Friday, April 1, 2016

Walking in Memphis

Our first stop in Memphis this morning was Graceland.  It was our second visit and the first place Cal mentioned when I asked him about a Spring Break senior trip last April.  

As a child of the 1970s, stepping into the Graceland mansion is like stepping into the past.  The shag carpet on the ceiling, the glass peacocks on the doors, the stairway of mirrors and the bright yellow and blue TCB room are just a few of the highlights.  Meg said to me several times, "Mom, this is the perfect house for you.  Everything is gaudy just like you like it!"  As much as I love this historic site walking through it does tug at my heart.  The first person that I can remember dying was Elvis.  Little did I know that just two weeks later my brother would leave us as well.  

After our tour of Graceland we stopped at a few other Elvis exhibits as well.  The trophy room and memorial gardens were  definite highlights.  Everyone found something in the gift shop and a couple of items for friends and family back home.

We then went to Beale Street for lunch.  We found an Irish pub that served Po' Boys and BBQ.  Everyone got a kick out of the Irish Diving Goats.  The Lorraine Motel was only a couple of blocks away, so we stopped there before leaving.  It was the motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated.  It is now an NAACP educational center.  It was filled with visitors and was a somber sight to behold. 

Our last stop of the day was The Memphis Zoo. Cam had mentioned last week that he really want to see Pandas at some time in his life.  He doesn't remember them from our trip to DC many years ago.  I couldn't believe when I Googled zoos with Pandas that there were ones at the Memphis Zoo.

The zoo was nice and reminded us of the one in Toledo.  The panda exhibit was as awesome as Cam hoped it would be.  One of the pandas was even enjoying bamboo.  We took a lot of pictures and picked up some souvenirs at the gift shop.  Our next two stops were the polar bears and the grizzlies.  As an avid fan of We Bare Bears Cam was happy we visited Griz, Ice Bear and his favorite Pan Pan!

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