Wednesday 9/27/2023 – The Circle Continues

Since we are staying at Graceland Campground, today is all Elvis, Elvis, Elvis, and Graceland all day!

You start your Graceland experience with a film that is a short overview of Elvis, the early years.

After that, you are given an iPad and headset and board a bus to the mansion. Elvis Presley's famed colonial revival–style mansion sits a top a small hill overlooking the rest of the expansive Graceland complex. The two parcels are separated by a now busy Route 51, aka Elvis Presley Blvd.

Your first stop inside Graceland Mansion is the foyer. In the foyer was often where special guests were received and shown to the living room, where they would await Elvis to greet them. 

The dining room, the stairways, and his parent's bedroom are also viewed from this portion of the tour. 

Parts of decor you see in these rooms today span all of the Elvis eras at Graceland, but the look is primarily the late 1960s to early 1970s.

      

We walked through Elvis' kitchen to his downstairs area which includes the TV room and pool room. All the yellow in the TV room was bright and inviting. You just want to sit on one of those stools!

The pleated fabric walls in the pool room intrigue me every time I visit.

As we made our way back upstairs, you can see the famous Jungle Room with its green shagged carpets, Polynesian feel and exotically carved wood. This room was once the exterior access to the basement. In the 1960s, during one of Elvis' home improvement projects, it was added to the back of the house - first as a screened in porch and then closed in as a room a few years later. In 1974, Elvis redecorated with the current furnishings he stumbled upon at a Memphis furniture store. This room became a family favorite and Elvis liked it in part because it was reminiscent of Hawaii, where he enjoyed vacationing, filmmaking and performing.

After you leave the mansion, you can visit Vernon’s office. We bypassed that building. We did enter the building housing many archival pieces, including letters, checks, invoices, pictures, and more furniture pieces.

We skipped the racquetball building and headed past the pool. 

Imagine the pool parties that were held here! 

The final stop on our self-guided tour of Graceland is the Meditation Garden. This is where Elvis and members of his family have been laid to rest, including Lisa Marie. Millions of fans from around the world have come to Graceland to pay their respects to Elvis - the humanitarian, singing sensation, movie star and King of Rock 'n' Roll. I watched a visitor, not from our group, step over the barriers to touch Elvis’ grave.

  

My favorite part of the garden was the stained glass. One of the most beautiful and mysterious features of the Garden are the four nineteenth-century stained glass windows in the curved brick wall overlooking the graves. Moorish in nature and religious in their imagery, their meaning has been the source of much speculation over the years. It turns out that Mr. Grenadier obtained eight windows in Spain in the early 1960’s, each a different scene. He put four pieces in the Meditation Garden and, without any fanfare, put the other four pieces in his private home he built in 1965. 

You board the bus back across the street and there is much, much more to see. You exit the bus into the Presley Motors Automobile Museum. Elvis loved cars and this display has some of his favorites. Highlight for me was his impressive Pink Cadillac.

You certainly can immerse yourself in Elvis' incredible career through hundreds of artifacts from the extensive Graceland Archives, including Elvis' amazing collection of gold and platinum records, his stunning jumpsuits, memorabilia from his movies, and more! This museum is the world's largest and most comprehensive Elvis Museum in the world.

One of my favorite exhibits is the hundreds, maybe thousands of jumpsuits! It is called “Dressed to Rock.” It is an in-depth exhibit exploring Elvis on-stage style from 1969-1977. Featuring stage wear, including jumpsuits, capes, belts, jewelry, original designer sketches. The floor-to-ceiling displays of fashion pieces reminded me of the Barbie wardrobes every young girl had to display Barbie’s clothes.

I know those of you that know me, would have guess that the military display would have been my favorite! Elvis served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960. In this exhibit, you can learn more about Elvis' service to his country as you walk through his induction and time spent in the service, including his time spent in Germany. Special artifacts include Elvis' Army fatigues, dress uniforms, army footlocker, suitcases and more. My question is, if he was not famous before he went in, would anyone have saved these items… in case he became famous later? I doubt it!

  

There is also a display that showcases Elvis' status as a music pioneer that paved the way for many artists and celebrities with items from more than 25 artists, including Bruce Springsteen, Jimi Hendrix, Elton John, KISS and others.

There is more to see, but we will be back in two-weeks! We enjoyed lunch at Gladys’ Diner with Barbara and Tony. The burgers that Charlie & Barbara had looked amazing!

