Visits to Tupelo, MS and Memphis, TN (GART - Stops 13 and 14)

As I was sitting my Atlanta hotel room on Sunday night, I discovered some disappointing news - the two sites that I had planned to visit in Memphis on Tuesday were both closed on Tuesdays (Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum). ARGH! No! I was terribly disappointed by this news. I just never thought to check about closed sites. I came to the conclusion that I would probably have to make a second visit to Memphis in the future in order to see these sites and I would have to explore other sites in Memphis. But it turned out that thanks to an earlier than planned departure from Atlanta and the hour time zone gain, I was able to fulfill my wishes to see these two attractions! Yay!

Before I get to all that, let's start with my departure from Atlanta. I left Atlanta around 8am. As I traveled west, I crossed into my first new state (Alabama). I was surprised as I traveled through this state to discover that it's quite a pretty state. Even in the dead of winter, the gently rolling hills were a delight to behold. I can only imagine what it's like in spring and summer. I passed by Birmingham and continued my way to the Mississippi state line (entering my next new state). Approximately 30 minutes later, I pulled into my first stop...

Elvis Presley Birthplace in Tupelo: For anyone who doesn't know, Elvis Presley was an American singer and actor who is commonly referred to as "The King of Rock and Roll". Presley is one of the most celebrated and influential musicians of the 20th century. Commercially successful in many genres, including pop, blues and gospel, he is the best-selling solo artist in the history of recorded music, with estimated record sales of around 600 million units worldwide. He was nominated for 14 competitive Grammys and won three, also receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Tragically, Elvis died in 1977 at the age of 42. At the tender age of nearly 11, I was devastated by this loss. I was already a big fan of Elvis when he died and it saddened me that he was taken from us. Traveling from Atlanta to Memphis, I had to travel right pass Tupelo so it made sense to make a stop to see Elvis's birthplace. This tiny two room shotgun house was built by Elvis's paternal grandfather. None of the furnishings are original to the house but a reasonable facsimile to how it would have looked during Elvis's short time in the home. The docent who was in the house had a wealth of knowledge about Elvis. It was an interesting stop to see the humble beginnings of the King. I left the birthplace to travel 100 miles to Memphis. I arrived at my next destination (Graceland) around 2pm and while there are several different tours to choose from, I chose to tour only the mansion, as time was limited.

Graceland in Memphis, TN: Graceland is the mansion that Elvis purchased in 1957 for $102,000. Sitting on a 13 acre estate, the house has a total of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms. Only eight of the rooms are part of the tour. The entire 2nd floor which has Elvis's bedroom and his daughter, Lisa Marie's bedroom is not open for visitors out of respect for the family. Most of the house has been unchanged since Elvis died in 1977. The decor is very much late 1960s-early 1970s and therefore is quite garish and tacky, which makes it that much more awesome to visit. The rooms which are part of tour are: (on the main floor) the Living Room with connecting Music Room, Elvis's parent's room, the Dining Room, the Kitchen, and the infamous Jungle Room with it's green shag carpeted floors and ceiling. In the basement, there are two additional rooms on the tour - the TV Room and the Billiard Room. The mansion tour also includes visits to Vernon's office, the Trophy Building, the Racquetball Building, and the Meditation Garden where Elvis and some of his family members are buried. (Yes, I wept a little at his gravesite.) Visiting Graceland has long been a dream of mine and I was so glad I could tick this one off my bucket list. Any visit to Memphis should include this site. After the tour, I left Graceland and drove across town to the...

