Memphis TN

Home of Elvis Presley, some of the best BBQ in the country, and the birthplace of Rock and Roll.  Oh, and the original owner of Piggly Wiggly lived here, although he didn't own the store for long.  He lost it and went bankrupt about a year after he opened the first store.

   I am not a huge Elvis fan.  I like his music well enough, but was never interested in all the hoopla about him personally.  And yet we will visit Graceland tomorrow.  Today we found Beale Street, which is "the" street in Memphis. A lot of the action is there, with lots of restaurants and live music. This morning we visited Sun Studios, where Elvis and Johnny Cash both got their start.  It was interesting to realize that Elvis was only 18 when he started recording songs here, although it would take a couple of years for his style to develop into something that caught on like wildfire.  As part of the tour they play recordings of some of the early recording sessions, back when they were live, and every band member was in the room together. Ray Orvis was among the people who recorded here. In fact, this studio saw many, many stars come through the doors over the years.  It is still used as a recording studio at night, and many big names like to record songs here, looking for the good "karma".   It was a small building with a lot of history attached to it.

        After strolling down Beale Street and eating lunch at one of the many BBQ places, we headed to the Pink Palace, a museum housed in a mansion originally owned by  Clarence Saunders, the owner of the original Piggly Wiggly.  There is a full scale replica of his first store in the museum.  I was amazed to see some of the brand names on the shelves: Procter and Gamble, Ivory Soap, Bertolli, Quaker Oats, Kellogg, and Lea and Perrin. Clarence never lived in the home, since he lost everything to bankruptcy before it was finished.  On Tuesday afternoons, admittance to the museum is free, so we saved $20 by coming today instead of tomorrow!