World United States Tennessee Memphis

Two Hams in a Can Two Hams in a Can

Rock and Roll is here to stay Oct 14, 2007

We had a nice drive into Memphis only hitting one short patch of bad road (in Arkansas, wouldn't you know it.) We originally had planned to stay at a Passport America park close to Graceland,but after checking it out in RVparkreviews.com, I decided another place might be a better choice. What a good idea that was! We found a great state park practically in downtown Memphis, but you would never know it. T. O. Fuller State Park is wooded and you feel like you're miles from civilization, but in actuality, Interstate 55 is only a short distance away. Plus, they give 50% off for disabled, so we're only paying $9 a night! This is well worth returning to.

Today, we drove out to Graceland after having decided NOT to pay the almost $50 it would cost for entrance fees. We like the King, but not that much. We parked in front of the famous wall where people have been signing for years

Wall of Elvis fans

Plaque at Graceland

, and we were able to peek at the mansion through the infamous gates .

Then, of course, we had to have Memphis barbecue. We picked Corky's which has been voted Memphis' number one barbecue place

Voted number 1

. Jeff had the pulled pork, and I picked the dry ribs. It was all very good, but given the choice, I pick Texas barbecue over Memphis. (Just don't tell anyone in Memphis I said that until we leave!)

On Monday, we made it to the Peabody Hotel just in time to see the march of the ducks. It seems that the ducks are kept somewhere on the roof and at 11 a.m. daily, they are put into the elevator, and they march out on the red carpet and into the fountain

Peabody ducks on parade

. They stay in the fountain all day until 5 p.m. when they march out again, back into the elevator and up to the roof.

Legend of the ducks

There were gobs of people on either side of the red carpet and above on the balcony waiting to get a glimpse of the daily duck walk. The Peabody is a beautiful, old hotel and the duck motif is everywhere

After enjoying the duck parade, we headed for the famous Beale Street

Beale Street

Lots of old and famous clubs and interesting facades of buildings propped up instead of being torn down.

Old facade

We stopped in at Schwab's Dry Goods - loaded with lots of interesting stuff. I think the lady in front of us was buying voodoo things. We ate at a barbecue place and sat out on the sidewalk with our pulled pork sandwiches. This was in the afternoon, but I can only imagine what Beale Street is like on a Friday or Saturday night.

We tried our best to go to Mud Island - made famous in the movie "The Firm," but it was closed on Monday. We stopped off at the visitor center where Jeff communed with BB King There was also a great statue of the young Elvis

Elvis Aaron Presley

. We did take the trolley tour of downtown

Trolley car

The trolleys are restored from early in the 1900's and only cost 50 cents to tour the loop around the town.

After the trolley tour, we boarded The Island Queen to cruise the Mississippi. The weather was beautiful starting out

Beautiful weather starting out

, so we sat out on the top deck and enjoyed the breeze and sunshine. Our guide was very informative about the history of Memphis and the Mississippi. He told us that the house on the left

Cybill Sheppard's former house

formerly belonged to the actress Cybill Sheppard who had to sell it because her basement kept flooding.

We passed under the I55 bridge and two railway bridges, and he told us the one in the middle dates back to the 1800's and is one of the oldest bridges on the river

One of the oldest bridges

. Speaking of bridges, the one in the distance is referred to as the Dolly Parton bridge.

Dolly Parton bridge from a distance

. 'Nuff said.

Of course, there are numerous barges on the river and one passed by as we were going up river

Barge on the Mississippi

The Island Queen has a paddle which turns,

Paddle wheel mostly for show

, but I think it is mostly just for show as the boat had twin screws.

As we began to turn back to our pier, we could see the storms blowing in on the triple bridges. We moved down from the top deck to the inside just in time. Here you can see how the weather had changed in such a short time.

Change in the weather

We had a great time in Memphis and hope to return again soon.