Elvis IS the king

What a big day today was! Today was my only full day in Memphis so I was going to cram all that I could in. I hit up the complimentary breakfast, where I had another breakfast of scones. Scones for breakky seem to be a thing in the south.

I had bought a ticket yesterday for Graceland to avoid the line up today so I headed to Graceland in time for my 9am tour of Elvis’s house. It was super hot already as I walked to Graceland, so I’m looking forward to just getting into the air conditioning. Graceland the enterprise is amazing. The house is really only a small part. You have to include 3 museums, about 6 shops offering items on every aspect of Elvis’s life from GI Elvis to Blue Hawaii Elvis; and food outlets. Memphis IS Elvis. I think this as I walk along Elvis Presley Blvd, after leaving Heartbreak Hotel, and heading to Graceland. I’m glad I got the early tour as it’s not nearly as busy as it looked late yesterday evening. The house itself is across the road.

So we are given our audio tours and ordered into a bus that will cross the street and head up to the front door of Graceland. The front wall along the property has been written all over for years now, so it’s completely covered in ‘blah blah was here’ kind of comment and ‘I love Elvis’ everywhere. Again, another place where no flash photography is allowed; so I take some blurry shots of the bottom rooms of Graceland. I’m told once inside that the upstairs is off limits in respect for Elvis and as Lisa Marie’s wishes. I think it’s more because if they displayed the rooms as is, you’d be finding a bit of a mess and a hell of a lot of drugs. Graceland screams 70’s, and ‘I have a lot of money, let’s spend it’ They jungle room was a trip, a lounge room styled in jungle furniture, and the pool room in the basement with walls of fabric. I check out the backyard, including Elvis’s racquetball room, his trophy room (there were A LOT of awards), his costume exhibit, and finally, his Dad’s office where they handled the fan mail. Elvis’s parents lived with him. Lastly, I visited the most packed part of the property, Elvis’s resting place. Elvis and his parents are buried in the meditation garden at the side of the house. It’s incredible how many people leave gifts etc. 31 years later.

After checking out Graceland, I visited the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum where about a dozen of Elvis’s vehicles, including his favourite pink Cadillac were on show. He had a great MG and purple convertible too. One more museum to go to end my tour, and it took my to Elvis’s airplanes. He had two airplanes, one called the Lisa Marie. I go inside the Lisa Marie, admire his gold plated washroom sink and Elvis’s velour bedroom. This guy had a lot of money. Time to leave the Memphis that is Elvis and see what else is on offer. I take advantage of Sun Studio free shuttle which goes around to most of the Memphis attraction. This is fantastic because Graceland is about 15 minutes from downtown Memphis, so I’d be in a bit of a pickle if I had to get to these places by taxis. There isn’t any buses!

A shot time later I get to Sun Studios. I cant help but think of Johnny Cash. I head in and buy my tour ticket and wait til the tour starts. I learn whilst waiting about the Million Dollar Quartet. Elvis, Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis all happened to be at Sun Studios on the same day and they recorded together. What a group! We head into the tour which takes us through the history as Sun Studios and its owner, Sam Phillips. What was interesting to learn was that Sam Phillips almost went broke many times and sold Elvis’s contract to keep Sun Studios going. It was pretty awesome to stand in the actual studio so many great artists have once stood. The studio is still used today after dark by local bands.

It was heading towards lunch time so I stopped in at Pig: Pork with an Attitude and had myself a BBQ pork burger. Not good, but I was so hungry I would have eaten anything at this stage.

Next stop on my big Memphis day was the Rock and Soul Museum. The museum is a Smithsonian so I knew it was going to be good. The museum looks at rock n roll from it’s roots in the cotton fields where people like Cark Perkins were inspired by the gospel signing of the African Americans, to the Million Dollar Quartet. You could sound some music along the way such as Chuck Berry, BB King, and Roy Orbison. Many artists had their costumes on display, including the very flamboyant costumes of Isaac Hayes. After an hour and a half at the museum, I got back into the heat of the day and walked to the National Civil Rights Museum. To get there you walk along Main St. It was a Sunday afternoon as I was the ONLY person in sight. It was so bizarre. I couldn’t believe in the main area of Memphis I might be the only one around. Memphis is not a big place. I got to the Civil Rights Museum a short time later. The museum is housed within the old Lorraine Motel, which is the sight of Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination. It’s a neat idea and there is also a plaque commemorating the spot where he was assassinated out the front. The tour starts with a brief movie on the background to Civil Rights from the past until today. The museum is filled mainly with written information on the walls from such events as the sit ins, bus boycotts, and Kings history.

