that he bought it when only he was 22 and always called it home. As did his mom and dad and grandmother, Minny Mae who outlived them all. You cannot come to Memphis and not tour Graceland. We tour Memphis on the downtown trolley. A local resident gives a thorough commentary of the city with a personal perspective. Downtown Memphis and Beale Street. The temperature is just over 100 degrees. Luckily we stumble upon the trolley that takes your around the city to the riverfront and back. The sights include the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was ... read more