"With our foot on the gas & no brakes on the fun!"

We left this morning @ 5 am. As it was still dark & scary out, we took a ride through Cincinnati to see the Krohn Conservatory where the movie Airborne was filmed…you know, the part where they rollerskate through the botanical garden.  Cincinnati is quite a scary site at the crack of dawn, so we headed out quickly to our next location.

With 200 miles left to Memphis we decided it was time to stop for some…

The sirloin mini burgers were delish!!!! Especially at 10 am; however, with being up for already 5 hours, it was technically our lunchtime, right?

Also, we needed to get gas. Little did we know it was….

Ladies Happy Hour every day from 7-10am!! Ladies get a drink of their choice, any size, FOR FREE!!!!! So we get some Hawaiian Punch and of course we go for the 44 oz. This was probably not the best choice for our small bladder and long journey ahead, but if it’s free its for me:)

We finally arrive in Memphis. We check in early & head out into the city.  First stop = Sun Studios. To get there, we have a choice of a $30 cab ride or a $1 trolley ride. We opt for the trolley of course.

We get dropped off at our stop, which is apparently in the back of some automotive garage and are told to “walk up the little road and look left.” Well, we walk up the road and don’t see anything left, so we turn right. This leads us to cornel sanders behind bars and total strangers screaming “hey, ya’ll lost?” our response “does it look like we know where we’re going?” (with our map in hand) 

We make it to our Sun Studio Tour where we learn about how the label got started and all the amazing artists that recorded there. 

Fun Facts:

-the first “distorted” guitar sound came from a broken amp stuffed with newspaper

-Elvis was the first person in his family to graduate high school

-Johnny Cash used a piece of paper between his guitar strings to make a percussion sound in the song “Walk the Line”

-Jerry Lee Lewis had an awesome career & could have been a bigger hit then Elvis until he decided to marry his 13 year old cousin

-The Million Dollar Quartet = Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins & Jerry Lee Lewis had a jam session & was secretly recorded which, when Elvis died, became the number 1 selling single

It was surreal to stand in the same spot as Elvis and all the other famous artists. They use the studio for tours in the daytime and still record at night. Some recent artists to record there are John Mellencamp, Beck, and Bono.

We then headed off to the home of Elvis Presley himself…Graceland!!

Graceland was awesome because all of the rooms and the house itself are kept in the original conditions. Although you can only see the rooms behind gold ropes, it was still cool to see where Elvis actually called home. One of the coolest rooms was the “Jungle room.” This room was covered from floor to ceiling in green shag carpet! Elvis designed the furniture himself and actually used the room to jam with friends and record songs for an album. The carpet covering the ceiling and walls helped with the acoustic.

The tour continued to show us the billions of records, awards, and achievements Elvis received. This took up about 10 different rooms.

We saw all his 21 cars/motorcyles/go-carts/snowmobiles that he owned.

We made our way through the tour and got blinded by some of his beautiful sequined costumes that came in white, black, purple, gold and silver. There was even a whole exhibit dedicated to all his costumes from the 31 movies he was in.

We explored his private jet “Lisa Marie” to complete our tour.

As we waited 15 minutes for our free shuttle, we met a man from Scotland named Dave who apparently doesn’t like Elvis at all. So much that he dedicated a whole limb of his body to Elvis & Rock N Roll.

The FREE shuttle came and picked up everyone else besides us. We were told we would have to wait an hour for the next shuttle since there was no more room. So much for free shuttle, it was off to find a cab at this point.

Our new friend, Terry The Cab Driver, gave us a ride and a plethora of hometown information. Including the names of his four children. He told us how he used to wave to Elvis when the King entered the gates of Graceland. Apparently, The King would throw candy, coins, and whistles out of the window.  We are told, he was a very generous person.

Our stomachs were growling, so it was time for some Memphis BBQ!! Terry suggested “Central BBQ” which was only “1 mile away” but it took 20 minutes to get there. We were a little nervous about our new friend Terry and our whereabouts, but we made it safely to get our grub on.  All we have to say is…..O. M. G.

Before... 

After...

With our bellies full, we explored Beale Street and enjoyed a stroll along the Mississippi River back to our hotel. 

We are relaxing now and preparing for tomorrows activities. In the words of The King….Thank You, Thank You Very Much!!

xxoo

The X Country Girls