29 January – Memphis

After a lateish breakfast we went for a walk to the famous Beale St – it used to be an area for “coloured people only”, where they ate, shopped, and made music. These days it is a strip full of neon signs, bars, eateries and touristy souvenir shops. We bypassed them and went first to the Rock and Soul Museum. The museum is very well done, describing the evolution of rock, soul, hillbilly and rockabilly music, from the days of cotton picking, through to Elvis. Back in the 50s, Memphis had a black radio station and also a radio station staffed by women only – WHER. The audio tour included lots of music from the times – it was a lot of fun.

Following that, we went to the Gibson Guitar factory and did a tour. It was really interesting seeing how guitars are made and assembled. A Gibson guitar takes about 3-4 weeks to make and the factory makes around 60 per day.

We headed back to the hotel, and despite the bitter cold, we took a carriage tour. The carriage was all decked out in fairy lights and we had several thick blankets tucked around us, and hot chocolate in take away cups –so we were set. We drove around downtown Memphis, looking at the historical sights. We saw the sunset over the river and finished with a clop down Beale st, before being dropped back at the hotel.

We decided it was too cold to go looking for food, so we had a quick dinner in the hotel steak house – Ribs and meatballs. Then a cocktail in the piano bar before heading to bed.

Tomorrow we are homeward bound – about 21 hours of actual air travel over 30 or so hours. See you on the other side!