Ten Days in Tennessee: Part 2 | Memphis
Ok, so I know that this has been a very long time coming, but I had a bit of trouble uploading and inputting photographs and these things take time. But, for those of you not in the know, in October 2018, I went to Tennessee, USA with my boyfriend for ten days. We went to Nashville and Memphis, mainly for the music and Graceland, it was all amazing, everything from the food, to the music, to the history of the place. I loved every single minute. You can read part one below, where I talk you through what we did and where we went in Nashville. But without further a-do, lets move onto the much anticipated 'part two'!
The Birthplace of Elvis Presley
This is the birthplace of Elvis Presley. He was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and here is the small house he shared with his mum and dad. Also attached is a photo of the church he attended as a boy, including a commemorative statue and lake, in memory of the King of Rock and Roll.
Graceland
For anyone in the know, you'll understand this to be the place where Elvis lived and sadly died. It was an incredible experience, knowing I was walking the halls that he once did. I thought I'd snap some pictures for you all, so you could experience it with me!
As well as being granted excess to the house, our tickets also permitted us to have a snoop around his private jet, the 'Lisa Marie'. As well as being allowed to enter the museum, housing thousands of other artefacts, including Presley's personal cars and original stage outfits.
These photos are from inside the 'Lisa Marie', Elvis's private jet. He used this to travel around on his tours throughout the late 50s, 60s, and 70s.
The following photos are from inside the corresponding museum, sporting outfits, cars and other artefacts relating to Elvis and Graceland!
Bass Pro Shops Pyramid Shopping Centre
This was one weird shopping centre. We could see it from our hotel room window, together with the Mississippi River! It's huge inside and the theme is essentially a rainforest. The whole place felt like I was in the wilderness somewhere shopping for clothes. But it was a totally fantastic experience, I could have spent all day in there personally!
A Mississippi River Cruise
We went on a trip along the Mississippi River on a paddle boat (not one of those small ones). I had to take a travel sickness tablet, because we all know what I'm like on boats...either way, I really enjoyed this. Our tour guide was very informative and also very funny. There was plenty of room to sit down, and to our delight, a bar was situated downstairs where you could buy anything from beer to hot chocolate. It really added to our trip there.
The Gibson Factory Tour
This was something that was highly anticipated throughout our trip. We had been looking forward to this since we found out you could actually go and experience it. We weren't allowed to take photos inside unfortunately. But in case you aren't aware, Gibson make quality guitars for the greats of the music world, and we got to see how they're made. From a plain piece of wood to the finished product, it was very impressive. A lot of skill and time goes into building just one guitar, which are all hand made. No wonder they're so expensive and loved across the music industry.
Sun Studios
This is also Elvis Presley related. It's the first studio Elvis ever recorded in. We even got to see the very microphone he recorded on, as well as the spot he stood in when he sung and the office he would have walked into the very first time he strolled in through the door of the studio. The tour guide was very helpful and informative. He made it very entertaining, as well as telling us stories about Johnny Cash recording there, another one of the greats from the music world.
Walking Around Memphis
This was quite the experience. I had never been anywhere quite like Memphis before. It had it's own 'quirks' shall we say. But we had a great time just exploring the area, including taking a trip to see the Peabody ducks. If you haven't heard about this, then basically, the hotel have five ducks that live in a penthouse at the top of the hotel. In the morning, they're brought down in a lift, together with the 'Duck Master' (the man who trains them) and a red carpet is laid out, they come out of the lift, down the red carpet and waddle into the little fountain in the middle of the bar area. The same is done at the end of the day, they get out of the fountain, walk down the red carpet, back into the lift and back up to bed. It really is a site to behold!
We also took a walk down Beale Street, a street notorious for classic music and bars, with rooftop bands playing well into the early morning. It's a very famous street in the world of music, existing back when Elvis used to live there. It was lovely to walk around there in the early morning, as no one was around at that time in the day. It was also very relaxed. We even took a trip on an old trolley bus, which is essentially the public transport system there, a novelty for us!
We even went to see the place where Martin Luther King was sadly assassinated in the 1960s. It was an eerie feeling being there, imagining what it would have been like to be involved with the activism at that time, for something which is so very important. But to this day, Martin Luther King is just as important and relevant as he was 50 years ago.
The Gaylord Hotel
We stopped off here just before it was time to leave to go back to the UK. We had heard that the hotel basically looked like Kew Gardens inside, mainly as a tourism feature. But boy did it impress. I forgot I was in a hotel and not in some sort of magical garden where I felt as though I was in Narnia or some other mythical place. It sucks you in and I loved it! It was just beautiful.
Andddd that concludes our trip to, not only Memphis, but the USA. We were on a plane back to the UK not long after this, to be honest, it felt good to be back at home, but I will never forget the memories we made whilst we were over there. It was perfect and I wouldn't have changed any of it! Don't forget to check out part one, which tells you what we got up to in Nashville. Which post did you prefer? I will see you soon with another post :)
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