Now... what to say about Memphis...

Let me start by saying I am a MEGA BB King fan! I’ve seen him 5 times live - from the Apollo Theatre in Harlem to the NAC in Ottawa. And anybody who has been to our home has listened to my fav CD of all time “Riding with the King” - this is when Eric Clapton and BB King collaborated for a whole bunch of great songs. Knowing that BB and Beale Street are one in the same in Memphis drew me there like a bee to the hive. What a great afternoon we had there on Beale Street. We had ribs and catfish at BB King’s restaurant bar and I continue to dream about the live concert he will play there on December 10th – ‘once each year’, they say.

Downtown Memphis? Well, it’s a strange mixture of blues, black history and tourism. Beale Street is maintained in the same way it looked in the 50’s and 60’s – neon signage and original storefronts – even propped up by steel girders. It’s just a few blocks from the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated and now the location of the National Civil Rights Museum. It’s also between a beautiful empty pyramid-shaped building on the waterfront that used to be the basketball stadium and the new coliseum that was built because the pyramid ‘just didn’t do it‘ for the new players of today. And connecting all of them is a trolley car system that runs a tight circle around Riverside Drive on the Mississippi and the main street – a regular bus route except it’s a trolley. Odd City planning perhaps but an example of the city’s history and diversity.

On the south west side of Memphis is Graceland. And this visit let me strike one thing off the “Bucket List”. John and I were awe-struck by the simplicity of the grounds, the house, the interior design, the furniture, the vehicles, the gravestones, and everything decorated for Christmas. We just had no idea that humility played such a part of Elvis’ real life. Equally, it was so interesting to see the ‘other side’ of his life with the multitude of costumes and description of never-ending list of concerts and awards. We found the people that worked there to be well-informed and significantly respectful of the life he lived and of his family – parents, Priscilla and Lisa Marie. And let me end by saying neither of us were/are Elvis fans but we can certainly say after our visit to Graceland that we can understand why they say ‘Elvis lives here’.