We enjoyed our brief stay in Jackson, Mississippi. That is until Wendy was attacked.
While walking over to the swimming pool she was attacked by a group of suspicious black
fire ants. They have left huge blisters on her feet and much pain.
So we continued up the Natchez Trace through mile after mile of lovely scenery. The Trace is a continuous road with no intersections, traffic lights and no commercial traffic allowed. 440 miles of great easy driving. We pulled off at Tupelo, Mississippi and spent a few days there. Famous as the birth place of Elvis Presley we walked around the two room shack where he was born in 1938.
Then it was onto Memphis, Tennessee just over the border from Mississippi State. We stayed right in the Graceland Complex. But thunderstorms were heading our way. Our first real rain in weeks and weeks. So we decided to visit downtown Memphis First and caught a free shuttle into town where we visited the Museum of the Mississippi River on Mud Island and then walked to the Peabody Hotel for the daily March of the Ducks which has been going on every day for over 50 years. In a fountain in the main foyer merrily swim 5 ducks. At 11am every morning they are escorted down from their Penthouse suite to the pool and then at 5pm when we were there they are escorted back again.
After the 'performance' we walked onto the musical heart of Memphis and perhaps the world - Beale St. It's a bit like Bourbon St, New Orleans on a smaller scale. A bit more music than Bourbon St but very touristy. We had dinner in the iconic Blues Club - BB Kings Blues Club. Where over a meal of fried pickles and fried chicken we listened to the Santini Jazz Band playing modern jazz. I guess you would call it rock jazz and is the style that seems very popular in New Orleans and Beale St. The guitars are the primary instrument rather than older style jazz in which the piano, trumpet or saxophone were dominant.
Today we walked over to Graceland and toured the very touristy home of Elvis Presley. In between the rafts of gifts shops there were a few exhibits such as his personal airplane and cars. But the real centerpiece is the house which he bought when he was 22 and died in when he was 42 from heart failure brought on by overtaking prescription drugs. The pool room below is a typical room in the tour of the house.
Elvis is buried in the memorial garden along with his parents.
This week we continue our march North and we leave Tennessee and spend a week or so in Kentucky.