There is an exhibit that is a bus you go into and learn about Rosa Parks. The museum finishes up with King’s assassination and they have re-created the rooms of the hotel that King and his entourage were staying in at the time of the assassination, the actual rooms have not changed at all except for one cube of concrete on the ground that was removed because King’s blood was on it. There is another museum across the street that goes further into the assassination, including the autopsy, the investigation and the weapon used. However, I’m not real keen to see all that and I want to get back to the stop I can get the free shuttle from to get back to my hotel.

Luckily I just get onto the shuttle and head back to the hotel. It was a mammoth day, but I can say I got to do everything I wanted too. Instead of heading out again, I decide to get an early night. I have a 6am train the next day so it might be wise!

What I learnt in Memphis today:

• Elvis is king
• Memphis isn’t a big place. If you took the tourists out, it would be tiny.
• How annoying it is you can’t take photos in a lot of places. It makes it hard to remember everything you see!

Elvis's grave site on his Graceland property

Random sign at a hotel along Presley Blvd

The pool at my hotel, The Heartbreak Hotel

Elvis's plane, the Lisa Marie. Named after his daughter.

Sun Studio

A memorial to Dr Martin Luther King Jr at the Lorraine Motel, the site of his assassination

Walking in Memphis

It’s time to say farewell to Nashville. It’s a shame as I have really loved Nashville, but I am looking forward to seeing Memphis. I’m up for another flight on Northwest airlines. My shuttle picks me up at a reasonable time in the morning which is a nice change. I’m going through the usual panic about my luggage and the will I or won’t I get through without being penalized. I get to the counter at Northwest and notice the attendants are checking people on in front of the desks. It’s looking positive. I get a guy to check me in, so I try and act as nice as possible to stop him paying attention to my luggage. To my absolute luck he doesn’t even attempt to see how heavy my luggage is and just puts the tags on and wishes me a safe journey. What this guy doesn’t know is that I could have kissed him I was so happy. This huge relief came over me as I’m thinking, ‘awesome, I got through one more flight pain free’.

I get through security, where you have to always take off your shoes, and even jumpers if they look baggy. I had to take mine off leaving a thin white singlet with a bright bra underneath. It did not look good. I did fit the ‘white trash’ look of the area though. The plane is running on time so I just sit around waiting for it to show. I buy a couple of mags and try to stay awake. Well it’s on to the flight and I get to my seat and totally jam my carry on as I try and squeeze it in the overhead. Seriously, I am dam lucky it fit. I must thank lovely American men everywhere who are always in arms reach to help me with my luggage, and it’s been often!

After an exceptionally short plane ride, we are talking like half an hour, I’ve landed in Memphis. If I wasn’t sure where I had landed, I only had to check out the first shops that grab my attention. There is an Elvis store, which is adjacent to a Sun Studios store. Yes, I am in the land that Elvis built. I had a bit of a chuckle after I saw that.

I head out to find a airport shuttle to get to my hotel. I see a guy I recognized from the flight and asked if he knew where to go. He told me he was waiting for the Heartbreak Hotel courtesy shuttle. Well lucky I asked him as that’s exactly where I was to head to. So I wait with him and his friends until the shuttle shows. It doesn’t show for another 20 minutes, but hey, I guess it’s free so it’s worth waiting for. We get the shuttle and only five minutes later we are at the Elvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel. The hotel looks pretty funky and plays Elvis tunes and shows Elvis movies in the lobby. I’m there at about 12pm and I’m told I can’t check in until 4pm. Oh crap. Not even a smidge earlier, after i beg a little. So I go onto the internet to waste some time, then I head out to find some food somewhere. I end up at the Rockabilly Diner where I get myself a chicken burger. Yes, another burger. Well it was that or a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, Elvis’s favourite.

I head back to the hotel after looking around shops and eating to fill in time. I’m asking for my room at 3.50pm and they say to me that they may have something ready. How can it take five hours to clean the rooms!? I’m told I’m lucky that my room is ready and I head upstairs to the third floor. The rooms are nice and large. Thankfully the hotel offers a free shuttle to Beale St, so I put my name down for the 7pm shuttle. I have some time between then and now so I get 40 winks, then shower and change. I head downstairs to the shuttle and make my way to Beale St. Beale St is the big attraction in downtown Memphis and it’s famous for its jazz and rock bars plus southern food restaurants. I decide on Blues City Café for some dinner. I figure that I should try the local food and choose some hot tamales and a cup of seafood gumbo. My food arrives a short time later and it looks…errr…interesting. I try and cut the tamales and have difficulty, but finally do and just as I eat a piece the waitress walks by and says, ‘you have to take them out of the paper first’ I almost died! I quickly looked around and hoped no one saw me eat paper. I felt slightly better when I overheard her saying the same thing to someone else 30 seconds later. I didn’t like the tamales all that much and wont be eating them again. My gumbo looks very much like clam chowder except with rice in it. I eat it and it tastes like chowder, but just has more ingredients. I don’t mind it, but can safely say I won’t be eating it again.

