St. Louis - Memphis

The Cardinals beat the Tigers 4-1 and clinched the World Series for the first time in 24 years. Unfortunately we weren't in the city to see it happen but we did celebrate in a particularly unique way. We managed to get free tickets to a Hayride Pub Crawl which was operating in the area where our hostel was situated. Everyone was given wristbands and clambered onto the back of a hay wagon pulled by a small green tractor. This tractor proceeded to make laps of the neighbourhood stopping at participating bars and people were able to jump on and off at each stop. There were live bands playing in most of the bars and several people were dressed up in their Halloween garb. Towards the end of the night we met a great guy called Tim who is probably the biggest Cardinals fan in the world. We spoke with him at length and he revealed to us that he was the owner of a rather nice white 1976 Cadillac. We exchanged numbers and the next morning he gave us a ride around some parts of St. Louis we hadn't seen before. It was the most luxurious car either of us had ever ridden in, with a white leather interior and a 4 foot bonnet. Tim also had similar music tastes to us which made the journey all the more enjoyable. That afternoon we caught our next Greyhound which would take us through Arkansas and across the Mississippi to Memphis.
We booked into a cheap hotel on Elvis Presley Boulevard just over half a mile from Graceland. It has been a relief to have some real privacy for the first time in a month and it works out no more expensive than our hostel in Boston. The day after we arrived we spent touring Graceland which was far more enjoyable and far less tacky than we were expecting. We were given headsets which provided an audio commentary at various points on the tour. The house itself is smaller than you'd expect and the inside is decorated according to Elvis's unique sense of taste and style. One of the most striking rooms is the Jungle Room which features exotic wooden furniture, an indoor waterfall and thick green carpet on the floors, walls and ceiling. This later addition apparently improved the acoustics of the room. Elvis and his buddies used it as an impromptu recording studio on occasion. We weren't allowed to view the upstairs out of respect for the King's wishes, but we're sure they were just as lavish as the rest of the house. The grounds themselves still have a few horses, and a swimming pool. We were told that on occasion Elvis could be seen driving around the fields like an overgrown child on one of his many golfcarts and other motorised toys. The end of the tour left us both feeling rather upset. It was clear that Elvis was a generous and kindhearted individual who never let the fame go to his head.
The tickets that we bought included access to a few other exhibits including both of Elvis's private jets named after his only daughter Lisa Marie. The Lisa Marie 1 features four cabins with suede and velvet seating fitted with gold plated seatbelts. The sink in the bathroom was also plated with 24 carat gold. Many of Elvis's flights were taken at the spur of the moment including one trip to Colarado that he and Lisa Marie took when he suddenly realised that she hadn't yet seen snow. They flew out, played in the snow for half an hour and then flew back. The highlight of the tour for us was the exhibit featuring all of Elvis's cars. The centrepiece of this show was a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado in deep purple which had been loving restored by a group of fans just weeks before his death.
The next day we headed down into Memphis on a free shuttle that dropped us just outside the famous Sun Studios. It was the first truly sunny day we had had in a couple of weeks so we decided to go down to the banks of the Mississippi. Once there we discovered we were just in time to catch an hour and a half long cruise up and down the river on the Island Queen steamboat. It was a wonderfully relaxing experience drifting along the third largest river in the world whilst the Captain gave a running commentary of the history of this particular part of the waterway.
One of his most amusing anecdotes included a story about the town that used to exist across the river from Memphis known as Hopefield, Arkansas. Everything that was illegal in Memphis was legal in Hopefield and many Memphian men would take advantage of this fact and cross the river to engage in heavy drinking and all manner of other questionable activities. This enraged their wives so much that they began to nag the local police force in order that they might do something to stop these practises. Eventually the Memphis police got in a boat and began to cross the river with the intention of rooting out the evil in Hopefield. Little did they know that word had spread of their plan and certain Hopefieldians were waiting for them on the other bank. As soon as they landed a group of men jumped out of the bushes with rifles. The Memphis police were overpowered and forced to strip naked before getting back in their boats. The wives waiting on the opposite bank saw the boats returning and as they got closer they realised that the police were stark naked. Imagine what they must have thought. After this embarassing episode the women joined the local church and began praying for the eventual downfall of the town of Hopefield. Well, someone must have been listening because just a few months later the river rose, breaking its banks and taking the whole of Hopefield with it. Never to be seen again. It's stories like this that makes us feel like we're really getting to the heart of America.
Later that night we went for dinner on Beale Street which is famous for it's nightlife and as the birthplace of the Blues. We enjoyed some down home cooking at a place called Alfred's where we were lucky enough to be serenaded by the Memphis Jazz Orchestra who were outstanding. After dinner we went back down the street towards B.B. King's Blues club and were surprised to discover that the man himself was performing there that very night. On top of this we found that he would be playing their the following night so we decided to snap up the tickets while we had the opportunity. So tonight we will be seeing the one and only B.B. King in his very own club in his hometown of Memphis, we can't wait.
We will be staying in Memphis for Halloween which will no doubt be an interesting experience. Then on Wednesday we intend to catch the train down to New Orleans.