Totally Awesome Vacation: Walking in Memphis (Come back later, we're closed.)

Note: I am using some of Court's and HT's pictures in this post. Props to them. Also, shame on me for not posting this sooner, but it was hard to relive.

On our last full day in Tennessee, we drove over to Memphis (3 hours) because we COULD NOT be this close to Graceland and not go - that would just be shameful. Well, I know I would be ashamed of us. And I am not even a big fan of Elvis.

Getting there at a decent time meant getting up at the crack of dawn and you all know how well I handle that. I don't even remember much of the drive (maybe I shouldn't tell the Little Truckers that), except that we listened to the expertly crafted Nashville playlist we put together for just this trip. Sometimes, we are just so awesome that even I am surprised.

If you have been to Graceland, or even heard of it, chances are that you know it looks like 1970s Vegas threw up on itself. The place was immaculately preserved just as he left it in 1977. Like I said, I have never been a big fan, but it was neat to see how he lived in all of its retrofabulousness. Sure, it's voyeuristic, but that's what we Americans do best. Hell, how much you wanna bet that Neverland Ranch is going public in the next 10 years?

Either way, as a museum to Elvis' career and legacy, I thought it was excellent, despite the shag carpet walls. Three buildings covered his life and history very well. If you have questions about the timeline of his success, this was the place to go. I didn't, but I still found it interesting and was impressed at the thoroughness of it. At the very least, I came away with an appreciation for his work. And that's what I get for paying $30.

After this, all I wanted on this trip was to buy a pair of mutton chops and just wear them around. Just because. Shockingly, I couldn't find any that weren't attached to cheesy Elvis glasses. OB-viously, I wasn't going for the cheesy look. Court came away with the best piece of Elvis kitsch (and TRUST me, there was PLENTY to choose from - we went to at least 6 Elvis stores). She rocks this shiny gold Elvis shirt.

We headed straight into the city from there. We were, of course, hungry. As we drove, we were a little unsure of what we were getting into. It got dirtier and shadier and all the stores were boarded up. Welcome to Memphis. SKETCH.

We went to a tiny little shoebox place called Gus' World Famous Fried Chicken. And let me tell you, in the world of fried food, it IS famous. The location was in a very seedy area (as is most of Memphis, but this was infinitely more seedy. I was convinced the rental car was going to get jacked.) Once inside, I instantly felt better. It was packed with people getting fried chicken after church and watching football. My people. It smelled like grease and according to Tristan, whose seat faced the kitchen, the food was prepared by "just the kind of large man you want preparing your fried chicken." You know who she is talking about and you know she is right.

So here is my review of Gus' World Famous Fried Chicken:
Meat: Tasty! Trist and I got strips because we hate meat with a bone in it, but I think it had the same coating as the regular chicken. It had a little kick to it and the waiter brought out extra ranch, so who couldn't love that? It had a great flavor, but surprisingly, was not that greasy. It WAS the best fried chicken I've ever had. It was very good.
Sauce: They just had some dipping sauces - regular ranch and a BBQ. No big deal.
Sides: We ordered beans, potato salad and hush puppies. I am pretty sure they were just OK because I don't remember much about them other than liking them more than Neely's. With the exception of Neely's potato salad of course. Tristan had been hankering for some hushpuppies, so it was good to get those in. More importantly, we ordered fried green tomatos (left in photo) and fried pickles. (Yes, EVERYTHING we ate on this trip was fried.) Those were GREAT. I especially liked the fried pickles, which were MUCH better than the ones we ate at the state fair.
Dessert: We tried a slice of pecan pie (because I love a good southern pecan pie), but it was disappointing. Also, we ate a slice of something called Chess Pie. We had seen it at the farmer's market the day before and could not figure out what it was. So we tried it. Bleeck. I am still not sure what it was - a custardy sort of thing - it was pretty gross.
Value: Again, I thought the value was GREAT. I think we paid about $10/each. I am not sure if any of you know how cheap that is! We all felt like we were walking out for free.
Overall: B. Chicken was downright delicious as were the fried pickles. I would recommend it to anyone. The desserts and other sides were not up to the high standards that we were seeking, but were decent enough.