After dinner I walked Beale St. It was busy out, with many people drinking on the streets. I stumbled across some live jazz in a park along the street. So I buy myself a Beale Big Ass Beer and take a seat and enjoy the jazz. I talk to a North Carolina gentleman and we both laugh at the really wrong dancing by some serious drunks in front of us. I have a blast! Once the jazz players had finished up I headed to the closest bar to catch the end of an Elvis impersonator show. He does a great show and his costume is wicked. He tells me it was made by the same tailor who did Elvis’s. I get a photo with him and his autograph (I don’t know why I’d want that, it’s not actually Elvis) and tell him that no, I can’t go on his Harley with him tomorrow.

Well after a great night out on Beale I get myself back to the spot the shuttle will pick me up and get me back to the hotel.

What I learnt in Memphis today:

• Memphis is music. That’s all there is too it.
• Try the local foods if you can, but just don’t expect to always like them.
• You cant go to Memphis and not get to meet an Elvis impersonator, they are a trip.

Elvis at the Memphis International Airport

Hot Tamales at Blues City Cafe

Beale Street

The jazz band i watched in a park on Beale St

With my Beale Big Ass Beer. Love it!

With 'Elvis' in a bar on Beale Street

Always drink upstream from the herd

This morning I had a massive sleep in, it was great! Today I had a completely free day. Nashville is a fantastic city and I’d recommend it to someone after something a bit left field, but there isn’t a great deal to do here. After the last two days of touring, I had pretty much seen everything I wanted to. I took today as a day of taking it easy and just cruising downtown Nashville. I headed out to Broadway and 2nd Avenue where a lot of the honky tonks, restaurants and shops are. I checked out the cowboy boots stores thinking about purchasing a pair. A tied a few on and they were cool but ultimately I wouldn’t be seen in public in them (unless I was in Nashville) so I decided not to get them. Plus, they aren’t exactly light in the luggage. I did nag myself an awesome belt complete with belt buckle. One thing I found interesting in looking through the souvenir shops was the Civil War merchandise you can get. When I was in DC the merchandise was very Union army based. When you look at what’s in Nashville it’s all Confederate army based. I find it strange as one of the beliefs the Confeds had was slavery. Surely people don’t want to support an army like that now! Well clearly they do, and sides are still taken after all these years.

I moved on and saw the Hatch Show Print shop. Hatch Show Print is one of the oldest working letter press print shops in the US. They make all the fantastic posters for country years, going back as far as 1880’s. They still sell old prints today, plus you can get customized prints done for you too. I see a fantastic Johnny Cash poster from his hey day and buy that. Old Hatch Show Print’s actually sell for quite a price as they are vintage.

After having a look at the stores I find a place to get some lunch. I end up on Broadway at a burger bar that’s been there for donkies years. I grab a oiled up burger and fries. One thing is for sure, you get a lot of food and you don’t pay much. As soon as I headed south in the US everything is cheaper, you even notice it in the petrol prices.

After lunch I continue to walk around with not a real aim in mind. It’s not all that busy during the day; people seem to come out at night. I’m told that in the heat of summer people don’t tend to visit the south as much as they might earlier in the year, so there isn’t as many tourists around, which I don’t mind at all. There seems to be a recurring theme in the gift shops on 2^nd Ave. They all have merchandise that is Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Boop, or I Love Lucy. I don’t quite get the connection and they are very Hollywood. But seriously, they are like in EVERY store. Very weird.

Well it starts to rain, luckily not to hard, but given the rain I slowly head back to the hotel. I took the scenic route and went through Printers Alley. It’s where printing business’s used to belong and it is now full of bars. It’s a bit if a seedy area and I think it’s a more local’s only place.

