Memphis and on to Nashville

We started our day at Graceland. I kept thinking of the Paul Simon song, "Graceland" as we drove there, but as soon as we arrived that tune left my head as all of the Elvis Presley songs were playing throughout the facilities. It is really an amazing place and he was an incredible entertainer. Besides a tour of the mansion and all of the attached properties, we got to see his private jet. Pretty cool. I have provided a picture from Graceland of Felice after our visit. From there we went to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, also in Memphis. The Museum was focused about half on civil rights history and the other half on the assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as he was shot at the Lorraine Motel. Like the Texas Book Depository, the museum included the boarding house from which MLK was shot. It was spooky to stand in the area with James Earl Ray fired the rifle and then go across the street and stand where MLK was when he was shot. There was a lot of information about the murder and the investigation that followed. That is a place that will stick with me for quite awhile. We then went to Charles Vergos' Rendezvous which is renowned for ribs. The bad news was that they didn't open for meals until 4:30, but the good news was that they would serve you a plate of ribs pretty much any time of the day. They were very good and Felice purchased the rib rub and the sauce so she can try to recreate them back in Mesa. We walked to Beale Street and, while it was midday and there was not a lot of music or people inbibing, there was enough to get a feel for the place. We did a little shopping at A. Schwabs dry goods store. Very cool place. On our way back to the car, we stopped at the Peabody Hotel so Felice could see the famous ducks. Every day at 11:00 AM the ducks are walked from a room in the hotel to the hotel fountain. They then walk back to the room at 5:00 PM and tourists line up 5 deep to see it. While we didn't stay to see the procession, Felice took some pictures of the ducks to share. We then headed to Nashville and had dinner at a family restaurant called Dalts. Love to support locally owned places and this one has been around for 30+ years. It was pretty good and hit the spot. We will see Nashville and beyond tomorrow. Gary and Felice