My one piece of Elvis trivia… There were only 9 states that Elvis never played in. Can you name them?

 

 

Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Our evening included a road log review for our next day of travel.

Tuesday 9/26/2023 – The Circle Continues

We headed out from Nashville in our caravan to Memphis. It’s mostly on the interstate today. We will hit the two-lane roads on our next two drives! We ran into an accident and our wagonmasters, Barbara and Tony did a great job finding a re-route for us! 
So, we arrived a bit later than expected, but still had time to work out a few kinks in our arrival and be ready for our bus tour!It’s not just any bus tour, it a singing bus tour! Backbeat Tours make the Home of the Blues comes alive on our city tour aboard the nation’s only music bus. Our guide was a professional Beale Street musician. He played and sang selections from the city’s rich musical heritage, while sharing his knowledge of history, and behind-the-scenes stories of our favorite Memphis personalities.
We drove by Sun Studio. Sun Studio is known worldwide as “The Birthplace of Rock’ n Roll”. It is the discovery location of musical legends and genres of the 50’s from B. King and Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis; from Blues and Gospel to Country and Rock’ n Roll.
Stax Studio was inspired by Sam Phillips, a Memphis radio technician who had started producing a few years earlier. Jim Stewart founded Satellite Records. A banker by day and country fiddle player by night, Stewart knew that he could never make it as professional musician. However, he felt he could be the next best thing - a producer - despite having no experience or knowledge of the recording industry. Satellite cut its first record in October 1957, “Blue Roses”, a country song with low production quality. In order to get a better sound, Stewart needed better equipment. He approached his older sister, a music-loving bank clerk named Estelle Axton, for help and she mortgaged her house to buy the equipment.
In 1960, Estelle refinanced her house again to fund the studio’s move west from Brunswick, Tenn. to a former movie theatre on McLemore Avenue in Memphis. The company was renamed Stax, a combination of the first two letters of Stewart and Axton’s last names. Now, located on the original site of the Stax Records studio, the Stax Museum pays special tribute to the artists who recorded there, as well as other American soul legends, with interactive exhibits, films, stage costumes, musical instruments, vintage recording equipment used at Stax, records, photographs, permanent and changing galleries, and a rare and amazing collection of more than 2,000 items of memorabilia and artifacts. It is an entity of the Soulsville Foundation, which also operates the Stax Music Academy and The Soulsville Charter School on the same campus.
Our next historic stop was the Lorraine Hotel. But before it was the Lorraine, it was the Marquette Hotel that catered to black clientele in segregated Memphis. Then, in 1945 black businessman Walter Bailey purchased the hotel, which he re-christened the Lorraine after his wife Loree and the popular jazz song, “Sweet Lorraine.” The motel became a destination for blacks and appeared in the Negro Motorists Green Book or “Green Guide,” which identified establishments that welcomed black travelers when Jim Crow restrictions offered limited options for services and lodging.
It's guestbook was a veritable who’s who of black celebrities in the forties, fifties, and sixties. Entertainers like Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughn, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding were all guests at the motel, and two famous songs, Wilson Pickett’s “The Midnight Hour” and Eddie Floyd’s “Knock on Wood,” were both composed at the Lorraine.Martin Luther King was staying at the Lorraine Hotel in room 306. King had stayed at the hotel on numerous occasions. This time he was here to share his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech at the Mason Temple Church of God in Christ. On April 4, 1968, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated on the balcony of King's room at the Lorraine Motel, just a day after that speech. The spot is marked by a wreath and his car still remains in place at the hotel. In 1991, the Lorraine Motel was converted into the National Civil Rights Museum.
