Memphis
19:35 - New Orleans - Alec
Although Nashville was originally on the itinerary, we opted to go to Memphis as Nashville has recently seen some bad flooding, and thus, one of the main attractions for Zihao, the Gibson Guitar factory, was closed. Memphis has much interesting history surrounding music and the blues, which was therefore the focus of our visit.
We used the same tactic as in Atlanta, in that we chose a hotel on the outskirts thus providing a cheaper rate, a swimming pool and easy parking. On our first evening, after a dip in the pool and a play around with our replacement of the Coca Cola bouncy ball from Atlanta, a Nerf ball, we headed for dinner in Memphis. I had found a seedy looking bar on the internet, which used to be a brothel until the early 90s, but seemed like a good place given that famous music players such as Ray Charles, Howlin' Wolf, Albert King, Etta James and the Rolling Stones had all used it as a hang out. The girls that used to work in the brothel were the inspiration for the song 'Brown Sugar' by the Rolling Stones (so the bar claimed). We walked into a mostly empty bar and did not get a hugely warm welcome from the bar hostess (who probably looked a lot older than she actually was given that, as all of us agreed, she probably took a lot of drugs). Anyway, the beers and food were cheap, but the evening was a success mainly thanks to the owner who was an interestingly mad individual and spent some time talking at us about how amazing his bar was. He showed us around the premises (which were a lot bigger than first met the eye) and insisted we sent a postcard from England, something we all agreed to but almost certainly won't happen. He also signed a picture of BB King and Elvis standing together, not that we asked for it, or that the picture was even taken in his bar, but we all agreed he rated himself fairly highly, and this provided some sort of explanation. Despite some early scepticism, he proudly showed all sorts of pictures, including one of him and Orlando Bloom on an old copy of the New York times which proved there was some truth to his many stories, and the bar perhaps did deserve its placement as second coolest bar in America as rated by Esquire magazine.
The following day we had a few tourist attractions planned. The team split, Zihao, Alec and Benji went to the Rock and Soul museum, while Michael and Mole went to the Civil Rights museum, which was built around the preserved motel where Martin Luther King was shot. We then rendevoused at Rendevouz, a restaurant recommended to us by Benji's Uncle and Aunt, reputed to have the best BBQ ribs in the world. For those who hadn't really eaten ribs before, Michael, Alec and Benji, they certainly deserved their title, but for real connoisseurs, Zihao, and Mole, they were extremely tasty, but maybe not the best ever. Following a tour of the Gibson Guitar factory, where Zihao left with job application form in hand, we went to Mole's much hyped "march of the ducks" at the Peabody hotel. Effectively, a hotel in Memphis has ducks march to and from their residence - the fountain in the lobby - at the beginning and end of each day. They used the lift to reach their residence on the roof. It was somewhat of an event with at least 200 spectators, but was a little bit of an anti-climax, mainly because the usual roof access of the tall building following the duck march was closed for a rooftop party. Nonetheless Mole's relentless enthusiasm towards it kept us all entertained.
That evening, after killing some time in a bar, we headed as planned by Zihao to BB King's blues bar. The burgers were excellent, and the music was enjoyed by all. Enthusiasm towards blues music varied within the group, from Zihao, who was practically ecstatic, to Mole, who was mostly uninterested and focussed on eating his wings (as usual), although possibly the two grannies that danced consistently on their own throughout the evening might have claimed the enthusiasm prize from Zihao!
Next stop, New Orleans!
