Day 19 - More Elvis Love & Lake Guntersville State Park, AL

We had spent a lot of time learning about Elvis in his Graceland home but we couldn't be in Mississippi without visiting his childhood home, the place he was born and grew up. Elvis was born in Tupelo which is about 2 hours from Memphis, in a 2 bedroom house built by his father.

This site was a lot different from Graceland, there were fewer tourists and a calmer more peaceful feel to the park that now surrounds his families house, their local church and a chapel. We didn't pay to go into the house, church or chapel, it wasn't a lot of money to do these but there just wasn't an interest from us to go inside. They weren't completely original, the house was repaired and refitted and the church was moved from another site where it had been re-purposed and returned to its original look. Instead, we walked for free around the grounds, visiting the two statues (Elvis at 13 and Becoming) and seeing the outside of these building and reading the information stations about their history.

Next stop for us was Hamilton in Alabama, a town named after my maiden name! There wasn't much in this town but we did manage to get a picture with the town sign and a picture of the largest, most complicated road sign we've seen so far!

You may see from some of our videos that there is a horrible red bug splat on the window! This happened just before Hamilton whilst I was driving, the horrible thing flew right at me and left his guts everywhere!

We were now heading for our campsite for the night in Lake Guntersville State Park. The drive was a nice easy 2.5 hours drive through the Bank Head National Forest on state highway 278. On our way, we spotted a place called Natural Bridge on the map and on the road signs so decided to stop and take a look. I am so glad we did, a short walk through the woods of this little park and you reach a huge natural bridge, the largest east of the Rockies! It was 60 ft high and 148 ft long and whilst it wasn't safe enough for people to walk across it, you could walk underneath it and around it. Entry to this park was only $3.50pp and completely worth it! There was also a 1-mile nature trail through the woods that also took you to a rock called Indian Face, it is supposed to look like the Indian face on a Nickel. I could see it but Lee wasn't sure.

Our campsite in Lake Guntersville was lovely, right on the edge of the lake. (Lee has mentioned the less favourable elements of this stay in another post!) For dinner we had left overs from the BBQ the night before (we're getting better at asking for a take out box in restaurants) which Lee heated up in the fire using some foil.

Rather than photos, we have created a short video for Natural Bridge and Lake Guntersville:

Day 18 - Memphis, TN

We only had one day in Memphis and needed to cram a lot in! We started early, heading to one of Elvis's favourite restaurants for breakfast called Arcade. We then got a Street Car back to our hotel just in time to see the duck march.

The hotel we were staying at was the Peabody and it was an awesome hotel! Everyday at 11am, the ducks march down from their penthouse suite to the lobby where they get to splash around in the fountain all day. Then at 5pm, they are marched back to the elevator and to their home for the night. We managed to get front row seats for the morning and had so much fun watching them.

After the ducks, it was time to go to Graceland and Sun Studios.

We had a great time in both Graceland and Sun Studios although we both agreed that Sun Studios was our favourite. The tour in Sun was given by a real musician, it was very interactive and fun whereas there were just so many people at Graceland and it was less personal, more money making!

We then managed to squeeze in a trip to the Civil Rights museum which was incredible, easily the best museum I have ever been to. It was a real eye opener to the struggles of civil rights in America and actually how it wasn't that long ago that not everyone had the right or the ability to vote and what segregation actually meant and how it impacted communities. Without wanting to touch too long on any of the 'G's that must not be discussed, I do I have different understanding of some of the news topics from America that we used to hear about in the UK after seeing this museum. I also have an appreciation for the important of diversity, which has become a bit of a buzz word in the UK but actually there is a real meaning behind it and one that people need to appreciate.

The Civil Rights Museum is located in the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr was shot and continues over the road to the boarding house where the assassin was located. There was a whole section in the museum about the shooting, what happened when, the police investigation, all the evidence collected (which was on show) and the follow on mysteries and investigations. There was quite a bit of repetition but that worked in our favour as we only had a couple of hours to get through the whole museum.

Our final trip of the day was to Mud Island which is a island in the middle of the Mississippi River. It was fairly late in the day by now and we were both getting a little tired so we had a short walk along the river's edge and the headed back to the hotel.

In the evening, we went to a number of bars along Beale Street, most of them playing music and then had an amazing dinner in a BBQ place called Rendezvous. Beale Street was like Bourbon Street in NOLA but wider and slightly less frantic. All good fun though!

Here is the video of our day:

Day 17 - NOLA to Memphis, TN

Today is our longest drive of the whole trip - 8 hours and 34 minutes according to Furkot and that is without any stops!

We were going from New Orleans to Memphis via the Blues Highway.

First stop was Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest continuous bridge passing over water. It was huge! 24 miles long and for at least 8 of those miles (more on a cloudy day), you can't see any land at all.

We crossed the Mississippi state line and stuck to the interstate until we reached Vicksburg where we came off onto US Highway 61, also known as the "Blues Highway". This was not the drive I was expecting. I had envisioned a Route 66 style drive with blues related shops and memorabilia along the road and a random roadside band every 10 or so miles. Instead, it was a long empty road with mainly farms and farmland.

We stopped off in the town of Leland, birthplace of Kermit the Frog.

Leland was not what either of us were expecting. It was very quiet, fairly derelict and there were not a lot of people around. The 2 things we had been told to look out for in Leland (according to the Blues Highway pamphlet we picked up from the Mississippi Tourist Information Office) was the murals on the walls painted by local artists to honor the Delta Blues and the Blues Highway Markers. The markers are actually found throughout the Mississippi, not just on the Blues Trail and there are a couple in neighboring states too. They tell the stories of the people, places and themes related to Blues.

Next stop was Cleveland known for its Fighting Okra mascot, there is an excellent You Tube video that shows just how angry this 'little' guy is:

Whilst in Cleveland, we sampled a proper Mississippi road side smoke house. Everything was served up in polystyrene with plastic cutlery and the inside had the feel of Freddy's BBQ Joint from House of Cards but the food was excellent!

Next, it was onto Clarksdale where we went to Devil's Crossroads. This is the location where the legend says that Blues musician Robert Johnson sold his soul to the Devil for the ability to play guitar. It features in a number of songs and movies.

We decided to drive into Clarksdale's Historic area which looked a little more lively compared to Leland, but not much! Here are the highlights we had of Clarksdale: 

 The main high street called Delta Avenue which looks run down but I think that is part of the 'look'

Another Blues Highway Marker

Cat Head is a famous store for buying Blues music

Random but pretty building on Delta Avenue (if you like turquoise and purple)

The Blues club co-owned by actor Morgan Freeman. Outside the front are very worn out mismatched chairs, it looks like a dive bar but apparently that it all part of the look and inside there are top musicians playing awesome Blues. 

Another Blues club opposite Ground Zero

Outside of the Delta Blues Museum

A cool mural we went past, no idea why its here. 

When we left Clarksdale, it was time to start heading towards Memphis. The journey into Memphis was odd and like no other drive into a big city. There was no multi-lane highway or large industrial or shopping areas, it was a two lane road with run down buildings and a very suburban feel to it. It was like this all the way into the heart of the city. We didn't feel unsafe but I don't think either of us would have wanted to pull over and get out of the car for any reason. Once we finally go into the middle of the city, the high rises, the people and the shops all started to appear.