Robin & Cody: Memphis

My parents were out visiting in early October. We had a great time! For the first few days of their stay we went to Memphis: the birthplace of rock n' roll and home to the blues.

Overall City Shots:

We stayed at the Peabody hotel. They are famous for their ducks, who march out daily to wade in the lobby fountain. There is something very cute about ducks walking...maybe it's that ducks remind me of young toddlers with a diaper on. Who knows. But it was truly amazing to see how many people got off tour buses and came down from their rooms to see these ducks march from the fountain back into the elevator after a day in the lobby.

The Hotel:

look at all the people waiting for the ducks!

The first day we went to the Mud Island River Park. It is a nice park which has a topographically correct replica of the Mississippi River. We spent a long time looking up and down the river at all the barges. My dad couldn't get over the amount of goods being transported on these barges. He could have stayed there all day starring at those suckers if we'd let him!

Mud Island:

We also went to Beale Street and ate BBQ at the Blues City Cafe, listened to some good music (even from Rudy Williams who has a music note on the street), and ordered a pricey pay per view movie ($15!!!) in our shared hotel room. And no, it's not weird to share a room with your parents after you're married. I thought it might be, but it was actually fun.

Beale Street:

The next day we headed to Graceland and did everything Elvis. I loved it all. Did you know that Graceland is the second most visited house in the USA, outside of the White House? I loved the tour so much that I wanted to buy three Elvis CDs as souvenirs. Cody somehow conned me into buying zero, with the argument that the CDs were probably over priced and we could get them elsewhere. I'm the fool who two weeks after the trip still doesn't have any CDs. I really wanted the Gospel one too. Is it too late to be an Elvis groupy?

Graceland and Elvis:

Sun Studio's drive-by (where Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded):

Then we headed to Corky's for lunch. We also went to the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The day was ended with a drive around the nice neighborhoods of Memphis, dinner at the Kooky Canuck (largest hamburgers ever and first time trying fried pickles (YUM!)), and another stroll down Beale Street and another movie in the room.

Lunch;