Country Music, Rock and Roll and Civil War.

First stop was Nashville, home of the country music hall of fame, and for my visit the 4th of July Independence Day celebrations. On the 4th I visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and wandered up and down Broadway with all the bars and shops, and to find the original Grand Ole Opry (the new one is about 5 miles out of town and I think doesn't count). There was free live music all day down at the huge stage they had built over the river leading up to the fireworks in the evening.


The Country Music Hall of Fame


The bars on Broadway


The original Grand ole Opry site


Free music all day

While uneventful the ride through to Memphis was enjoyable. I chose a route that would keep me off the interstate, but which showed off some of the rolling green hills of Kentucky and Tennessee. Just after Jackson in a place called Vaughan, I stopped at the residence of one John Luther (“Casey”) Jones. Again those of my age might remember the TV series; anyone younger will not have a clue. It never occurred to me that he was a real person and the old song is about a real event back in April 1900 when he heroically saved the lives of all his passengers on the Cannonball Express as it ran into another train. He of course died and became part of American history.




All aboard the Cannonball Express

Memphis was another place I was really looking forward to seeing and another place I have come away from disappointed. I found it to be quite a depressing and unfriendly place. The one saving grace for the place are the BBQ ribs!! I tried them in two of the cities most famous restaurants Neely’s and Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous, personally I preferred Neely’s.


Down an alleyway and down into the basement


Some very good ribs!!


An unusual way of ensuring the buildings don't fall


At the other end of Beale Street BB Kings place

The second day I was there I went to see the home of one Elvis Arron Presley. Now I’ve never been much of an Elvis fan but when in Rome…. The first shock was the $10 to park the bike, then after paying the $35 for the platinum ticket to be able to see the planes and the automobile collection (it was only $5 more ) I was told that I couldn’t take my camera in because it was a video. In years gone by I might have agreed, but in this day and age every phone and normal digital camera has the capability to take video, which I politely but firmly pointed out to them, and seeing that they weren’t stopping anyone else except me I was getting more and more angry. As a result I was attracting the attention of more and more security. In the end I had to lock the camera away and quieten down. So there are very few pictures of Graceland from my camera. Not happy and not impressed. So anyone going there either hide it very well or just use your Iphone!! For the arseholes that are the security there, I’ll reproduce the images that are in any Google search and if you want video of the house just look in the same place!! The crowd when I arrived was OK when I left it was huge. They are still raking in millions 30 years after the guy died. As a footnote, the house itself wasn’t as big as I had imagined it would be.


The Gates at Graceland


The Mansion


The living room


The jungle room (the seventies has a lot to answer for)


The grave is just to the right of the house

Once again I hadn’t really planned where I was going to stop after Memphis. So that night I got the map and picked Vicksburg. Again from nothing planned comes the most unexpected surprise. This little town on the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers in the state of Mississippi is a lovely place. Small enough to be comfortable and not be fighting with the traffic on six lane highways, but with a history and civic pride that makes it feel welcoming and accessible. There are still a lot of pre civil war buildings in the town due mainly to the fact that the town was placed under siege during the war and eventually surrendered after 47 days on the 4th of July. For this reason the 4th wasn’t celebrated as it is everywhere else in the states (Independence Day) until about 8years ago. They have very long memories in the south, and according to quite a lot of people, it will rise again one day……

Two places in Vicksburg that are worth a visit are firstly the first place in the world to bottle Coca Cola on March 12th 1894. Before this it was sold out of a syrup jar and carbonated water was added afterwards. A local candy store owner Joseph Biedenharn thought that it would be a good idea as not many people in the outlying areas came into town that often. He asked permission from the Coca Cola company who said yes, but weren’t interested themselves in doing it. The rest, as they say, is history.


The original candy store


An original syrup fountain


This soda fountain is fantastic


The original bottle to the present day shape

The second place is the Vicksburg National Military Park a pleasant enough park to drive around, but the real feature for me was the Union Ironclad Gunboat the “Cairo” which was sunk by a mine in 1862 and raised 100 years later.


The Ironclad Gunship "Cairo"


It's hard to imagine the noise inside one of these paddle steamers

A third place worth a mention is the ‘Old Courthouse” museum. The civil war memorabilia that they have in there gives a great incite into what life and war must have been like back then. All in all I enjoyed my time in Vicksburg immensely.


The old Court House museum


The south will rise again