National Civil Rights Museum: One of the sites I wanted to visit was the place where Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated. To my surprise, the Lorraine Motel (the site of the murder) had been turned into a civil right museum. I knew that I must visit this site. In 1945, Walter Bailey purchased the property, renamed it the Lorraine Motel and created upscale accommodations for black clientele, in the segregation era. Among its guests through the 1960s were musicians going to Stax Records, including Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, Ethel Waters, Otis Redding, the Staple Singers and Wilson Pickett. Following the assassination of King, Bailey withdrew Room 306 (where King died) and the adjoining room 307 from use, maintaining them as a memorial to the activist leader, which is still a memorial today. Arriving an hour before the museum closed, I was greatly impressed by this museum. Its exhibits trace the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the 17th century to the present. This site is a must see for anyone with interest in civil rights, history, and/or education. There was so much information presented that it was a bit overwhelming and I could have spent an entire day reading. In order to see as much of the museum as I could, I needed to limit my perusal to a few exhibits that I found the most interesting. Mostly I focused on the exhibits on Brown vs. Board of Education, Rosa Parks, the Freedom Riders, and the Sit-in Demonstrations. Truly, it is a fascinating museum.

I then headed to my hotel for the night. Today, it was time to check out more of Memphis, starting with...

Sun Studio: Sun Studio is a recording studio opened by rock pioneer Sam Phillips at 706 Union Avenue  on January 3, 1950. It was originally called Memphis Recording Service, until Phillips recognized that he was losing money by not having his own record label. This led to Phillips creating the Sun Records label business. Reputedly the first rock and roll single, Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' "Rocket 88" (video) was recorded there in 1951 with song composer Ike Turner on keyboards, leading the studio to claim status as the birthplace of rock & roll. Blues and R&B artists like Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, Little Milton, B.B. King, James Cotton, Rufus Thomas, and Rosco Gordon recorded there in the early 1950s. Rock and roll, country music, and rockabilly artists, including Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Charlie Feathers, Ray Harris, Warren Smith, Charlie Rich, and Jerry Lee Lewis, recorded there throughout the mid-to-late 1950s until the studio outgrew its Union Avenue location and moved to a new location in 1960. The building remained empty for 25 years until it was reopened by Gary Hardy as "Sun Studio," a recording label and tourist attraction that has attracted many notable artists, such as U2, Def Leppard, Bonnie Raitt, Paul Simon, John Mellencamp, Ringo Starr and others. This site was incredible. I just loved seeing the memorabilia on display and feeling the leftover energy in the studio from all the musicians who made Sun Studio their home. If you go to Memphis, do not miss this attraction!!! After leaving Sun Studio, I drove across town to...

Stax Museum of American Soul Music: Occupying the same location of Stax Records, Stax Museum was created to document the history of the Memphis soul music scene. Founded in 1957, Stax Records was an American record label and was a major factor in the creation of the Southern soul and Memphis soul music styles, also releasing gospel, funk, jazz, and blues recordings. While Stax is renowned for its output of African-American music, the label featured "several popular ethnically-integrated bands, including the label's house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and a racially integrated team of staff and artists unheard of in that time of racial strife and tension in Memphis and the South" (Wikipedia).  The label was created as a direct opposition to the slick, smooth Motown acts coming out of Detroit. Stax artists had a raw and soulful quality. Some of the artists on the Stax label were: Otis Redding, Sam and Dave, Isaac Hayes, Wilson Pickett, and many others. I loved the history, exhibits and stories. I wasn't familiar with Stax but I certainly was familiar with the performers. It was worth the price of admission if only to see Isaac Hayes's 1972 gold-trimmed, peacock blue Cadillac with fur lined interior, a fridge, and television. It's superfly! Sadly, photographs of the car were not allowed.  <sniff>

On my way out of Memphis, I stopped for lunch at one of the best BBQ restaurants in the city: Central BBQ. This restaurant had some of the best ribs I've ever had! Then it time to hit the road for my next stop: Little Rock.

Memphis was a great city to stop in, especially for someone who loves music. Seeing all of these music sites was special and really fabulous. I loved my time in Memphis. Check out all of my photos from Tupelo and Memphis (there are a lot!) on my GART photo site.

The stats below are again a little askew because the mileage starts with my last stop in Florida.

Boca Raton odometer mileage: 95,232

Odometer mileage in Tupelo: 96,236

Miles driven to Tupelo: 1,004 (includes stops in Macon and Atlanta)
Odometer mileage in Memphis: 96,335
Miles driven to Memphis:  99

Total miles driven to date: 3,346

States driven through: Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee

Elvis's Jungle Room