I’m back at the hotel and I start to organize how I am going to get myself to the Grand Ole Opry. I had bought a ticket to the Grand Old Opry tonight and it’s about 25 minutes out of downtown Nashville. The Grand Ole Opry is a country music concert that is on every Friday and Saturday night and is broadcasted over the radio live during the performance. The shows are a mix of new performers, legends, and I guess anyone they can find. I figure out what bus to get and make my way to Opry Mills. Opry Mills is next door to the Grand Ole Opry and is a big shopping centre. Once I get the bus over there I head to wherever I can to get dinner as I don’t have long before the show starts. I end up at T.G.I Fridays. If you ever wondered what the ‘T.G.I’ stood for (cause I did) it stands for Thank God It’s Friday. I have some garlic laden shrimp, thinking I must get some gum before I get to the show, and then get on my way.

The show kicks off with four guys dressed in awesome country clothing including sheep skin chaps. Just crazy. I don’t know any of the artists but I still enjoy it. Most of the audience seems to know who the people are as they sing along. It’s almost a packed house and they have designed the place like the Ryman, complete with pews for seating. Because the show is broadcasted live, after every couple of songs a broadcaster comes over and does some commercials and interviews with the artists. The show is broken up into quarters and during the whole show, I saw about 8 artists or bands. Overall I really enjoyed seeing the show. It’s strange to go to a show and not know any of the songs, but a visit to Nashville wouldn’t be complete without taking in a show at the Opry. If only it was decades earlier and I had a chance to see Johnny Cash. That would have been amazing. I get the bus home and once in downtown Nashville I walk VERY fast back to my hotel There aren’t many people around in downtown Nashville so I wasn’t going to spend too long there.

What I learnt in Nashville today:

• It isn’t a very stylin’ place, just check out Opry Mills!
• I love how country music songs are based on the most simple of situations. One song I heard was about a guy who likes looking at a girl at work. Love it!
• No more burgers…pleeease….

Some live country music at Legends bar on Broadway

These Nashville Music City signs are everywhere.

On Broadway

On Broadway.

Inside the Hatch Print store

The Grand Ole Opry entrance

Jack lives here

Today I would be visiting the hollowed Jack Daniel Distillery. I’m up early to be picked up by my tour group to head to the small town of Lynchburg. I’m already loving taking tours in Nashville. I mean, where else can you hop onto the bus and watch a DVD of rockabilly artists whilst the tour guide sings along to them! The trip to Lynchburg where the Jack Daniels Distillery is home is about an hour and a half out of Nashville. Luckily I had brought my Ipod. The town of Lynchburg has a population of 360 people and you can safely say that pretty much all of those people work at the distillery. I’m looking forward to this tour as I know next to nothing about how whiskey is created or Jack Daniels.

We get to the Jack Daniels Visitors Centre and I wait for my tour to start. Everyone working at the distillery sounds very southern and wears overalls, it’s all very kitsch. I notice a statue of Jack in the visitors centre and am told that it is life size. I’m amazed because I am slightly taller than Jack. Jack was a short guy and he also never married but had many girlfriends, and more than one at a time. So Jack was a bit of a stud. The tour starts off with a short video giving the background of Jack’s Whiskey. The formula for his whiskey has not changed since he first created it and the process for creating it has barely changed too. Jack’s whiskey has won more awards than any other whiskey in the world and every drop of Jack Daniel’s is created from Lynchburg. They export about 40% overseas. I found it pretty neat that the whiskey I was seeing could end up being served at the Steyne. After the video we hop onto a bus and head to the start of the tour. The tour doesn’t go through the whiskey making process from step A to Z so we learn different pieces in the process depending where we walk to. We start at the area where the charcoal is made. The process that makes Jack’s whiskey a Tennessee whiskey is that the whiskey is poured over a vat of charcoal where it slowly passes through the charcoal to then go into the barrels.

After checking out the charcoal process we have a look at Jack’s original office on the property that has remained the same since his death. What I am amazed by is the size of the distillery. It’s absolutely massive. To put it in perspective, they have about 50 barrel rooms on the property. Within these barrel rooms are seven floors of barrels, about 20,000 barrels per room. That’s a lot of whiskey! The other thing I notice is how much working at Jack Daniels runs in the family. So many employees have brothers, mothers, sisters working at the distillery. The employees also have a real love of what they do and preserving Jack’s legacy. In Jack’s office they have a safe and this safe is infamous, and what ultimately caused Jack’s death. Years prior to Jack’s death he had gotten fed up with the safe and kicked it hard. This led to an infection in his foot which led to blood poisoning, and his eventual death.

