Before you go Jenny, get hold of Marc Cohn's "Walkin' in Memphis". It starts like this, and will really put you in the mood.
"Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy -- won't you look down over me
Yeah I got a first class ticket
But I'm as blue as a boy can be
Then I'm walking in Memphis
Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel
Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered 'round his tomb
But there's a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room..."
I went to Nashwille and Memphis two years ago. As a music fan I loved the trip. The visit to Graceland is excellent and so evovative. Inside, look at the huge list of charities Elvis supported and it will add a newx dimension to the man. The tour is very well done with audiovisuals, all his gold records and suits in cases, and with places like the Jungle Room left totally intact.
Beale Street is probably rather faded now since its heyday, but there's B. B. King's Club to visit for live blues and jazz, the statue of W.C. Handy, the famous ducks at the Peabody Hotel, the awesomeness of seeing where Martin Luther-King was shot dead, (along with car outside left untouched - frightening). Nashville if course is country music. The Grand Ole Oprey, a mecca for those like me, the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is worth hours of anyone's time (see Elvis's pink cadillac with all that gold!) The CDs on sale are full price so get them up the road at a few dollars less. Oh, and don't miss the full-size model of the Greek Parthenon a couple of miles up the road. Drive up to the modern town and into a delightful park. Now Ritz isn't going, can I come with you?
