Home of the Blues

Memphis, TN...home of the Blues, Soul , and Rock n Roll. We started at the visitor center right on the riverfront. Standing almost hand in hand were 2 of the biggest names to come out of Memphis...Elvis Presley and B.B. King. It was if they were our official welcome wagon to this place of history.

We started by riding the monorail over to Mud Island. If you've see the movie The Firm with Tom Cruise, then you've seen this monorail. Once on Mud Island we checked out the Mississippi River Museum. This little museum was interesting but was in need of some sprucing up.

There was also a very cool concrete sculpture on Mud Island. It was a miniature reproduction of the lower Mississippi River. It spread out for about 1/2 mile. It was on a scale of about 30 inches for every mile of the river. It wound  around the riverfront walkway until it emptied into "the Gulf of Mexico." It was an amazing display but needed some TLC. Maybe that will be my "retirement job," taking care of the Mississippi River Walk.

We also took a bus tour with Backbeat Mojo Tours. Our tour guide sang to us while also telling us about the sights of the city. One stop was at the Levitt Shell. This used to be the Overton Park Shell.   According to our guide this was Elvis Presley's first live performance,  playing before headliner Slim Whitman in 1954. Even though he started out scared and very stiff, eventually the music overtook him and he began shaking his leg. The girls in the audience went wild.

We saw Sun Studios and had a tour. Here is where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Howling Wolf, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King and many others got their start.
We walked around Beale Street.
We went to see the Lorraine Motel where MLK Jr was shot. The wreath in the picture marks the spot where he was standing when assassinated. They have mostly left his room right behind the wreath as it was that day. The shots come from the boarding house across the street. This is now The National Civil Rights Museum.

We also went to The Peabody Hotel to watch the March of the Ducks. We got there to listen to  the Duckmaster tell the history of the March and to watch as the ducks left the fountain, walked the red carpet to the elevator that would take them back to their penthouse for the night.

Then we had dinner and listened to some live music.