Graceland and the National Civil Rights Museum
We set off this morning on foot, not sure how close we were to Graceland itself. It turned out that all there was between us and the Graceland "ticket complex" was a cafe serving breakfast.
We were expecting extreme kitch from Graceland, and in the main it was slightly disappointing in that respect. Actually in the photos it looks fairly tasteless, but in fact for the most part it felt like a home, with only the permissible lapses in taste that entails.
The famous Jungle Room was the exception, but frankly who wouldn't deck their home out that way if they could both afford it and get away with it?
Graceland is best summed up in pictures.
After finishing at Graceland, we took a taxi to the National Museum of Civil Rights, located in the former motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated.
Outside there was a stall where someone was protesting. Placards read "Civil Rights museum betrays Dr. King's memory", and "Ethnic cleansing is happening in Memphis today". We were too scared to find out what this was all about.
The museum itself is well worth a visit. I think we knew the basics about the civil rights struggle, but being reminded of the level of violence endured and of how recently outrageous discrimination was legal, was striking.
In the main the museum was very careful to remind us that there were white allies to the struggle, but I was a little uncomfortable about the neutral treatment of the Nation of Islam, who I understand teach that all whites are "devils" descended from genetically engineered clones created by a black scientist (please correct me if this is a myth).
We walked to Memphis' tourist trap central, Beale Street, and got lunch at a bar with a nice open air terrace. For once we had salads, which made a nice change from grease. OK, mine came with BBQ pork, but it wasn't as greasy as we've got used to.
We had an aimless wander around town, then waited for a shuttle bus back to the hotel. When it didn't turn up, we killed some time (and some money) in Tower Records -- tomorrow we'll be listening to Elvis's "Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite" in the car... I'm not yet certain this is a good idea.
On our second attempt to catch the shuttle, we were appalled to find ourselves talking to some English people. Curse those tourists. The shuttle never came, and in the end we wandered off and hailed a taxt.
After a brief rest in the hotel room, we drove to a Target that Debbie had spotted near the Steak'n'Shake yesterday. Target turns out to be a bit like Big W. Debbie lured me there by suggesting they might have cheap iPods. They had an iPod shelf, and a lack of stock.
We picked up some beer and 10 tacos on our way back to the hotel, and took them back to the room to enjoy.