Our sightseeing in Memphis continued. On Monday we took riverboat tour on the Island Queen. It was interesting to see Memphis from the Mississippi, and to hear the running commentary (including turkey gobbling and hoot owl calls) by our local good ‘ol boy guide.
We also visited "The Pyramid," which houses Bass Pro Shop and Ducks Unlimited. You can see it on the skyline in the image above as well as below.
Inside are a plethora of exhibits of American game animals, predators and other critters. There are also streams and a beautiful aquarium with native fish.
And if that's not enough, there is also a luxury hotel and a restaurant with a view at the top of this unique elevator which raises through the middle of the pyramid. Dinner at the top is the agenda for our next visit.
Then on Tuesday, we drove into town for some famous Memphis BBQ. We had hoped to eat at The Rendezvous, highly recommended by our friend, Keyes Hudson. Unfortunately, it isn’t open for lunch. At the suggestion of my brother and sister-in-law, Allan and Jefflyn Jones, we opted for Central BBQ. (Ironically, on our way to lunch we learned that Allan and Jef spent last night in Memphis, just across the Mississippi from our camp, neither of us knowing that the other was in the area.) But I digress. We had a really terrific slab of ribs, half sauced and half dry-rub. And, one of the sides was their not-to-be-missed mac-and-cheese.
Inside are a plethora of exhibits of American game animals, predators and other critters. There are also streams and a beautiful aquarium with native fish.
And if that's not enough, there is also a luxury hotel and a restaurant with a view at the top of this unique elevator which raises through the middle of the pyramid. Dinner at the top is the agenda for our next visit.
Then on Tuesday, we drove into town for some famous Memphis BBQ. We had hoped to eat at The Rendezvous, highly recommended by our friend, Keyes Hudson. Unfortunately, it isn’t open for lunch. At the suggestion of my brother and sister-in-law, Allan and Jefflyn Jones, we opted for Central BBQ. (Ironically, on our way to lunch we learned that Allan and Jef spent last night in Memphis, just across the Mississippi from our camp, neither of us knowing that the other was in the area.) But I digress. We had a really terrific slab of ribs, half sauced and half dry-rub. And, one of the sides was their not-to-be-missed mac-and-cheese.
We ended our sightseeing trips with a visit to Elvis Presley’s Graceland.
I had expected something a little, well I guess hokey. In fact, we almost didn’t go. But I’m so glad we did. It took me back to my teenage years, where my introduction to Rock and Roll was songs like It’s All Right, Heartbreak Hotel and Hound Dog. In fact, the girls in this early publicity photo could have been me and my friends.
(I'm sure my Hamilton High School classmates will remember all those songs that spoke to our teenage psyches, and the records we bought and played, and played, and played until we wore them out.)
The tour isn’t cheap, and takes a good four hours if you see everything. There is a visit to the mansion’s “public” rooms, a couple of which are shown here.
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| Media Room |
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| Pool Room |
as well as the Meditation Garden and gravesites.
There is a large complex that includes the Presley Motors Automobile Museum,
the Presley Cycles,
Elvis’s Army Service,
And his Entertainment Career.
And he did, and the gold records testify to it.
The Entertainment Career section is filled with images taken from concert appearances and movies, and around every corner seems to be a viewing room with videos of his performances. Music is everywhere.
Elvis's two airplanes, this one named for his daughter, are also on display.
I know what an impact Elvis had on the music I listened to, danced to, and will always remember. However, I didn’t fully appreciate the influence he had on other musicians until I read some of their comments.
The exhibits highlight all of that, and more. Don’t miss it if you are in town.
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