Memphis, Tennessee

We had planned to continue to Clemson right after Nashville but found out we couldn’t get into our new place so we decided to continue sightseeing and extend our trip. So on July 27th, after spending the day in Nashville we drove on to Memphis. We ordered a huge dinner at Marlowe’s and enjoyed a little Memphis BBQ. We got the pulled pork, beef brisquet, ribs, and bbq chicken. It was good…but we still think that Pat’s in Salt Lake is better. It was fun to see all of the Elvis memorabilia. Under the glass on our table was the newspaper from the day after the King died.

The next morning we woke up and walked through the Folklore Museum and the Belz Museum. The Belz museum was filled with treasures from the orient. My favorite items were the carved ivory statues.

Next we stopped at the Rock n Soul museum. The music history in Memphis is amazing. We got an audio tour and enjoyed every minute of it.

We walked to the Gibson guitar factory. We didn’t take a tour but we did enjoy the gift shop.

We strolled up to Beale street next and then continued on our journey to the Civil Rights Museum.

I had no idea that they had turned the Lorainne hotel into a museum. It was a huge museum. If I ever go back I will do an audio tour. There was a lot of information and it was slightly overwhelming.

We hopped on a street car and rode to where our car was parked. We had not eaten breakfast or lunch so we were famished. It was after three pm.

We planned to visit Graceland next. We drove all the way out there, parked, and walked into the ticket office. The power was out so they had stopped all mansion tours. We stuck around until the power came back on but by then tons of people were in line waiting for a refund and the ticketing machines were still down. Graceland will have to wait until our next trip to Memphis.

Nashville, Tennessee

On July 26th we drove to Nashville, Tennessee. Which also happened to be the night that Paul McCartney played. We didn’t go to the concert. But we did go to the Old Grand Old Opry aka the Ryland. It was magical. Have you ever been a building and just felt the history there. This was how I felt in the Ryland. I felt like Johnny Cash would run out from behind a curtain at any moment or that June Carter Cash would come on stage to tell jokes. I would love to see a concert at the Ryland someday.

We stopped at the Belmont Mansion. We had considered going in but decided that admission was too much so we just looked around the outside.
Next we drove to the Parthenon. I had no idea before seeing The Lightning Thief movie that the Parthenon replica existed in Nashville. It was fun to explore it but I still want to see the real thing in Athens.
We continued with our Greek theme and stopped at the Athens Family Restaurant for lunch. Seth ordered one of the special combinations.

I ordered the lamb and bacon burger. It was the best burger I have ever had. I would drive back to Nashville just to get one.

We also ordered a traditional Greek pastry for dessert. It came out all warm and gooey. Yum.

Missouri

On July 25^th we drove to St. Louis Missouri. We checked into our beautiful hotel the Moonrise. This had been a “secret hotel” that we had booked on Travelocity. We were very pleasantly surprised. It was our favorite hotel of the trip and just as nice as the Waldorf Astoria. Every detail in the room was perfect. The interior decorator had done a fabulous job.

We drove to Sweetie Pie’s for dinner. It was in a rougher part of town. When we walked in we were the only white people in the joint. That was when I knew it had to be good grub. The food was served cafeteria style. I ordered roast beef, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, yams, and black eyed peas. Seth ordered the fried chicken, steamed vegetables, mashed potatoes, and dinner roll. We shared a cobbler and banana crème dessert. It was delicious. I think the fried chicken was my favorite…well next to the yams.

Next we went downtown to visit the Gateway Arch. The area around the arch was beautiful. I especially enjoyed looking out over the Mississippi River.

The picture below is Seth doing his superhero pose. I couldn't help but post it.

We got one of the last rides up to the top. The booths that we rode up in were tiny. There are nine cars that hold five people sitting down. I get slightly claustrophobic and was worried the cars would stop. Luckily they did not and we got to enjoy the view from the top. I loved visiting the arch at night.
The next morning we woke up early. As we were getting ready for the day we saw our first mormon.org commercial on tv. We definitely knew we weren’t in Utah anymore. Next we hopped on a tandem bike for a ride around Forest Park. Here we are outside of our hotel.

Forest Park is similar to Central Park in New York. There were lots of buildings and other activities going on. We had a few shifting mishaps but survived.

Our next stop was Iron Barleys for lunch. We ordered the Ballistic Elvis and the Reuben. The Ballistic Elvis sandwich is the most unique sandwich I have ever eaten. It is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a little bit of pepper, cheese, and bacon on it. Sounds like a strange combination but it was really good.

This sign was across the street from the Iron Barley. I wonder what happens on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. The other side of the street prohibited parking on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. Hmmm...
Then we drove to Anheuser Busch to tour the factory. We got to see the Busch Clydesdale's, Bud the dalmatian, and several of the old beer wagons. They lead us through several other buildings telling us how they make the beer. Apparently it takes over 30 days to make the beer. If they stopped production they have enough stockpiled to last only 18 hours….lots of people are drinking beer.

This is the chandelier in the stables. Can you imagine ever installing something like this in a stable. Don't get me wrong the stables were really nice but...



This is a chandelier in one of the factory buildings. This building was hot. It is where they do most of the beer manufacturing.

The elephant is one of their mascots you could say.

Our next stop was Chikoda Mounds were ancient Native Americans once lived. I had no idea that mounds like this had been discovered in North America. It was interesting to learn more about this culture that is now lost.

We started our drive to our next stop and happened across Metropolis, Illinois. What is Metropolis home to you ask…the Superman museum and the largest Superman statue. We snapped one picture of Seth in a superman suit and then my camera battery died. Seth was quite distraught. I have already promised him a stop on our trip home. We may even have to spend the night so that he can go to the Superman museum.