From Country and Bluegrass to the Blues

Friday Night's Grand Ole Opry visit was a lot of fun. As the picture of the Isaacs Family which I took from my seat at the bottom off the stairs in front of the stage shows, I was as close to the action as one can get; the first row, the middle seat. So cool!!

It:s quite something to see how they pull together this live to air two hour show with no less than 8 acts that come on and do no more than three numbers each.

On Saturday I got up early to try to beat some of the heat and rode to Memphis. Driving out of the city I stopped for breakfast at the legendary Loveless Café on Highway 100 at the Natchez Trace Parkway.  This place has been around feeding the stars and a whole bunch of other folks since 1970. The fresh made biscuits with home made preserves and the huge slab of ham and eggs were delicious and they kept me going for the rest of the ride to Memphis.  The Parkway, like the others I've riden on this trip so far, was extremely well maintained; and the scenery was beautiful.  One can actually follow this route all the way from Nashville to Natchez in the south of Mississippi. I veared off the Parkway and followed routes 64, 128 and 57 to Memphis.

As you all know, Memphis is to Rock and Roll and Blues, what Nashville is to C&W and Bluegrass; and the heart of Blues is a club-lined four block section of Beale Street which is closed off each night for a party.  There is music all day and well into the early hours of the morning, and mant places that you can choose from to sample such delectable items as deep fried catfish, deep fried pickles (I kidd you not; they slice up brined pickles, cover them in a spiced up batter and deep fry them; voila!), bbq ribs, pork shoulder, etc. The servings are huge and the taste...It,s probably an acquired thing.  But if you go late, as I did on Saturday, be prepared to go through through police screenings and a check with a hand held metal detector. 

Yesterday I went to Graceland and toured Elvis' mansion. memorial garden, where he and his parents are laid to rest, and a display of his planes and cars. The curation work inside the mansion is impressive. The experience is Dysneyworld-like, as they are extremely efficient in moving through large numbers of guests without making them feel rushed. The self-guided audio tour, which you can pause at any time to linger in any specific area to take in the spirit of the King of Rock and Roll, is informative.  One can't help but leave thinking how important a figure Elwis was in his time and how he continues to be at he heart of a very successful enterprise.  To quote his company logo TCB, he's sitll very much Taking Care of Business.  Graceland is well worth visiting.  Here are a few pictures; first, the famous 15 foot white couch in the living room,

the very modern early '70's kitchen that was staffed 24/7

one of the many showcases of the costunes that Elvis wore on tour,



and the grave of Elvis;  his mother's and father's are on either side of him. (The two small round objects on the marker are two toonies, no doubt left by some admiring Canadian fans on Canada Day.

After Graceland I went to visit the Civil Rights Museum which has been set up on the site of, and behind the facade of the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was killed on the balcony just outside of room 307 on April 4, 1968.

This museum chronicles the struggle of American black people to achieve equality going back to before the Civil War and extending to the present.  The curators have done a great job in telling the story in a chronological manner. It's sobbering, touching, and certainly worth the visit. One fails to understand why much that it describes could have happened; and much of it in our lifetime.