Tennessee, USA - 05
Trip Start
Aug 02, 2004
1
39
40
Trip End
Sep 25, 2005
Memphis, Monteagle, Chattanooga,
Tennessee,
United States
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
We left the Mississippi delta behind and headed north into Tennessee -home to Graceland, the Jack Daniels distillery and the world's first supermarket (Piggly Wiggly for those that want to know!) to name but a few gems. We actually passed through Tennessee and into Kentucky to see the world's largest cave system briefly before returning through the Tennessee heartland.
What we have done and saw:
- Visited Memphis and Graceland - the home of the King of Rock and Roll. It was packed (certainly one of the busiest tourist attractions to date) and you are only able to do the downstairs areas out of respect - but you get some great insights into how huge Elvis was as a musician and a moviestar and as a man
Beale St - Memphis
. One thing for sure is that we have changed our home decorating ideas to incorporate shag-pile carpets on the floors, walls and ceilings!!!- Afterwards we visited downtown Memphis - seeing Beale street, the Orpheum Theatre, the walk of fame and take in some more southern comfort food (2/3lb burgers, homemade onion rings, etc - yum!).
- Did the Jack Daniels Tour at the distillery in Lynchburg - the only place in the world were the old JD is made. We heard the story of the man and how the good stuff is made. The funny thing is that we were expecting to get stuck into the samples at the distillery - but Moore County is a dry county - you can't buy alcohol for a couple of hundred miles!!! The only bottles for sale are special (and expensive) commemorative bottles that are out of production and can not be drunk on site. We learned some pretty cool things about the production process and how you can buy a barrel of Jacks for about A$18000!!!
- Visited Rock City and Ruby Falls near Lookout Mountain close to Chattanooga. Rock city is a large private garden constructed through a series of rocks and cliff giving stunning views across 5 states from some of the lookout points. Ruby Falls is a 145 foot underground waterfall founded in the 1930s and opened to the public (okay all a bit commercial but stunning in their own way)
- Checked out the downtown in Chattanooga where there is an attractive river front area - shame we were there it was overrun by bus loads of school kids which meant not a lot of tranquility
Graceland - Clothes
.Insights into Tennessee:
- Try tuning your car radio to a station that is not gospel or country and western!
- Stock up on booze before you head to Moore County.
Favourite things about Tennessee:
- Graceland rocks!
- The Jack Daniels Distillery - pretty cool even if you can't taste the stuff (the fermenting tanks alone are enough to knock you out!)
