NOLA Road Trip Day 2: Memphis

We started off Friday with a quick breakfast at Chick-fil-A. I absolutely love Chick-fil-A (it reminds me of my undergrad years when we had one on campus) and there are none in my area back home so I was a very happy camper.

From Nashville we set off to Memphis arriving at Graceland around lunchtime. The American "Colonial" style mansion was built in 1939 and purchased by Elvis Presley for $100,000 in 1957. The Graceland mansion was a little smaller than I expected but the decorating lived up to all of my crazy kitschy expectations. Green shag carpet on the ceiling? Check. Peacock stained glass? Check. Indoor waterfall? Check. Stairway with walls and ceiling covered in mirrors? Check. It was also really fun to be there at the holidays because everything was decorated for Christmas.

In addition to touring the mansion we also got to see two of Elvis's planes, the Jet Star and the Lisa Marie (Elvis's daughter's name and my name, too!). I loved how Elvis had the plane seatbelt buckles plated in gold. We also saw several of the automobiles from Elvis's collection including his famous 1955 Pink Cadillac. Additionally there were a lot of exhibits about Elvis's career in music and the movies. Since we were there for lunch we had to try Elvis's favorite at the cafe, a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was delicious, but required drinking a lot of soda with all that peanut butter. 

I would have loved to check out some of the other sights in Memphis but by the time we finished at Graceland it was five o'clock and they were closed. We arrived at our hotel in time to see a beautiful sunset over the Mississipi River and the Hernando de Soto Bridge.

Since we were in Memphis eating barbecue was a must so we headed over to Central BBQ for dinner. I had a pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw on top and a sweet tea to drink. They had four sauces (mild, hot, mustard, vinegar) but I had to have vinegar since I spent four years living in North Carolina during undergrad. Frank got the rib plate (half wet, half dry) and we shared the amazing homemade potato chips with blue cheese. The meat was fabulous and we left quite stuffed.

After dinner we took the Main Street Trolley to check out Beale Street. Lined with restaurants and bars, the street was closed to traffic and filled with throngs of people. With the Liberty Bowl happening in Memphis the next day, Cincinnati Bearcat fans were out in full force and having lots of fun. After wandering up and down the street for awhile enjoying the atmoshpere we stopped in a bar for a beer before catching the trolley back to the hotel for the evening.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our road trip to New Orleans here: Day 1, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7