Two blocks away was our next stop: the Lorraine Motel and Civil Rights Museum. In college, I remember Maury and Melissa talking about Martin Luther King, Jr. and listening to his speeches and crying. Sure, it may have been some college revolutionary hormones at work (I'm KIDDING), but their influence affected me in a lot of ways -whether I give them credit or not. I was looking forward to visiting this place more than any other in Memphis.

The building maintains the original appearance on the outside and the inside has been redone to house a large two story museum to chronicle civil rights injustices of all kinds, but of course focusing on the history and life of Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a little run down, but again, a very informative and interesting museum. There is so much about that era and the events that I just did not know, particularly about the killer. It was especially fascinating having just been to the JFK memorial the week before in Dallas. The hope of so many people that both men carried did not die with them and ultimately I walked away encouraged. Until I got to the sparse gift shop and couldn't find audio recordings of his speeches. Amazon.com to the rescue again.

We then ran over to the Peabody Hotel to watch the famous duck parade. It was just as fun to watch Hayley chase them down for a good photo, which was near impossible.

Our last stop was the famous Beale Street. Unfortunately, it was 4pm on a Sunday. Not an exciting time of day for the historic Beale St., we think. There were some drunk people falling all over themselves, some street performers that did amazing acrobatics in the blocked off street (I got dizzy watching them) and several sketchy bars. There was also a diving goat standing on top of a platform that did nothing but stare at Tristy....and that was about it. Frankly, it was depressing, boring and dirty and we just wanted to leave. So much so, that walking back to the car, we were coming up with names for this blog post. "Memphis: Bring your own hand sanitizer." "Memphis: Even the Mississippi River is closed." "Memphis: The only thriving economy in this place is the violent crime." Yeah, it was bad.

In fact, we were so bored and lacking of interesting things to see in Memphis (unless you count closed businesses as interesting), that we drove over the Mississippi River to Arkansas and back just because it was there.

We were kinda grossed out and a little fearing for our safety, so we just went to eat. None of us we were hungry, but that was as good as reason as any to stuff your face with BBQ.

We had a recommendation from someone (who believes they've seen Bigfoot) for the BBQ at Corky's. A rib joint about 10 miles from downtown, I was relieved to drive through other, even nicer parts of the city. I was glad to know that people actually lived there. And they were probably sober, too.

Meat: Incredible! I got the brisket, Trist got a pulled pork sandwich and HT and Court split some massive combo platter. The brisket was so good. It was tender and very delicious.
Sauce: The best of the trip! They had a regular sauce, a hot sauce (didn't try it) and an apple sauce. The regular sauce was great, but the apple sauce was amazing. I am still kicking myself for not buying a bottle there.
Sides: We did the same thing we had been doing - ordering a lot of sides so we all could try them. Trist placed our order and when she was almost done, the waiter (NOT our favorite person ever) stopped her and said, "You know that's 5 sides, right?" It was so funny. Don't question us, bucko. We have this down to a fine science. We tried the beans, hushpuppies, twice baked potato salad, corn on the cob, coleslaw, and rolls. OHMIGOSH, those rolls were killer and the beans were great. These were, hands down, the best sides of the trip with the exception of Neely's potato salad.
Dessert: Our not favorite waiter was so bad that when we said something, we got dessert free. We got peach 'cobbler' (don't even get Court started) and banana pudding. Both of which were blah.
Overall: A-. Food (minus dessert) was phenomenal. Service left something to be desired. It's too bad the place is in Memphis. Otherwise, I would go back.

So, my recommendation regarding Memphis: Visit Graceland, the Lorraine Motel, eat at Corky's and then shower when you get home (which is hopefully far, far away from Memphis.) I'll still forever love the Mark Cohen song, though.