There is a lady that lives across the street. Her name is Jacqueline Smith. Ms. Smith worked at the motel for $10 a day and also lived there for 11 years. She was its last resident. In 1988, she was evicted by order of the state of Tennessee. "You people are making a mistake," Smith said while sobbing. "If I can't live at The Lorraine, I'll camp out on the sidewalk out front." And she has held true to that promise (she carries a tattered copy of Dr. King's "A Testament of Hope”) while at the same time protesting across from the Lorraine, now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. She has lived there for 35 years and 223 days.
We saw Beale Street. During the jazz age of the 1920s-1940s, musicians flocked to Memphis, and especially to Beale Street. BB King, Louis Armstrong, Memphis Minnie, and Muddy Waters were just a few of the jazz and blues legends who helped create the style known as “Memphis Blues,” a style that was born on Beale Street.
On our way out of downtown, we drove down “Cotton Row.” Front Street became the heart of the cotton trade and the center of the Memphis economy for more than a hundred years, and the street earned it's nickname "Cotton Row". Many small cotton companies opened on Front Street, and the vast majority of the buildings on Cotton Row were built between 1848 and 1928. Memphis, very quickly after its founding in 1819, became a center of the cotton industry because of its transportation location. High on the bluff, right at the Mississippi River. Without cotton, Memphis as we know it wouldn't exist. The industry was fueled by the fertile soil in the Mississippi Delta, technological advancement that brought the cotton gin, slaves, later replaced by sharecroppers and others working for free or cheap, and a global demand for the crop.
Our next stop was the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, but this iconic building has not always been an outdoor paradise. The Memphis Pyramid was originally built in 1991 as a venue for sporting and entertainment events, including many basketball tournaments, a Mary J. Blige concert, a Rolling Stones concert, a Mike Tyson boxing event and more. From 2002 to 2006, the pyramid was in use by a church. In 2005, Johnny Morris, the founder of Bass Pro Shops, went fishing on the Mississippi River. He set out with a couple of his fishing buddies; Bill Dance, the famous angler and TV show host, and Jack Emmitt, Bass Pro’s first fishing manager. When they got near the Memphis Pyramid, Johnny looked up and told them that he would build a store inside if they caught a 30-pound catfish. Sure enough, with only about an hour left in the trip, his buddy, Jack, got a bite and reeled in a monster catfish in the shadow of the Pyramid. Without much hesitation, Johnny said, “It’s a deal, we’re gonna do it.” In 2015, after a complete renovation, Bass Pro Shops and Big Cypress Lodge opened inside the Memphis Pyramid.
We headed over to Overton Park. The Park was established in 1906 and was named for the co-founder of Memphis, John Overton. The park property was known as Lea's Woods when it was purchased by Memphis in 1901 for $110,000. Overton Park is truly in the middle of it all—an iconic public space that is woven throughout the fabric of Memphis life. Its 342 acres offer recreation, relaxation, culture, and nature.
The Overton Park Shell was established in 1936 by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and designed by local architect Max Furbringer. From its inception, the Overton Park Shell has played a pivotal role in propelling Memphis into the spotlight as a blues epicenter and the birthplace of Rock 'n Roll. This historic venue witnessed the electrifying debut of a young Elvis Presley in 1954, where his groundbreaking performance opening for headliner Slim Whitman marked what many music historians call the very first rock and roll show, leaving an indelible mark on music history. In the years since, the Shell’s stage has welcomed an array of legends including Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Furry Lewis, Booker T. & the MGs, Isaac Hayes, Lisa Marie Presley, Mavis Staples, Sid Selvidge and many more. The Shell continues to be an essential milestone for local artists on their way to national recognition. Today, it is one of the only Depression-era bandshells still active, a true testament to Memphis' resilience.
Our musical bus took us to our dinner at Marlowe’s. Since 1974, they have been providing the best in Memphis BBQ and hospitality to locals and visitors from around the globe. Our group satisfied their palates with Marlowe’s award-winning BBQ pork ribs, beef brisket, BBQ chicken and catfish.

