Elvis Has Left the Building...And Memphis.

Batey:

Day 3 of our roadtrip started out with breakfast at Blues City Coffee Shop, then on to the Peabody Hotel. The Peabody Hotel is a fancy shmancy hotel in downtown Memphis that, twice a day, has ducks that come out, go across the lobby and jump in the fountain in the middle of the lobby. We got there early and got a good spot to see (although Lisa kinda got kicked out of her spot), and, sure enough, at 11 o'clock three little ducks came out of the elevator, ran down a red carpet, and jumped in the fountain. The funniest part about the whole thing was that when the ducks were walking out, it literally looked like we were seeing a celebrity walking down the red carpet, there were a thousand camera flashes going off everywhere. Who knew ducks could be so glamorous?

After the Peabody, we went to the Rock N' Soul Museum, also in downtown. It started off great and was very thorough, but kind of ended abruptly, and we would have liked it if there would have been a little more at the end. But still it was a good thing to see and I'm glad we went. And now on to Amber to tell us about the next part of the day:




Amber:

On to Sun Studios! This was my most anticipated part of the trip, and my favorite place of the day. My nerdy/obsessed self has read a ton of books about this era of music and it was surreal to be there. Our tour guide was passionate and way entertaining. It was pretty overwhelming to stand in the same room where Johnny Cash and Elvis got their start. Everything was out and available, which was such a change from the museums we've been going to where everything is behind glass. There were guitars and drums everywhere. We pretended to play the actual Wurlitzer piano that Jerry Lee Lewis played on Great Balls of Fire. AND we sang into the microphone that all of these fellas sang into. Just one small room, but definitely amazing!

It was a great way to end our time in Memphis! Shaky start, but we ending up loving the city. Next chapter of the trip = Music City USA!



Lisa:

I feel like I have learned so much the past few days! I mean, just ask me how Johnny Cash got that unique percussion sound on Walk the Line, or who Dewey Phillips was, or which came first: Ain't Nothing But a Bearcat or Ain't Nothing But a Hound Dog? I can answer them all!

With our brains stuffed to the brim with early rock 'n roll history, we headed off to our next stop: Nashville! We drove about three hours through trees and rolling hills jamming out to Amber's early country musical selections. Side story: we actually saw one of those weigh station things open that the big 18-wheelers have to stop at open and running. I have never seen those actually in use. Anyways, we stopped off to eat before we got into the city at the Loveless Cafe. Which is maybe my new favorite place to eat. We had good home cooking with some of the best homemade biscuits and preserves ever. We also had some of the pie too, which was amazing even though I was stuffed to the brim. Fudge pie...yum. You can see Elvis enjoying some of the creamed corn above.

So now we're unpacking and getting settled into our home for the next three days. Look out Nashville! We've been soaking up the rhythm and blues for the past few days and now it's time for some country. Bring on the Alan Jackson and the Randy Travis memorabilia.