Holy smokeronis, MUCH different temperature now, especially as it is overcast and a bit windy.
We had hoped to take a spin through the Huntsville Space and Rocket Museum but it opens late, is quite expensive and we have a big day ahead of us already. So no Huntsville t-shirts which is pretty much the only reason we came this way.
But we’re going to Graceland, Graceland, Memphis Tennessee. Christy drives for this 3 1/2 hour section. Nice rolling country, nice looking farmland for the most part, Huntsville itself looks pretty industrial. I don’t know who Wheeler was but he’s got a lot of stuff named after him. (It is a him – we see his first name somewhere).
Graceland is cool. The house itself is not nearly as huge or grandiose as I would have expected. The self-guided tour is pretty interesting – not least of all for some of the stuff that is left out. But everyone is an Elvis fan and many people humming, singing, even tears as you go through. Across the road where you park and see some of the other exhibits is tourist-money-grab-heaven. I am talking to a woman in the checkout and we both agree that Elvis would probably not approve of the thievery going on here. Small wonder Elvis is by far the richest dead celebrity. I am interested in a cool shirt but I am NOT paying C$100 for it. It’s funny, if the prices had been anywhere near reasonable we would have easily spent $100 or more and they would still have been making bags of margin. Instead, we spent nearly zero.
One surprising thing – they are making serious dough here, yet the grounds are rather ill-kept. Grass is dying, fences are a bit bedraggled, some of the displays are a bit rough. I guess they are not in the business of spending money, they are in the business of making money.
My turn to drive to Nashville, another 3 1/2 hour jaunt that I make in just over 3 hours. It is white knuckle all the way as traffic is very heavy, it is pitch black, it rains hard for the first half hour, and the roads, while in great shape, are twisty, turny, hilly through the Smokey Mountains. By the time we arrive, I am snapping at Christy as she discusses Christmas plans.
I know that is hard to beleive.
Calm down a bit as we check in. Walk across the bridge into Nashville Germantown. We were going to explore a bit but it starts raining again and so we duck into the first decent place we see – Burgers and Beer. Sounds good. Is pretty good – think Burgers Priest with a little flair and more choice.
Walk back across the big bridge, it has stopped raining but very windy – the bridge over the Cumberland River is a bit spooky – very high, very low railings, very dark and foreboding water.
We discuss the likelihood of surviving the fall but decline to test.