A day fit for KINGS!

As you may have guessed or read I was in Memphis, Tennessee today. It was kind of a day trip considering I arrived at 12am this morning! Since I was going to Graceland at 8:30am I figured I would just get a cheap room to stay in for a few hours sleep before heading out. Well......I guess when I say cheap......I meant REAL CHEAP!!!! Now this place I picked had to be one of the worst MOTELS (yes I said motel) EVER!! Well, with the exception of the Bates Motel but it was a close comparison!

I arrive like I said around 12am. As the taxi pulls up to my MOTEL I notice all the neighborhood hookers chillin in front of the Motel Lounge! Apparently, that is the place to hang out and meet folks/Johns. If I would have know I would have dressed nicer! Anyways, that was my first clue of the situation I just got myself into. I get out of the taxi and have to ring a bell to get the desk guy to let me in...gosh...I feel safe already! He lets me and and assigns me a room. Now there are like three buildings of rooms (Four if you count the hooker lounge/club) that he could assign me too. What does he do?? Gives me a room on the whole other side of the front office! Meaning I have to walk there...alone...at night! Now, I don't freak out that easily but I felt very uneasy about this place. Not sure why I didn't just take my crap and run then but like an ASS I didn't. After walking past the hooker lounge and the dirty gross pool with all the guys drinking their Mad Dog I get to my room. I immediately chain my door and shut my curtains. Then the smell hit me. It was a combination of funk and cigarette smoke!! SO GROSS!! I felt dirty already! I walk through the room to check for bugs and any other critter that might be in there with me. Thank God I found nothing. I called Steph in a panic and to complain! After her sisterly advice of "just sleep in your clothes" and "you will be fine it's only for a few hours" and let me not forget this one "consider it an adventure" I relaxed a little. Not really. I guess getting assaulted would be an adventure.....right????

Well, needless to say it was the longest 8 hours of my life. I was afraid to sleep so I instead just finished reading Eclipse (the third Twilight series book). I shut my eyes around 5am and was happy to be up at 7am and out the door by 8am. I said a prayer and thanked God (and of course Bella and Edward-people in my book for you non-Twilight people) for helping me through the night.

With my happy thoughts of Graceland I went to the front desk to have them call me a taxi. While I waited they showed me the way to their Continental breakfast set-up. I was excited. A free donut! Nope, it was a cheap looking danish and some crap that tasted like Tang (which I thought was OJ). I should have know! Looks good huh?? NOT!!! Check out the nice table cloth! First class all the way baby!
Well after my cup of Tang I was off to Graceland which was the reason I was even here. I got to the ticket office early and stood in line with all the other people. I think I was the only one under 50! I felt so out of place. I caught the first bus across the street and the audio tour began. Now, I don't know much about Elvis nor was I ever a huge fan. I mean he did die when I was only two years old but I became fascinated with his house and the stories. It was very cool. Here are some of the pictures below. BTW...I have many more if you want to see them let me know and I can send them to you.
Here of course is the famous Graceland front entrance.
Me with an Elvis sign to prove I was there....the guy I asked to take the photo could have zoomed in a bit...whatever
This is just a small part of what the WHOLE outside wall in front of Graceland says on it. People go up and write their comments and thoughts and declare their love for Elvis. Not sure it's legal so I skipped doing this....plus I didn't bring my white-out. Elvis's Living Room. He met most visitors in this room and hung out quite a bit here.

Dining Room
Kitchen
One of the many walls of gold records Elvis earned.
His headstone in the garden at Graceland
After the tour of Graceland I went back to see the other exhibits such as his two jets and his car collection. Here a few pictures.

The famous pink Cadillac

Elvis's room on his jet "Lisa Marie"
The "Lisa Marie" jet
The bathroom sink of the "Lisa Maria" jet had gold flakes in it. The seat belt buckles on the plane were the same way. This must be where Donald Trump got the idea!
Once I felt like I had seen all I could at Graceland I decided to headed off to the National Civil Rights Museum. It was about 10 miles away and it was only 11:30am so I knew I had time to check it out before I had to leave to catch my flight. I caught a taxi from "Old Man River" who drove about 30 mph on the road and highway and finally got me to the Museum thirty minutes later when it should have been a 15 minute drive! Why did I have to tell this guy to go the actual speed limit?? It was KILLING me how slow he was driving! WHATEVER!

Now the Museum is closed on Tuesdays which I knew already but I wanted to be able to see the balcony where Martin Luther King was shot and killed. The balcony area is open to the public to take photos (I mean you can't go up the stairs to it) but I figured I could at least see it and pay my respects. With the Museum being closed there was maybe one or two other people there taking photos and after they left it was just me. It was very quiet. I just kind of stood there thinking and reflecting upon what took place at this very spot. I know it may sound morbid but to be able to see this historic site was quite amazing and sad all at the same time. It was a weird mixture of emotions.

This is right outside and below the balcony.

The balcony

Not sure why people take pictures of themselves at places that famous people died but they do so I did too. I tried not to smile....if that helps. I also went black and white to make it more serious. Now with all my emotions mixed-up I figured it was a perfect time to EAT! : )

I walked up to Main Street and found this cute little place called Onix. I walk in and there are all this nice looking black man in business suits eating lunch. I almost turned around to leave considering I looked like some random girl backing packing through Memphis but I didn't because the food smelled good! I ordered the catfish and fries. Now, this was the BEST catfish I have EVER had! I was so full but I kept eating because I loved it so much!! I know I have food issues!!

Here is a photo of Main Street looking into Downtown Memphis.

After lunch I called a taxi (Not Old Man River) and I was off to the airport by 1:00pm. I caught my flight home at 2:30pm and I happily arrived back to AZ by 4:30pm. It was a fun little get away. I got to visit two historically site all in one day. I have also now seen the two most famous houses in America! I do think next time I might spend a few more bucks on a safe HOTEL and not get a ghetto MOTEL but hey it was like Steph said it was part of the adventure!

More to come!

xoxo