Memphis, the city were the Blues was born
Back in the car again and heading towards Memphis. We get there after more than three hours on the highway. The Mississippi river goes through Memphis and seeing it for the first time, at sunset in its immensity was a great emotion. We get settled down at our hotel and rest after the long car trip. Evening on Beale Street, a pedestrian area full of clubs with live concerts. If Nashville is the capital of country, Memphis is that of the blues. Bands perform in each club, all of excellent quality. Free entry or up to $5 at some clubs. Beale Street is among the very few streets in the United States where you can stroll with a beer in your hand. And they sell them to you in special stalls! Everywhere there is music and party and it is impossible not to get carried away.
The next morning we walk to the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated. The motel has become a museum on the condition of African Americans from slavery to civil rights. The museum is very well kept and it would take at least two hours to visit it carefully. It’s definitively an experience worth doing to understand how much this country has changed. After visiting the Lorraine Motel, a short rest at the hotel and we set off again towards Graceland, just outside the city, where Elvis Presley’s house is.
The villa is magical. For an hour and a half we live the myth of Elvis by walking around his estate and paying homage at his grave. This a fantastic and exciting experience only fans can understand! When you enter the house (which is the second most visited attraction in the United States) it is normally packed with fans from all over the world! The museum is beautiful and you can see all the awards Elvis received during his career, the clothes he wore and his personal effects.
