Add-a-state

So, here Web and I sit in Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas. This is interesting--a national park that is mostly in a town. Don't get me wrong, it is pretty here and the portion in town seems fairly small, but it is the main attraction of the Park. But I'll get into that in the next blog, as we only got here his afternoon. We grabbed a campsite, then went into town to get some groceries. On the way, having heard of a brewery in the Park, we thought we would walk a little and (oh, why not?) get an appetizer and try some local brew.

Yesterday is the day to discuss--Memphis, Tennessee. It was a good day!

We started by riding into the city to the Sun Recording Studio. 

How great is that? For some of our younger friends, understand that this was close to heaven for me. I still have my original 45 rpm record of Carl Perkins doing "Blue Suede Shoes" on the Sun label. Carl wrote the song and was the first to record it in 1955. Elvis recorded it later.

We got a tour of the Sun building and ended the tour in the actual recording studio, where it all happened. Carl, Elvis, Jerry Lee and Johnny Cash are all among artists who first recorded in this tiny studio. Many others, including Roy Orbison and B B King recorded here, but these four were huge and at one time all ended up in the studio at one time. As they sat around in the studio, talking and jamming, Sam Phillips, the studio owner turned on the tape machine and caught some of the action. As part of the tour, we got to here a small piece of that tape. There is also a photo that was taken of the four gentlemen, with Elvis at the piano, and they were dubbed the Million Dollar Quartet.

The studio is still used and in it is a collection of guitars and amps, a piano, B3 Hammind organ, a drum kit and, supposedly, the original microphone used by Elvis when he recorded there. Aside from that, the collection of memorabilia was pretty amazing. 

Sun is thought to be the birth place of rock and roll, because it is here that in 1951 Sam Phillips recorded "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and the Delta Cats. This is thought to be the first true rock and roll record. The tour was well presented and throughout we got to hear bits and pieces of some of these great early recordings--yes, the music of my youth. It is (perhaps a stretch, but very possible) because of early rock and roll, that I learned to play the guitar, got in a band that played regularly at the Oasis Tavern in Levittown, PA and met the woman who became my wife and visited the Studio with me yesterday. Think about it....

From the studio tour, we went to the downtown area. We first walked on Main Street and found a nice place to have some lunch. This is a pretty neat set up. Main St is a mall, with very little traffic, except for trolleys that make rounds over a several block area. After lunch we walked a while and saw the Orpheum Theatre--a theater built in 1928. It was design as a "movie palace," and was called the "South's Finest Theatre." It has undergone renovations and some great musicians have preformed there over the years. 

Despite having read some "scary" advice online that Memphis may be less than safe, we felt fine walking everywhere.

Having left Main St., we walked several blocks to the world famous Beale Street. This is where B B King opened his first club. 

Beale St. is touted to be the the place where the blues began. It is iconic and is filled with blues clubs and the history of blues music and musicians. As we walked down the street, we heard music and ducked into a small outdoor courtyard with an outdoor bar. Relaxing ensued as we listened to a fine blues band go through the their paces. The band was very good and I thought guitarist was great. The music never stopped. There seemed to be no breaks between songs.

 We next went to the Rendezvous for dinner. I'm usually not a big rib eater, but this place was recommended by a friend, specifically for the ribs, so I dove in. Let me tell you, the ribs were good. Not only that, but the coleslaw and potato salad were both wonderful,as well.

We gathered up the car and went for a ride across the Mississippi River, just to say we did it and stopped after at a park along the river. Again, a little walking and we were done.  

Back to our home away from home for a night's rest.

Now, why was this entitled "Add-a-state?" Because when we went back to the trailer, as we usually do, we got out the map and did a quick check of our itinerary for the next day. We knew Hot Springs, AR, was the destination. We first thought of crossing the River into Arkansas from Memphis and traveling straight across I-40, but discovered that the trip was doable (maybe a tad longer) by dropping a little south into Mississippi and using state highways and secondary roads. That is exactly what we did. This added another state to the trip's list and gave us an opportunity to see a lot of dry, flat ground and cotton fields. 

After we get to spend time in the Park tomorrow, we'll fill you in.