Walking in Memphis

Before we head further east, let’s finish off our time in New Orleans. Our penultimate day kicked off with a visit to the New Orleans Jazz Museum, which contained fantastic exhibits on early jazz, its connections to the Big Easy, and a whole piece on its favourite son, Louis Armstrong. They even had a trumpet mouthpiece he used while in the city. Fascinating to see, even if we did hope someone had washed it between now and then.

Taking in all this culture was hungry work so we took a walk into town to the Erin Rose pub, an Irish pub but thankfully without the fiddle-dee-dee touristy feel about. We sought this out as it is also home to Killer Po-Boys, which we’d had recommended to us. They were great, especially paired with local potato chip brand Zapp’s. Highly recommend the ‘Voodoo’ flavour if you’re ever in town.

The pub was also very fun in itself. We sat at the bar and befriended the bar staff while they served us drinks, including the best Guinness I’ve had in the States. They’re apparently renowned for frozen Irish coffees. This explained the several pots of coffee they had brewing at any one time. I’d initially thought someone there had a caffeine addiction to rival anyone.

We then closed out the day by heading to the Spotted Cat Music Club on Frenchman Street,¹ in which we were treated to a good few hours of some quality jazz. I’m honestly this close to buying a trilby and some dark sunglasses.

On our last day we unleased our inner goths by checking out one of the city’s graveyards before heading to the city park. On our way there, three young lads sold us lemonade from their lemonade stand. How quintessentially American! We had a picnic lunch, walked around the sculpture garden, and finished by enjoying coffee and beignets at a local cafe.

Our Southern journey continued as we drove through the state of Mississippi, gobbled down a Denny’s breakfast, and then proceeded to Memphis in the great state of Tennessee. Talk about living the American Dream! All we need now is our own pickup truck and a gun and then we’ve got everything sorted.

When planning the trip, it was a close call as to where to stay between Memphis and Nashville, two cities rich in music history and culture. We ultimately opted for Memphis, as we’re more inclined towards blues, rock, and soul than country, and oh my, this place has music literally paved into its streets. Don’t believe me? Check out the stars in its Walk of Fame.

After our six-hour drive, we walked around the famous Beale Street, where so many performers, including Elvis and B.B King, first got their starts gigging.

The following day we headed to Graceland, the famous home of one Mr. Elvis Aron Presley. Where to begin? Firstly, while the house itself isn’t as big as you may think, it has beautifully wild 70s décor still in place. Shag carpeted walls, glass-stained windows with peacocks in them – it’s truly amazing, and I haven’t even mentioned the jungle room where two albums were recorded.

The museum was incredible, with what can only be described as hundreds of the King’s jumpsuits on display, alongside mementos from his music and film career. Granted, I haven’t seen any of his films, but I bet the one where he brings ‘the Big Beat to Baghdad’ has aged well.

We ate that night at Charlie Virgo’s Rendezvous, a restaurant that literally everyone who’s been to Memphis seemingly recommends, and it didn’t disappoint. We enjoyed an appetiser of a sausage and cheese platter, a Memphis classic, and then enjoyed a rack of dry-rub ribs. My future gout is going to so be worth it.

Given that we’re in the city of blues, what better way to spend the remainder of the evening than having a few cocktails and taking in some music at B.B King’s Blues Club? We saw the club’s All-Star band nail covers of Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Gloria Gaynor, and more. No jokes here, just a brilliant band.

Today we went on a 10k walk across state lines, taking the Big River bridge crossing to go from Tennessee to Arkansas and back again, over the Mississippi. We managed to take in the Memphis skyline, including the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid. Clearly some outdoor sport enthusiast Pharoah decided to set up shop here.

We took some photos at the State Line before heading into Arkansas proper. Arkansas appeared to just be a field, but I’m sure there’d be more to see if my feet weren’t hurting and we went further than fifty metres.

Later we headed to the legendary Sun Recording Studio, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and so many others recorded some of their greatest hits. We saw a great collection of artifacts from the studio’s golden age, and there was such a frisson to stand where Elvis, Cash, and others had stood to record their hits. I even got a photo with a mic that they all used. Again, here’s hoping someone washed it in the meantime.