The King, Ducks and BB King

What a fun day we've had today!  We started out at Graceland back across the Mississippi River in Memphis. The home that Elvis Presley bought when he became a star is now a shrine to him and his music.

You sign up for a tour of the mansion and then take a shuttle bus basically across the street.  These are the gates of Graceland as seen through the shuttle bus windshield --

The living room at Graceland -- can you believe that l-o-n-g white sofa?

The tour takes you through the downstairs portion of the house and the basement, plus the addition that housed the racquetball court. The former racquetball court is lined with gold and platinum record awards.  And that's not all of them!

Glass cases hold many of the fantastic jumpsuits and outfits that the King wore at his performances. I don't recall what he was wearing the first time we saw him when we were teenagers -- at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.  When we saw him in the early seventies in Las Vegas, he was wearing something similar to these. I remember he had a red scarf around his neck.  He wiped his face with it and then tossed it into the audience.  I thought the lady who grabbed it was going to swoon --

Elvis Presley and his music was such a part of our teenage and early married years.  I can remember watching him on the Ed Sullivan show when they so carefully did NOT show anything below the waist! Elvis' grave is in the Meditation Garden behind the house along with those of his parents and grandmother. There were multiple bouquets of fresh and silk flowers that continue to arrive at
Graceland every day --

In the automobile museum next door are many of Elvis' automobiles, motorcycles and other mechanized toys.  I think I liked this purple Cadillac the best.  Or maybe the pink one?

Both of Elvis' airplanes are also on the tour. We had to chuckle at the color schemes and what was "hot" so many years ago.

From Graceland we drove downtown to the historic Peabody Hotel.  It was time to take a break in the lobby --

And to see the famous Peabody Marching Ducks in the fountain! Four females and a drake march down to the lobby from their penthouse quarters every morning at 11 AM and march back up at 5 PM.

The hotel has a "Duck Master," who trains and cares for them --

Here they are climbing out of the fountain for their trip down the red carpet --

People were lined up all along the mezzanine and the lobby to watch --

They follow the Duck Master down the red carpet and across the lobby to the elevator.  --
(The jerk in the blue shirt is a professional photographer from PBS... he kept getting in front of everyone!)

From The Peabody we walked a couple of blocks down to Beale Street to BB King's,  (King was not there tonight, but was playing in concert on the huge video screen) where we had wonderful ribs and the best catfish I've ever eaten. When I had asked the concierge at The Peabody for directions to BB King's, he gave me cards good for two free appetizers...

Memphis is much like Nashville -- even on a Tuesday night, downtown is alive and active! This shot is looking down Beale Street which was barricaded off from vehicle traffic --

It was an absolutely delightful day!  And we came back to Auntie Violet in time to watch the Country Music Awards being broadcast from Nashville. We had checked into the possibility of getting tickets last week when we were in Nashville, but they were already sold out.  Besides, it was "formal attire required." I don't think any of us have anything that fulfills that requirement in our RVs...!