We moved on and had a look at the fresh water spring on the property, The water from this spring is used in the process to make the soft mash for the whiskey, which is like a yeast. The distillery ended up where it is because Jack discovered the spring so he bought the spring and the land around it and built his empire. We had a look at pictures of the Master Distillers. I just thought what a cool job that would be. The Master Distiller gets to decide, by tasting, when a whiskey is ready to leave the barrels and get bottled. Niice. I just like the name Master Distiller.

We then have a look at the rooms that create the mash. The smell is very pungent and not all that crash hot. We then move onto a room where you see the whiskey move through the charcoal. Our tour guide lifts the lid of the barrel and the whiskey smell is overpowering. I think if you took a big enough sniff you could feel a bit tipsy. What’s interesting to know is that Lynchburg is a dry county. So basically you can’t drink alcohol. So unfortunately there won’t be any taste testing but I am told you may purchase whiskey later on. Every first Friday of the month every employee gets a bottle of JD to take home, and on holidays…no wonder the employees are so happy.

We move onto the room where the Single Barrel bottles of JD are being put together. Single Barrel JD is taken from the barrels on the top floor of the barrel rooms where they got more heat and the whiskey is smoother. People and companies buy a barrel of JD and their Single Barrel Whiskey will always come from that barrel. After drooling over the Single Barrel Whiskey we went and saw the barrel rooms. There were walls and walls of barrels of whiskey. Waiting to be just right for bottling, which generally takes a couple of years. The barrels are never reused as it may compromise the JD so they get sold or recycled.

We get to the end of the tour and have the opportunity to buy some whiskey. I purchase a special edition JD bottle complete with certificate of ownership. I’m just really hoping it makes it way back home in one piece in my luggage!

After checking out the distillery we head to the town centre of Lynchburg. By town centre I mean a town square of about 12 shops. Of these shops, about 80% are sellers of JD merchandise. I have lunch at the BBQ Caboose café and walk the shops until it’s time for us to leave. We head out an hour after we got there and our tour guide takes us to Jack Daniel’s resting place in the local cemetery.

We make the long trip back to downtown Nashville and I am back in my hotel at 5.30pm. I had planned to head to the closest Wal-Mart to buy the world’s cheapest piece of carry on luggage to help with carrying my crap. So I catch the bus to west Nashville and Wal-Mart. West Nashville is a slummier part of Nashville and there isn’t a whole lot out there. I do end up getting my $20 piece of luggage so I am happy about that. I head back to downtown Nashville and get myself to a Chili’s restaurant to answer my serious fajitas craving for dinner. It had been a long day on the go so I end up heading back to the hotel and hitting the sack early.

What I learnt in Nashville today:

• The Nashville bus routes are designed around K-Marts and Wal-Mart’s. It’s very bizarre. You can imagine how fashionable the folks in Nashville are!
• You can meet some strange folk on the buses. Like the ex-Marie who was putting can of beer into water bottles to foil people into thinking that maybe he wasn’t a drunk.
• The creation of JD is such a process, I have a new found respect for whiskey!

Country Music Hall of Fame.

Life sized JD in the Visitor's Centre. Love the get up!

With JD in front of the natural spring on the Jack Daniel Distillery property.

Jack Daniel's Office

The Barrel Room at the Jack Daniel Distillery. Mmmmm...

A typical shop front in downtown Nashville.

How ya'll doing?

So I got up at the crack of dawn; well it wasn’t even the crack, it was the middle of the night. 4am to be exact, to get my airport shuttle. I was already in the lobby waiting for the shuttle wishing to get to Nashville fast just so I could go to bed! The shuttle came on time, as one would given there wasn’t much in the way of traffic, and I got to the airport about 10 minutes later. Surprisingly, the shuttle was full; I had expected to be the only idiot getting a flight that early. The reason for the early flight? A flight to Nashville from DC isn’t a popular route so it pushes the price up. At the time I booked the flight it was already costing me $400 plus a stop over in Detroit. So a flight at a later time or a direct one; well that would have cost even more which I just didn’t want to have to pay. Ironically, the flight all up isn’t that long, like a bit over an hour.

So I got to the Northwest Airlines counter to be told my luggage was over the limit. It was over a whole two pounds over, which by the way is barely one kilo. I’m so over airlines and weight hassles. I did some moving and shuffling which meant putting my toiletries in my carry on and got through and headed to security. Once at security I’m told I’m to have a secondary security check. Are you freakin’ kidding me! Again! I’m asked to wait in what can only be described as a Perspex cage, until security was ready for me. They wouldn’t even touch me, I had to pass documents through a slot in the cage. I felt like a criminal. Once they were ready I ws moved out of my cage and told to stand, legs apart, and get patted down. Obviously I freaked out, and thought, ‘geez, I hope they don’t find all the cocaine strapped to my body’ They also tested my carry on bags and opened them up and looked through them. It was at this point I realized I had stupidly packed my toiletries in my carry on because of the weight and forgot that you can point liquids in your carry on. Now I am beyond pissed off. I had the choice of checking in again or ditching some stuff. So bye bye almost full cosmetics bottles. I could have cried.

