Andona
Destroyer of the Aussie Dollar
- Joined
- Jun 19, 2008
DH had been suffering from a head cold for the last few days so on Sunday we went looking for a Walgreens to stock up on cold and flu tablets. Isn't it fun trying to find familiar medications overseas! Not! In the end we had to ask the pharmacist because we were hoping to get something like Original formula Codral ( the one with paracetamol, codeine and pseudo ephedrine ) once we established that they call paracetamol, acetominaphen. And that we couldn't get anything with codeine in it unless we had a prescription...we finally left the store with something to dry up DHs nose.
...and then made our way across town to Graceland....and so did everybody else! We may have avoided queues in Disney World but we struck them with a vengeance here. We queued for 25 minutes to buy tickets, then another 15 minutes in the shuttle bus queue and them we shuffled our way around the mansion in one long slow moving queue. If this is the slow season I would hate to visit Graceland in the summer!
Graceland exterior
The house is not particularly large but the interior decor is......well.....interesting! It's the height of 1970s too-much-money and not-enough-taste decor. The jungle room with its green carpet on the floor, walls and ceiling; and it's heavily carved timber furniture with fur upholstery is particularly ...errr....attractive (?)"
The Jungle room at Graceland
After the house we had lunch at one of the cafes on the premises, then visited the Automobile museum and saw his many fancy cars including the famous pink Cadillac. Finally we toured his two private jets, where the interiors were designed according to his specifications. Lots of blue suede and gold plated seat belts!
The crowds were still streaming in as we left and drove downtown to The National Civil Rights museum. The first thing you see is the hotel where Martin Luther king was assassinated. The exterior of the hotel has been kept exactly as it was, including the two cars parked in the car park below the balcony where he was standing when he was shot. The interior has been gutted and added on to and now houses an excellent museum about the struggle for civil rights in the south.
Civil Rights Museum
By now it was nearly 3 so we decided to drive to The Peabody hotel and checkin. The Peabody is a grand old dame of a hotel with a fabulous lobby hung with chandeliers, furnished with plushy lounges and decorated with huge bowls of flowers. But the main centerpiece of the lobby is a huge travertine marble fountain....with ducks swimming in it! The ducks are trained to march down a red carpet to and from the fountain twice a day, and the March of the Peabody Ducks is now one of the premier sights in Memphis. When we went down at 4.30 to find a spot the lobby was packed with people!
Peabody hotel lobby
For dinner we walked two blocks down to Beale street which is famous for its Blues clubs. We ate at BB Kings Blues Club and enjoyed an ok dinner and some great music.
Next day, we drove the Delta Blues Highway US 61 , the Blues Trail.
We drove past miles and miles of cotton plantations and Not long after we left Memphis we saw some massive thunderheads building up ahead of us and we were treated to some spectacular lightning and thunder. I was scanning the sky wondering if we were likely to see a twister.
Storm clouds over cotton fields
The sun was out by the time we reached Vicksburg where we drove into the huge Vicksburg National Military Memorial Park which is located on the site of one of the most crucial and bloody battlegrounds of the Civil War. It's managed by the National Park service and is now a really lovely green park.
Vicksburg Civil War park
We finally pulled into Natchez at about 4.30pm. We passed a couple of beautiful antebellum mansions ...
before we drove into the driveway of Twin Oaks B&B . The owner took us through to the back of the house where we went through the account location details. The main home is gorgeous, high ceiling and magnificent proportions, dating from around 1830. The B& B rooms are in the converted slave quarters.
Mississippi river at Natchez
We let ourselves in and started unpacking and I was tickled to discover an off the shoulder , southern belle dress hanging in the wardobe. It was even green and white, reminiscent of the dress that Scarlett Ohara wears in the opening scenes of Gone with the Wind. I had to try it on, of course! Luckily the pic doesn't show the rear view, the dress was made for a skinnier southern belle than me- it didn't do up at the back!
You have a good day now, y'all!
Andona
Sent from my iPad using DISBoards
...and then made our way across town to Graceland....and so did everybody else! We may have avoided queues in Disney World but we struck them with a vengeance here. We queued for 25 minutes to buy tickets, then another 15 minutes in the shuttle bus queue and them we shuffled our way around the mansion in one long slow moving queue. If this is the slow season I would hate to visit Graceland in the summer!
Graceland exterior
The house is not particularly large but the interior decor is......well.....interesting! It's the height of 1970s too-much-money and not-enough-taste decor. The jungle room with its green carpet on the floor, walls and ceiling; and it's heavily carved timber furniture with fur upholstery is particularly ...errr....attractive (?)"
The Jungle room at Graceland
After the house we had lunch at one of the cafes on the premises, then visited the Automobile museum and saw his many fancy cars including the famous pink Cadillac. Finally we toured his two private jets, where the interiors were designed according to his specifications. Lots of blue suede and gold plated seat belts!
The crowds were still streaming in as we left and drove downtown to The National Civil Rights museum. The first thing you see is the hotel where Martin Luther king was assassinated. The exterior of the hotel has been kept exactly as it was, including the two cars parked in the car park below the balcony where he was standing when he was shot. The interior has been gutted and added on to and now houses an excellent museum about the struggle for civil rights in the south.
Civil Rights Museum
By now it was nearly 3 so we decided to drive to The Peabody hotel and checkin. The Peabody is a grand old dame of a hotel with a fabulous lobby hung with chandeliers, furnished with plushy lounges and decorated with huge bowls of flowers. But the main centerpiece of the lobby is a huge travertine marble fountain....with ducks swimming in it! The ducks are trained to march down a red carpet to and from the fountain twice a day, and the March of the Peabody Ducks is now one of the premier sights in Memphis. When we went down at 4.30 to find a spot the lobby was packed with people!
Peabody hotel lobby
For dinner we walked two blocks down to Beale street which is famous for its Blues clubs. We ate at BB Kings Blues Club and enjoyed an ok dinner and some great music.
Next day, we drove the Delta Blues Highway US 61 , the Blues Trail.
We drove past miles and miles of cotton plantations and Not long after we left Memphis we saw some massive thunderheads building up ahead of us and we were treated to some spectacular lightning and thunder. I was scanning the sky wondering if we were likely to see a twister.
Storm clouds over cotton fields
The sun was out by the time we reached Vicksburg where we drove into the huge Vicksburg National Military Memorial Park which is located on the site of one of the most crucial and bloody battlegrounds of the Civil War. It's managed by the National Park service and is now a really lovely green park.
Vicksburg Civil War park
We finally pulled into Natchez at about 4.30pm. We passed a couple of beautiful antebellum mansions ...
before we drove into the driveway of Twin Oaks B&B . The owner took us through to the back of the house where we went through the account location details. The main home is gorgeous, high ceiling and magnificent proportions, dating from around 1830. The B& B rooms are in the converted slave quarters.
Mississippi river at Natchez
We let ourselves in and started unpacking and I was tickled to discover an off the shoulder , southern belle dress hanging in the wardobe. It was even green and white, reminiscent of the dress that Scarlett Ohara wears in the opening scenes of Gone with the Wind. I had to try it on, of course! Luckily the pic doesn't show the rear view, the dress was made for a skinnier southern belle than me- it didn't do up at the back!
You have a good day now, y'all!
Andona
Sent from my iPad using DISBoards