Home of the King...

Escaping the trailing police car by hiding out at the northern entrance to the Nathez Trace Parkway.

We had the time, and wanted to avoid the interstates, so we decided on the "scenic" route from Nashville back to the Mississippi at Memphis TN, by taking part of the Natchez Trace Parkway. It was always going to be difficult to find the start of this road, and so it proved, but eventually we got onto it (trailed by a police car who probably misinterpreted our hestitancy for suspicious erratic driving). We had already read that the police haunt the Parkway because the speed limit is very low (40mph) which provides them with good pickings, but he eventually gave up following us when we pulled off to take our photo by the Parkway sign.

Our rental RAV4, now cleaned of snow, ice, salt and grime, enjoying the Parkway forest.

These Parkways (we did the full length of the Blue Ridge Parkway 6 years ago) are run by the National Parks Service and are unique the way they weave their way through what seems to be wilderness but in reality is barely wider than the road itself and the tree cover on either side. They are the very antithesis of the interstates - relaxing and quiet (they are probably not quiet in Summer), and cruising along them is a very pleasant interlude, although not suited to making good time. We saw deer running across the Parkway in front of us. Every so often, the Natchez Trace Parkway entertained us with good views, engineering masterpieces, small waterfalls and historic places. One notable place was the death site and burial place of Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame. The cause of his death at only 36 along the Trace seems to be shrouded in Tennessee fog.

The Parkway runs over TN-96 with this award winning double arch bridge.

Idyllic rural scenery of Water Valley, as seen from the Parkway.

With regret, near Waynesboro, we turned off the Parkway to skirt the Mississipi (state) border and make it for Memphis. Much of this road is shown on our Rand McNally atlas as "scenic", but we found it a rather dreary stretch of not very interesting towns with long periods of low speed limits. The road itself was mostly very quiet, and one delightful discovery was a roadside cafe in Savannah which actually builds a sandwich for you with sliced bread and specified ingredients. The last 60 odd miles into Memphis (route 57), if not exactly scenic, was quite pleasant with beautiful houses on large manicured allotments.

The Heartbreak Hotel is directly opposite Graceland, but is not recommended for stays beyond the museum visit.

For Memphis, we made an executive decision to not stay downtown (very expensive) but, since we wanted to visit Graceland, to use Elvis' Heartbreak Hotel which is directly opposite. This would have been a good idea for one night, because it entitles you to a good deal and free parking for the Graceland visit. Having our whole Memphis stay at the HH was a poor decision, in retrospect, because (a) it is really rundown and sad, if not decrepit and (b) in a terrible part of town, with no decent cafes or restaurants nearby, only fast food outlets and heaps of gas stations. That said, our room was spacious and was equipped with a fridge and a microwave, and the hotel had a respectable bar food menu/

The day of our visit was fine and sunny, but very cold at 0C and with a strong wind!

Graceland is, of course, Elvis Presley's last house, and his heirs converted the house to a museum to help defray the costs of maintaining it and its grounds. It has become an impressive shrine devoted to Elvis' life, family and career. Perhaps not surprisingly, the museum underplays the dark periods in the middle and end of his life, but it is pretty frank (and detailed) about his terribly difficult upbringing in Tupelo MS, and the poverty-stricken lives of his parents, who are buried with him at Gracelands. Elvis's stunning wardrobe and mind-boggling entertainment awards are the major features of the Gracelands museum, and (unbeknown to us) it turns out he was a great philanthropist too. One of the delights of Gracelands was Elvis' home-movies on display on numerous monitors throughout.

The front facade of the imposing Gracelands mansion.

Living room at Gracelend as decorated by Elvis.

Part of the stunning gallery of gold records on display at Gracelands.

Huge plaque presented by Memphis City to recognise Elvis' contribution to the city and his support of many deserving causes.

In peak season, Gracelands must be as crowded as Disneyland. During our visit, the carpark was less than 5% full, yet the mansion seemed to be quite busy with visitors, mostly middle-aged to elderly "tragics" who got quite emotional at the grave-site. Most visitors seemed to be non-Americans. The place is run like a theme park, which (so as not to impinge on the Gracelands site itself) extends to the other side of Elvis Presley Boulevard where there are numerous opportunities to buy mechandise and devour awful junk food. Also on this other side are interesting exhibits on Elvis's motor vehicle collection (more home movies) and his aeroplanes, not to mention the Heartbreak Hotel itself.

The graves of Elvis and his parents were relocated to Gracelands to thwart souvenir-hunters at the original, unsecured, site.

One of Elvis' cars, a Cadillac Convertable. Highway 51 through Memphis, which passes Graceland, is now named "Elvis Presley Boulevard".

The musical gates to Graceland are as well known as the mansion, shown here after dark, when the gates are closed for the night.

As we drove around, we discovered the whole city from Memphis downtown to the Mississippi border (maybe 15 miles) is very poor and dispirited. This is sad, for such an important centre of the civil rights movement. The only decent buildings are churches, and there are myriads of these. The depression extends right into the downtown area - Clare's research found us an excellent coffee shop (actual crockery cups, saucers and spoons) just blocks south of the city centre but the area was incredibly quiet and deserted, and we parked there on Main Street without any competition for spaces. While at that end of town, we looked at the main railway station. Unlike in other cities, it is still in use by Amtrak (trains between Chicago and New Orleans) stop here once a day in each direction. The terminal is a fine building, used as a function centre, but not as opulent as others we have seen on this trip.

Trolley trundles by Bluff City Coffee in S Main St, Memphis. The street was almost totally deserted.

Memphis' downtown area is reasonably compact and is well served by a trolley system running on a frequent timetable,and $1 a ride, up Main St (a pedestrian mall much of the way) and down the riverfront (on old railway tracks). The trolleys look like old and ancient Sydney or Melbourne trams are quite possibly are! We used the trolley to traverse downtown before walking around.

Almost empty trolleys ply almost empty Main Street in downtown Memphis.

B.B.King at the Memphis Tennessee Visitors Centre

Nashville was quiet, but Memphis was comatose. We saw very few locals and even fewer tourists. Some of the things we wanted to look at were closed "for the season", even though the weather was perfectly fine (but cold). Memphis is very proud of its musical heritage, and Beale Street, the famous music street was awake, and everything was open, but deathly quiet inside. During the day, we could find only one place with live music, although Memphis does come alive at night with live acts on at dozens of venues, centred on Beale St, but also in the suburbs.

Poster at Kings in Beale Street in Memphis. We had Catfish Po'Boy!