Arkansas fun facts
- President Bill Clinton is from here
- Walmart started here
- Milk is the official state beverage
- A person from Arkansas is called an Arkansan
Then we arrived in Memphis, Tennessee to some hard core rain it was a nice change of pace and who doesn't love a free shower. With no time to waste we got dolled up and ready to eat and cruise down Beale street!
Memphis fun facts
- Known as the city of blues
- Elvis Presley's home, Graceland is located in Memphis. It is the second most visited house in the country
- Martin Luther King Jr was shot here
- Beale street is the Mecca of partying
- Famous drink, the hurricane
- FedEx was started here
- Birthplace of Justin Timberlake, Aretha Franklin, the lads from Kings of Leon and many more
Our first stop was Kooky Canuck's for dinner and I tried my first piece of catfish and an infamous southern appetiser deep fried pickles with honey mustard dipping sauce! A true southern experience om nom nom I thoroughly enjoyed it as well as my larger than life summer sunset cocktail! After that we (the wolf pack) hightailed it outta there to Beale st and found this awesome little bar with this crazy cat called big daddy singing a song called stroke it (100% naughty innuendo) and then he did a johnny cash cover which was to die for! After that we cruised down the street to a few more bars ending up at Silky O'Sullivans where you could buy a bucket of punch to destroy your life or the world famous hurricane consisting of:
Captain Morgan spiced rum, dark rum, passion fruit juice, mango juice, sweet & sour mix and a lime wedge aka Delicious!
Then we got up bright and early to visit the last home of the king, Graceland! The house itself was not as big as I thought it would be but nevertheless the decor was amazing each room had its own personality a lot of gold trim on block colours such as purple and blue I thought it was classic for the era. My favourite rooms were the jungle room and the pool room. The jungle room was literally shag carpet and the furniture was decked out in animal print. The pool room walls and roof were covered in multicoloured curtain similar to a chandelier spiralling from the roof down the walls it was so 60s! My other favourite part of the house was the awards hallway filled with every single gold record and a room full of all his movie posters, his Saturday midday movies were always my favourite! Then it was time to head back to town.
We headed to the Civil Rights museum which is attached to the motel where
Martin Luther King Jr was shot. This museum was so in depth and extremely moving you got to walk through the specific changing events of African American history that took place such as Rosa Parks sitting in the white section of the bus and the sit ins that took place throughout the south protesting segregation and the non violent marches led by Martin Luther King Jr. Then came the chilling moment, where you walk through the back of the motel room he was staying in and you can stand behind the corner of the balcony where he last stood before being shot on April 4, 1968. This museum is so important for everyone to understand the history of how people behaved in the past and the mistakes that were made to ensure that future generations never repeat these horrific acts of inhumanity ever again.
I then ventured to the rock n roll museum. There are many famous musicians who were born and/or started their career in Memphis, I found the introduction video the most interesting part of the museum and hearing the famous artist through the jukebox, there is also the Sunset Studios museum where artist recorded their music but I ran out of time getting to that one.
For dinner we headed to our bus driver Jerry's recommendation, Gus's Fried Chicken, World famous! It was a simple little restaurant pretty bare with the classic checkered tablecloth and food served in plastic baskets I thought it was really authentic. Obviously we had to order some deep fried pickles as appetizers and the family fried chicken meal for 4 with slaw and beans on the side (don't worry there was 4 of us) it was divine I particularly loved the smokey BBQ baked beans as baked beans are a staple for me back home of course I over ate and indulged in the refill lemonade but it was worth it!
For our final night we headed to BB Kings House of Blues to listen some awesome bands and have some dranks. I highly recommend checking this place out if your ever in Memphis it has an awesome energy. For our last stop we hit up the infamous Coyote Ugly bar this was the first time I didn't get up and dance on the bar true story.
No rest for the wicked it was time to head to Noleans! (New Orleans)
~JBomb
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