Monday 9/25/2023 - The Circle Continues

Today, we hopped on a bus and enjoyed a private tour of Nashville and its most historic places! Our first stop was the old wharfs and docks for the port of Nashville were located on the Cumberland River at the eastern end of Broadway. Second Avenue connected them to the vendor stalls on the public square. In 1875, Broadway was the setting for the first public high school in Nashville. After the turn of the 20th century, a portion of Broadway would be known as Auto Row because of the large number of car dealerships as well as tire and auto parts stores that lined the roadway.

Starting in the 1930s, Jimmy Rodgers began singing in the honky-tonks on Lower Broadway. As his fame grew, other aspiring singers and songwriters were drawn to the area. The heart of the country music scene, the four-block stretch of Broadway earned the nickname Honky-Tonk Highway, a moniker akin to Bourbon Street in New Orleans and Beale Street in Memphis. The bars and music venues launched the careers of many legendary performers. When the Grand Ole Opry moved out of the Ryman Auditorium in the 1970s, Broadway fell on hard times. About 20 years later, the reopening of the iconic music hall helped to revitalize the area. 

Many of the historic commercial buildings, like the Victorian-era former Merchants Hotel, lining the street now house a variety of country western-themed shops and restaurants as well as honky-tonks. These establishments serve cold beverages and have at least one stage where artists perform all day. The music starts early and plays well into the evening. You never know when a legendary performer will sit in on an impromptu jam session as you listen to an aspiring artist.

We stopped in front of the iconic Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge. It boasts a unique purple hue exterior that was acquired when a painter accidentally used the color. This world-famous Lower Broadway honky-tonk has launched the careers of several legendary performers including Willie Nelson. Scenes from the movie Coal Miner’s Daughter were filmed inside.

Across the street from Tootsie’s is the world-famous Nudie’s Honky-Tonk. It resides in a 100-year-old historic three-story building housing millions of dollars of rare country music memorabilia, stage costumes, multiple bars, three stages and a stunning rooftop deck featuring the best live music in Nashville. On display is iconic pop culture clothing made by renowned tailor Nudie Cohn who created costumes for Hank Williams, Gene Autry, Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Roy Rogers, Elton John, and dozens of others, including Elvis Presley’s famous gold lamé suit. You’ll marvel at Nudie’s own customized Cadillac El Dorado “Nudie Mobile” which hangs on the wall and is insured for $400,000. It also includes the longest bar in Music City measuring over 100 feet embedded with nearly 10,000 silver dollars.

Around the corner, it’s not exactly da Vinci’s The Last Supper, but the mural depicting some of country music’s biggest stars, both past and present, is just as iconic! The mural appears on the wall of Legends Corner on Lower Broadway. Any country music fan worth his or her weight in salt should be able to rattle off the mural’s cast of characters, which include Tim McGraw, Loretta Lynn, Blake Shelton, Dierks Bentley, Willie Nelson, Taylor Swift, Johnny Cash, Keith Urban, Merle Haggard, Reba McEntire, Alan Jackson, George Strait, Dolly Parton, and Garth Brooks. Taylor Swift's image was “retired” and replaced with Brad Paisley.

A four-story mural honoring the life of US Rep. John Lewis. It honors the accomplishments of Lewis and the Freedom Riders. After Lewis died, the city passed an ordinance to rename Fifth Avenue Rep. John Lewis Way, including a historical marker in his honor. The mural, which has his famous words "good trouble" written in big yellow letters at the top, is about his time in Nashville.

Our next stop was the Ryman Auditorium. Known as the “Mother Church of Country Music,” the iconic Ryman Auditorium hosted the Grand Ole Opry for three decades. Starting life as a gospel tabernacle in 1892, turned into a top-notch concert venue featuring headline acts. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

Some of the Grand Ole Opry’s most historic moments happened inside Ryman Auditorium: Hank Williams made his debut. Patsy Cline, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Jeannie Seely, and Dolly Parton joined the Opry family. Elvis Presley made his only Opry appearance. Johnny Cash became a member, met his wife, and during one infamous show, broke all the footlights at the front of the stage.

The Opry broadcasted its last Friday show from the Ryman on March 15, 1974. George Morgan closed out the show with "Candy Kisses.” After the Opry, Johnny and June Carter Cash sang "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" on the following Grand Ole Gospel Time to end the evening. No one was crying, until Minnie Pearl started the waterworks!

Today, the Ryman is a combination of entertainment venue and museum. The historical artifacts that are housed here are priceless. Minnie Pearl still sits in the lobby here!

We climbed back on the bus and drove past the Woolworth Theater. It is a registered historic site of downtown Nashville’s Fifth Avenue Historic District. As one of the original “five and dime” stores, it’s the site of the first lunch counter sit-ins during the1960s that features the original storefront and displays. Today the Woolworth is transformed into a theatre.

We drove to the base of the hill where the Tennessee State Capitol stands today much as it did when it first opened in 1859. This structure was designed by architect William Strickland who considered it his crowning achievement. When Strickland died suddenly during construction in 1854, he was buried in the north facade of the Capitol. The cornerstone for the building was laid on July 4, 1845, and construction finished in 1859. It is one of the oldest working capitals in the US, the Tennessee State Capitol serves as home of the Tennessee General Assembly and houses the governor’s office. The building, one of 12 state capitals, does not have a dome. It joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and was named a National Historic Landmark in 1971.

