So we awake early, again. Where are we? Oh yes Butlins Native
American Campsite, Cherokee!
However, it’s a good morning, albeit early, the breakfast is
complimentary! We like complimentary.
Today’s destination is Nashville, so we are driving through Tennessee.
Now Tennessee is beautiful, with quaint towns that break up the miles and miles
of highway. Each town with the requisite churches, motels, restaurants, with every
other building proudly flying the American flag. And every other town name
ending in ‘ville.
One thing to note about the endless miles of highway, is the cleanliness of the roads, verges and medians (the bit in the middle). And this
is because the Americans seem to have the right idea and get the incarcerated prisoners
out in chain gangs, encouraged by guards with rifles, to clear up all of the
rubbish. Something I‘d like to see happening on the M5!
Time to go off on a little tangent here, I know in the past I may have
been a little harsh on some aspects of America and Americans, but after two
visits, I really have fallen in love with the place. In the main the people of
America are genuine, friendly and honest. And when they inevitably say; “have a
nice day”, you believe they really mean it. And if you strike up a conversation
with them, they can be fascinating to talk to and fascinated by us as well,
especially when you say you’re from England!
“Oh wow! Do you live in London?”
“Do you know the Queen?” etc.
America is also a land of contradictions. The population can be
obese, but the hotel baths are tiny!
Plus, and I’ll put my serious hat on for a moment, for a country,
especially the South, where there can be endless days of sunshine and cloudless
skies, the solar panel is a rarely seen sight. One has to surmise that oil is still
the king here. JR Ewing has a lot to answer for.
Anyway enough of the serious stuff, let us take a moment to
introduce a few of the characters that we met on our holiday. Firstly, take
Miss Daisy. Miss Daisy is not her real name, but it will do for now.
Miss Daisy was a lone Australian traveller, somewhere between 68
and 300 years old. She was generally quiet, but could whip out a quip when
called upon and also be a little feisty. However, the most striking thing for
me, with regard to Miss Daisy, were her eyebrows.
Or lack of them.
She clearly pencilled on these eyebrows, which gave her, depending
on the steadiness of her hand, a permanent expression of surprise, bewilderment
or if she had a sherry the night before, a bit of both.
On with the tour.
We arrived at our Nashville hotel, after a quick spin around the
city, stopping off for the obligatory run around a gift shop.
Now, what can I remember about the Nashville hotel? Well, it was
opposite a Drive thru’ McDonalds and it had one of the things I really hate
about some hotels; tiny pillows!
Tiny wafer thin pillows, it’s like having no pillow at all.
Or
trying to sleep with your head on a soft Ryvita!
You end up having to roll up a blanket to get a decent neck
support.
Mind you, when I sat on the bed the bedside light came on! And
when I stood up, it went off again. I thought; this might get interesting
tonight! Anyway, I sorted the dodgy light and we went ventured out to find
somewhere to eat.
We actually found ourselves sitting in a real American bar,
drinking real American beer, with real Americans. It was a fantastic
experience, but Little Miss Dave wasn’t keen on staying for food, so we went to the
McDonalds!! Shame on us.
The next day we were off to Memphis! And we all know that Memphis
means Elvis!
Cue Suzanne putting the Elvis CD on.
We travelled from Nashville to Memphis, listening Suzanne’s expert
commentary, backed ably by Elvis. Graceland was our destination today and this
was one that Mrs Dave was not going to miss.
Now, I’m not a huge Elvis fan, but to just be in the same house
where “the King” lived was really quite marvellous. They have preserved it in
the same way it would have been in 1977, when Elvis passed on and you walk from
room to room, looking at the things Elvis would have gazed upon many years ago.
Really something quite special, I have to say.
Obviously, as with everywhere else, it was “Exit through Gift Shop”
and you could pick up every single piece of tacky Elvis branded merchandise
available.
The one thing that did surprise me, amidst all the glitz and
glamour, gold records and jump suits, was the graves of the entire Presley
family in the back garden!
When you commence the tour, you are supplied with an audio guide,
which takes you from room to room, when it took us out to the garden and to the
graves of Elvis, Mom and Dad Elvis and Nanna Elvis, I was most surprised and
moved too.
Up until that point, it was a case of “walk, stop, take photo”,
but confronted with a solemn place such as the graveside of Elvis Presley!! I
stopped, took a few steps back and let what can only be described as pilgrims,
take their moments with their beloved king.
I took pictures whilst they weren’t looking.
I’ll round off this part of the holiday blog with several facts.
We went out in Memphis to eat that night.
We went to the Blues City Café.
We ordered a 32 ounce T-bone steak. Yes, 2lb’s of prime American
steak!
I swear, as long as I live, I will never eat another steak like that
again. It was immense in every conceivable way. Totally and utterly gorgeous!Click here for Part 5
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