Memphis East KOA Arlington

... I was hungry and it was still open so I went in. As I walked through the doorway it was reminiscent of the circus and I was the main attraction. Everyone in this small restaurant stopped and watched me enter, walk across the room and take a seat. I was the only white person (perhaps for miles)…doobeedoo. The food was awesome though. That was my first traditional New Orleans meal and it was tasty (yes, I’m in Memphis, but veggie + bbq don ...

We hit a bit of a rough patch with Lola but I'm going to let it go unmentioned.

We blew through Memphis, over the Mississippi River (big and fast), and into Arkansas before taking the first exit back into Tennessee and into Memphis once again. But hey, now I've been to Tennessee twice, haha. We had a hard time finding where to park Lola but soon found something half managedable, although we're not entirely sure that place was legit ...

... trying to navigate our way from Houston to Washington DC. We've tried to mix with the locals as much as possible along the way, which has been interesting. More trouble than it's worth for the most part. For instance, I have been accused of stealing credit cards, pretty ironic when I think of how much money has been nicked from me on this trip and had drinks with someone who turned out to be nothing more than a complete racist ...

... these great artists, some of their instruments and clothing, including Elvis's high school graduation certificate and social security card!

During the Sun studio tour we were allowed into the recording studio which had the actual microphone that was used for recording back in the early days of the studio. It had the lips and spit of all these great artists all over. You ...

today was a day of visiting museums, first the Stax museum. The stax was a studio which recorded in the 50s - 60s, Issac Hayes recorded Shaft and Otis Redding recorded On the Dock of the Bay. Eretha Franklin also recorded here and was born in Memphis. Saw Sun studios where Elvis, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins recorded. The very first rock and roll song was recorded in Memphis by Sam ...

... tried to buy this piece of land last year, but the locals objected! Now the park is often occupied by a few black homeless people and is cleaned and tidied by a few white workers! Yesterday I also saw Larry's collection of motor bikes! Him and his wife are serious bikers and he used to ride dirt bikes and has a beautiful ducati in the garage. He used to live in San Diego so he told me about the great windy roads he used to ride on. He is doing a lot less of that ...

... an important center of the American Civil Rights movement.
LDS Church history in Memphis began in early 1835 when a young Wilford Woodruff became the first LDS missionary to visit the city. In the face of local opposition, the Church grew slowly and consisted of a single small branch meeting in a converted house as recently as forty years ago. Since that time, however, it has grown to two stakes, and the Memphis Temple was dedicated April 23, 2000.
Choir and Orchestra members ...

... hours driving, the temp**ature went from 64 to 90. Thank God for air conditioning. And we went through some pretty horrendous rain on the way. But the sun came out as we arrived in Memphis and drove right into the heart of the city. Instead of just spending a few hours th**e, we decided to stay in town and booked into a fairly swanky hotel just off Beale Street, which we w**e lat** to discov** was basically the centre of town when it came to live music and ...

... Parton and Willie Nelson have had their names put up in lights there. After deciding the best route back to West Virginia for them, we waved goodbye to Lesha and Rhonda and headed South East towards the Natchez Trace Parkway - an old Indian trail from hundreds of years back that's now been transformed into a 450 mile scenic drive with historic bits and pieces along the way. We stopped in the 'Loveless Cafe' for 'biscuits' (which we call scones). The houses on the way out of Nashville ...