Located in the shadow of the Capitol is the Bicentennial Capitol Mall. It serves as a lasting monument to Tennessee’s Bicentennial Celebration, which was June 1, 1996. The 11-acre park shares many facets of Tennessee’s history including a 200-foot granite map of the state, a World War II Memorial, a 95-Bell Carillon, a Pathway of History, and the Rivers of Tennessee Fountains.

The bells are part of a "Carillon", which means the bells reside in towers and are played with either a keyboard or, in this case, an automated pattern. The 95-bell carillon represents the musical heritage of the citizens of Tennessee. There is a bell for each of the Volunteer State’s 95 counties. Each quarter hour, the carillon plays a portion of the Tennessee Waltz. At the top of every hour, the 50-tower carillon plays the entire song. A 96th bell on the capitol grounds rings an answer symbolizing the government answering the call of the people.

To honor Tennesseans that served and perished during WWII, the 2,800 square foot granite plaza contains ten vertical pylons, each with engraved images from war time years. The focus of the plaza is an 8-ton solid granite globe, engraved with countries during the 1940s. Lines stretch from Tennessee to distant destinations of the global conflict. The globe rotates in all directions on a thin cushion of water. Beyond the globe, is a grove of holly trees, recalling spaces sacred to the Greeks and Romans. A linear seat wall honors the seven Tennessee recipients of the Medal of Honor. The surface of the plaza is strewn with gold stars to honor the 5,731 Tennesseans who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Ya'll know, Nashville is the capital of country music, a genre symbolized by cowboy hats and guitars, and it’s that famous six string musical instrument that has earned the city’s minor league baseball stadium some notoriety. Greer Stadium, home of the Minor League baseball team, Sounds, is best known for its one-of-a-kind guitar-shaped scoreboard. The scoreboard was installed prior to the 1993 season, fifteen years after the ballpark opened. It sits about 80-feet above the ground behind the left center field wall. It is one of the most unique pieces of local flair found in any ballpark. The scoreboard is officially 115.6 feet long and 53 feet tall. The respective widths of the three sections of the guitar are 60’ for the body, 36’ for the scoreboard neck, and 19.6’ for the tuning key section. Ads, a clock, and basic game information fill up the guitar body, the complete line score is on the guitar’s neck, and balls, strikes and outs are recorded on the tuning key section.

We enjoyed lunch at Jack’s BBQ. I am calling this picture “When Pigs fly,” I could not resist challenging Barbara to climb on! In 2013 a 3rd location opened here, at the foot of Capitol Hill. For this location, Jack chose to use and trademark his full name, Jack Cawthon’s Bar-B-Que, taking it back to the early days of Nashville when neighborhood bar-b-que joints used the proprietor's full name. It was plentiful and delicious BBQ!

What is unique is, this location is on the historic site of what once was a corner of the first State Penitentiary of Tennessee from 1831-1898. 

We made a quick stop at the Parthenon. It stands proudly as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park. The re-creation of the 42-foot statue Athena is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals. It was originally built for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition. It serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. The Parthenon also serves as Nashville's art museum. The focus of the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists donated by James M. Cowan. Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.

We drove past Hume-Fogg High School. It was completed in 1912 and resembling a medieval European castle, the Hume-Fogg Academic Magnet High School with its twin tower entrance is an easily recognizable Music City landmark. Designed by William Ittner, the Norman Gothic stone edifice features Tudor Gothic style ornamentation. Cut stone figures above the entrance represent fields of academic study, including literature, mathematics, science and fine art. They have their fair share of famous graduates, including actress and singer Dinah Shore.

Our final stop was the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Some call it the “Smithsonian of Country Music.” It is celebrated for its broad cultural impact, educational mission, and unrivaled collection of historically important artifacts related to country music.

It first opened in 1967 in Nashville’s Music Row. The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum launched its current downtown location in 2001. In 2014, the Museum unveiled a $100 million expansion that doubled its footprint.

The Museum now encompasses 350,000 square feet of exhibition galleries, archival storage, retail stores, and event space. In addition, the Museum offers the Taylor Swift Education Center for students, teachers, and families, and dedicated performance spaces in the CMA Theater and Ford Theater, both of which regularly host nationally recognized live music and cultural events.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum collects, preserves, and interprets country music and its history for the education and entertainment of diverse audiences. The museum is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums and is among the most-visited history museums in the US.

Thanks for following along! #TwoLaneAdventures