US of A (part 1)

Pardon the delay - it's been a hectic week and weekend trying to catch up with housework, sorting though our photos, tidying the garden, shopping and organising my Dad's party which is next Sunday. I'm knackered; I've hardly sat down the last couple of days.

So, the holiday....

Day 1. Arrived at our hotel in Memphis, Tennessee some time during the evening. Went out for something to eat, then retired to bed.

Day 2. Already pre-booked a tour of Graceland so that's the first thing we did. Still had to wait over an hour as it's so busy, so John and I bought a few souvenirs in the shop. The tour was really good although in my opinion there are too many people in the house at the same time. There are some really cool rooms and quite quirky ones too. The house it not as big as people think, in fact it's extremely modest considering what a superstar Elvis was. In fact, I can't think of ANYone who is MORE famous than Elvis. Maybe just Jesus Christ??? It was quite emotional seeing Elvis' grave but it does look beautiful. He is buried next to his parents and grandmother.

As well as the house itself, there is an Elvis car museum across the road, and you can also board his private jet called 'Lisa Marie'.

I have a far bigger appreciation for the man now I have seen his house and learned more about his life. I think the fact that he was such a down to earth, approachable and generous man makes him all the more special. It's such a tragedy he died so young. Just imagine what it would have been like to be at one of his concerts. WOW!

After the Graceland experience, we headed for the famous Sun Studios where a young Elvis recorded his early work. We learned how the studios were facing bankruptcy and so had to sell Elvis to RCA to make enough money to survive. From what I recall, they pocketed a mere $35,000. Yes it may have been a lot of money then, but just think how much they would have made if they'd kept him!! It goes without saying that many other big named artists recorded there, such as Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, BB King, Howlin' Wolf, Carl Perkins and more recently, U2. We had the opportunity to pose for photos with Elvis' microphone, the actual one he was licking in the photo on the wall! It was a really interesting tour and the guide was good at telling the stories.

With still a few hours left of the day (yes we did cram a lot in), we visited the location where Martin Luther King was assassinated. What was then the Lorraine Motel, they have retained the frontage of the building as it was, and with the same two cars which were parked outside. The back of the building has been converted into the National Civil Rights Museum. A wreath is present on the balcony in the spot that he was shot. Opposite is the building where James Earl Ray pulled the trigger from a partially opened window. This is also accessible to the public and they've recreated the room as it was - basically a shithole with a manky loo and bed!

On our way back to our accommodation, we stopped at Peabody Hotel (very posh) where they have residential ducks. Yes, ducks! Every day at 11am they come down from their penthouse and swim about in the lobby fountain . At 5pm the red carpet comes out and they return in procession to the rooftop. It was just a fleeting visit but you've got do it haven't you?!

Late afternoon and we planned to go over to Mud Island to see the Memphis Belle. However, we ended up going round and round trying to find out where you've gotta go to get on the tram thingy across the water. We went into the nearby Visitor Centre and discovered the last one was going across at 6pm and it was now 5:55! So that was a no-no.

There's only one place to go in the evening - Beale Street! It is mad and just crammed with people, mainly tourists I presume. Full of shops, restaurants, clubs, pubs, street performers and bright lights. After walking up and down, we stopped somewhere to eat. As it turned out, not a brilliant choice - the place was half dead, the waitress had no personality and they seemed to out of half the stuff on the menu. We then waited an age to get our meals with very little in the way of an apology - very unAmerican-like!

Day 3. On our drive out of the city, we passed the pyramid building which has the distinction of being the 3rd largest pyramid in the world. Standing 32 stories tall, its base would cover six football pitches.

Three hours on the road and we arrived at our next destination: Nashville, Tennessee.

It was extremely hot - over 100 degrees (as it was in Memphis) and any walking outside is a struggle. Therefore our late afternoon visits were limited to the State Capitol Building, and the nearby Korean and Vietnam War memorials.

The evening took us to Broadway, the most lively street there appeared to be in Nashville - not a patch on Memphis I must say! We found a bar which did food and also had some entertainment. I'm not a country music fan (except for a handful of particular songs) but this duo was pretty good and I found myself tapping my feet. John, however, LOVES country music, so it was more his cuppa tea.

Day 4. Seeing as Nashville is the country music capitol of the States, I suppose we couldn't not go to the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was a complete history of how country music started, right back to the 19th century. Relating to more recent times, there was a Ray Charles exhibition and more of Elvis' possessions such as is gold piano and another one of his cars. There was the option of also doing a tour of RCA Studio B so we took advantage of that, particularly as we enjoyed Sun Studios so much. RCA wasn't quite as good, although we did get a chance to sit at Elvis' piano and I also sat in his favourite red chair. Cool!

Later we went to Centennial Park where they have a life-size replica of the Parthenon. This was just for a few snapshots, although I was more wrapped up in a couple of squirrels playing hide and seek round the truck of a tree!

Another driving session and we arrived at Huntsville, Alabama. It was 4pm when we stopped at the US Space and Rocket Centre - unfortunately it was due to close at 5pm so we only had a hour to get around, and at $18 each, it was quite a pricey hour! Even though I'm not into science in a big way, I do find space interesting and it was really enjoyable.

Day 5. My pre-arranged itinerary was going to plan so far, but went a little wrong after arriving at the Wheeler Wildlife Reserve just before 9am. What I had overlooked is that all the migratory birds come here for the winter, and as it was the middle of summer, there wasn't much wildlife to enjoy. After a short nature walk, where we only spotted a bug, a couple of small birds and a butterfly, we went on our way!

Forty minutes outside Huntsville, there were some highly rated caves called Cathedrals Caverns. We took in the tour and it was well worth it. I've been in a lot of caves in my life but these were probably the most spectacular, sporting four world records: the largest entrance, the largest stalagmite, the largest stalagmite forest and the largest frozen waterfall. The main 'hall' where it got its name 'cathedral' was awesome (say it in an American accent and you get my point). However, you couldn't capture it in photo form what you were actually seeing with your own eyes.

Onwards and after another drive, we arrived in Chattanooga, home of he choo-choos! There is a few touristy things to do here, and we decided to pay for an all in one ticket to participate in their main three attractions: Rock City, Incline Railway and Ruby Falls. It was already 3pm so there wasn't enough time to do everything that day. A tour of Ruby Falls was about to leave so we decided to go for that first. Two lots of caves in one day! However, these ones were completed different - the walk through was nowhere near as fantastic as Cathedral Caverns and it was particularly annoying that they decided to take everyone's photograph (with a view to selling them later) which meant we all had to wait ages before we got going. The end result was quite something though. First you hear water getting louder and louder but you can't see it. Then the guide turns on the coloured lights and then such a pretty sight is before you! A stream of water falls from the roof of the cavern 145 feet above into a pool. The falls were named after the wife of the man who discovered the cave.

We just had time to take the mile ride up the mountain on the Incline Railway. This is the world's steepest passenger railway: the final stretch to the top is on a gradient of 72.7%. The views from the top are great, although it was very hazy this particular day. What we didn't realise that on the way from Memphis over to Chattanooga, we lost an hour in time - we had crossed from Central time to Eastern time and it was now 7pm as opposed to 6pm. Doh!