Memphis, B. B. King's Blues Club, and Sweet Caroline!

With Sister Shirley's expert driving we arrived in Memphis at 5:20 p.m. on Monday, July 1.  Somehow we had forgotten we would be cutting through the corner of Arkansas from Missouri -- duh!  Now that's state 10 we will be traveling through (I was careful not to use a credit card -- forgot to add Arkansas to the list of "ok" states!)  And, we are considering an 11th state ...bet you can't guess which one and why!

Memphis weather is lovely.....but, home?    Not so much!

 

Whew!!!!!

We checked into the Hampton Inn, Downtown right next to Beale Street.  There is a trend developing here on Hampton Inn hotels!  And, off we went to explore Beale Street!  Stopped by A. Schwab's the oldest mercantile in Memphis....

 World's largest coveralls for sale........

A great assortment of "stuff".......

And, voila!  B. B. King's Blues Club appeared almost next door.  There was no contest...in we went.   Great group playing -- Memphis Jones and his band --- and he played hit after hit interspersed with great Memphis music history.  The band did a great rendition of Sweet Caroline written in the bar of The Peabody Hotel just two blocks from B. B. King's Club and performed first by Neil Diamond at the hotel.

Historical markers everywhere!

Yum!  Fried pickles!

This poster made me laugh out loud!

It was finally time to TRY to rest for the night.  We got into our first sister convoluted conversation and didn't get it sorted out until I was ready to press the button to buy tickets to tour Graceland, Elvis' home.  While we were planning this trip we had agreed that we wouldn't tour Graceland.  Our Memphis day was a travel day bonus rather than a destination site for one of our activities and it's been delightful -- surpassed our expectations.  But, of course, we got sucked into the ads on TV, the ads on the street and began hyperventilating about going to Graceland....AND we didn't ask each other if they REALLY wanted to go!  So we began accommodating each other without talking to each other.  Duh!  Just as I was about to push the button I asked Shirley "do you really want to do this?" and we burst into giggles when we realized we didn't.  Yes, we will drive by it.  Yes, we honor Elvis.  Yes, we think Memphis is wonderful.  And, yes, we now have time to go to a famous quilt shop in Franklin, TN on the way to Chattanooga!  

Stay tuned!

A little known secret about the Sisters on Wheels tours.....before each trip we gather small items and bring them to share.  Some things come in "twos"...some are items we know the other will like.  And, they mostly coordinate with the color theme of the trip.  This tradition came out of our Grandmother Harrison's practice of wrapping small items up in tissue paper and sending them on our family trips to be opened each day!  This year Shirley had just been to London celebrating her 35th wedding anniversary and we have some delightful things from Harrods and items with our Harrison family crest.

Tonight, Chattanooga and putting the finishing plans on an action packed two days touring Civil War battlefields!  Stay tuned