Steamy Memphis......

With soothing kisses on our foreheads (and a lot of our $$$) New York finally lets us go. And when it does, it does it gently, with an excellent flight, lovely staff and extra legroom just for Sam. Touching down in Memphis we were so keen to collect our car and JUST GET THERE ALREADY, that we barely worked out how to open the trunk (and as was apparent later, the petrol cap). The 15 minutes to our new home eased us into our new reality and 2 things were evident. One, where NYC is vertical, Memphis is horizontal. Two, it is not only hot is is STEAMY... Our home for the next few days is a whole new spin on Sparkle Mansions! The whole top floor of a stunning 1890’s house, surrounded with wrought iron fence on the corner of Cooper Young, one of the hippest, friendliest areas in town. Charming, everything is just charming, from the house, to the accents, to the food and finally the prices (come on New York $20 for a cocktail?) So we settle in. We unpack, we MAKE TEA 🙂🙂🙂 and we go for a run, twice.... and wowser it’s warm, sweat pours (which is surely good to sweat out the booze right?) but it’s just such a wonderful way to see the area.

Our first whole day is spent chasing the ghost of Elvis around the theme park that is now Gracelands. Not only exit through the gift shop, but enter through the convention centre. Elvis is not only more of a business now than during his brief life, but it’s al OST religious...they have kept everything he touched, every check he wrote, every tissue he wiped his nose on....every word he spoke is poured over, his riding boots kept with the mud from the last ride he took, his wallet with the cinema stub still in place. Gracelands the house, still feels very much like a home... obviously one still stuck very much in the 70’s (and OHHHH what decor) but still actually really feels like a home. The pool was humble rather than grand, the kitchen the site of many a good PB&J sandwich and the film room, well let’s just say Sam came away bursting with ideas... For me the most fabulous part was his jumpsuits, seeing them close up, seeing how they were made and cut, in a very ‘feminine’ way to accentuate his waist and hips and with the winged sleeves, just beautiful. And then after that was lost the football, World Cup semi final, but to the USA....which we watched in a heaving Irish bar in the scorching sunshine....hey ho, can’t have it all.

The second treat of the day was ambling up the wide tree lined road around the corner from the bar to meet Mike McCarthy, a friend of Joss, who insisted we get in touch...so we did and WOW I am glad we did...sitting on his porch, chatting about all sorts, putting the world to rights about art, collaboration and punk rock was just a treat. Always go meet the folk others advise you to....makes the city come alive.

Day 2 had a very different tone. After paying our respects to The King, we also wanted to pay our respects to Martin Luther King, so took a drive Downtown to the Civil Rights museum. I am still really processing what I saw and read there, it was incredibly moving and incredibly thought provoking and I do not want to diminish its importance by trying to sum it up in a neat trite sentence, I think the overall message I took from it is the unbelievable courage that some people had, to stand up, to force people to SEE and to fight for rights that were freely given to others. That and that we are no where near close enough and indeed seem to be going backwards. I had to sit down at one point as I was so overcome with emotion and needed just to cry. The tour around the museum ends IN the bedroom that Martin Luther King was in and looking out on to the balcony where he was shot. Just so incredibly emotional, really powerful and obviously sad and shocking that we STILL have to say Black Lives Matter.

Sure, we bumbled around after that, went to Beale Street, which just looked and felt like Key West, or any other ‘famous’ st Set in America....they seem to be able to recreate this scene perfectly, but it lacks and real depth. Or maybe I was just too full of feelings still. After a well earned rest we hoofed to the next district, again on the recommendation of Joss to see a local band BRILLIANT! Loved sitting, talking to our incredibly friendly Memphis server, listening to Punk Country in a great bar, in a great place with a HOT date...gods life is incredible.

And then we were OFF the next day, reluctantly as I feel like there was so much more to see and do, so many more people to chat to, so many more bands to see...oh Memphis we will be back for sure..