Memphis

Next stop - Memphis, and more importantly, the Heartbreak Hotel.

I am the first to admit that I have had an appalling (to say the least) education in "classics", thus I was wholly unaware that Elvis was actually a movie star - a fact that was quickly remedied by the Elvis movies played on loop 24hrs/day in the Hotel.

But it was still pretty fun to wander around Graceland - it's been left completely as it was at the time of Elvis' death

Elvis was a pretty nice guy - this is his parent's room on the ground floor in Graceland.
But even they weren't allowed upstairs. No one was allowed upstairs. 

The dining room. 

Elvis loved his TV room, and it was lavishly decorated. 

In bright yellow and blue. With a ceiling made entirely from mirrors.
A perfect TV watching environment. 

The pool room. 

The "Jungle Room" - interestingly, Elvis never called it that - it got its nickname after Graceland was opened to the public. What isn't easily visible is the shag pile carpet which covers every surface. It means that the room has pretty great acoustics and Elvis recorded a bunch of songs in here. 

This building was a smokehouse, which was part of the original Graceland farm. To put the next building in context,  it was about 3 metres squared. 

Which Elvis thought made it perfect sized for a shooting range.
I'll repeat. It was 3m long.
*I* could hit a target 3m away. 

Just a few awards. No biggie. 

Wedding outfits. 

Elvis was a fan of squash, so he had a shed converted  into several courts, but then he also put in a lounge, arcade and piano room in. 

They've converted the actual courts into another display of Elvis' later costumes. 

And of course, Elvis', along with his parents, was buried at Graceland. 

So after Graceland, we went for a wander around downtown. And by downtown, I mean Beale St, which was oddly pumping for a Thursday night. 

Beale St

We found this great odds-and-ends shop 

Complete with motivational pants

And an impressive collection of wacky hats

And about this time, it was time to search for dinner. 

It was hard to walk past this though...

But I was rewarded with this - Tennessee BBQ.
Not to be confused with Texan, Georgian, or any kind of Carolina BBQ.
Each state has their own.
Tennessee's is characterised by pork ribs and sweet, tomato-based sauces.
The beans were the greatest things I have ever eaten. No joke. 

And now bordering on falling into a food coma, we casually strolled down the street to listen to what Beale had to offer. 

This guy was singing Brown-Eyed Girl. A lot.
And when he ran out of verses... he just repeated them.
All of them. 

Classic South.
Moonshine is still a thing. 

This was a great band - they did (predictably) quite a few Elvis covers, but they also busted out Yakkity Sax.
The lead singer also danced with an elderly lady (I want to say she was 90) called something like Phyllis or Ivy or something. The best thing was that everyone then clapped and congratulated and generally wanted to chat with Ivy/Phyllis. It turns out Ivy/Phyllis was in town for her grandson's wedding. And so the grandson and his fiancée were pulled up on stage and serenaded with an a capella version of "The Chapel of Love". It was pretty lovely. 

A random street in Memphis