After the drama and security wishing me ‘a good day’, ha, I boarded the plane. The plane was full, probably because so many people take it before they have a stop over to go somewhere different. After a short time I got to Detroit airport and had to wait for about an hour and a half until my flight to Nashville. So I got out the laptop and buggered around. My time finally came and I was on my flight to Nashville. Yah. After a short time I had got in the air as fast as I was descending into Nashville. I head through the small airport that is Nashville. It hits me straight in the face walking through the airport what Nashville is about. The country music posters and music notes covering the walls kinda gave it away. I picked up my luggage and searched for a airport shuttle. I got to the counter ordered my shuttle and got straight into the Nashville heat to get my shuttle to downtown Nashville. So far I’m loving it because all I can hear is Southern accents and it’s just funny. I got to my hotel about 15 minutes later at about 11.00am. Unfortunately because it’s so early they aren’t ready to check me in. So I have to hang around for a couple of hours. I just cruise the net and get some lunch at the adjacent deli. I also confirm a tour I have for the afternoon. I’m extremely tempted to do the tour another day because I am so tired, but I decide to forge on so I don’t waste the afternoon.

I finally get into my hotel room and have enough time to change before I have to go back to the lobby and get picked up for my tour. I booked a Discover Nashville tour that goes to some of the big attractions of Nashville. My tour arrives and the tour guide is so friendly. A nice change compared to my DC experiences. The tour goes through Music Row where our guide highlights some of the bigger recording studios like RCM, who looked after Elvis and other studios where big country names like Dolly and Reba record. The first stop on the tour is the Parthenon in Centennial Park. Nashville decided to build a replica Parthenon where they house various changing exhibits. It’s a must see when visiting. Personally, I think it’s totally tacky and does not suit Nashville at all. Well I take a photo and we move on. Our next stop was Ryman Auditorium. I had no idea what the history was of this place until we did the tour. The Ryman used to hold the Grand Ole Opry every Friday & Saturday night from the 30’s and it was crazy popular. All the best of the best in country music played there. The Grand Ole Opry moved from the Ryman in the 1980’s but the Ryman is still used for big name concerts and the Grand Ole Opry moves there in the winter. It was good to learn about the history of the place and get some insight into country music, given I had no clue. After the Ryman, we head to the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. We have an hour and a half to check it out. I start at the museum which looks at country music from it’s roots until now. It focused heavily on the 30’d to 60’s, more than today. It showed lots of costumes which were great, sparkly suits that are crazy and there were heaps of opportunities to listen to music also. At the end of the museum, the hall of fame sits. Hundreds of country music stars are entered there, and I even recognize a few, like Shania, Dolly, Cash, and Willie Nelson.

After checking out the museum we headed to Broadway, which is Nashville’s main street of Honky Tonks. We went to Legends bar to watch some live country music and enjoy our free soft drink. The music was great, and it soon becomes apparent that all the bars along Broadway offer free country music. Seriously, Nashville IS country music. It was time for the tour to wrap up so we took the scenic route to my hotel through 2nd Avenue, another street where most of the partying happens at night and had a look at Printers Alley, more music there too! I got to my hotel a few minutes later. I had scored again and booked a hotel very close to the action. I headed to my room and got myself some sleep before waking up about 9pm starving for some dinner. I’d remembered passing a Hooters on the tour so I walked down to Hooters and got myself some food. After dinner I wondered around to see what was going on. Just down the road Hootie and the Blowfish were playing and they are the bomb. I went to see if I could get in and they wanted $50 a ticket, and I’d missed half the set. Given I’d missed half the set I opted not to pay the full ticket and left that one alone.

So I went to Coyote Ugly Saloon, the original that existed before the movie. It was ok, nothing special. I stayed for a drink and then headed back to my hotel.

What I learnt in Nashville today:

• Being an Australian is quite a novelty here. No one can quite believe I’d travel so far to go to Nashville. People just love the accent.
• Everyone is so dam friendly.
• It really is Music City, you can’t escape country music if you’re in Nashville!

The Parthenon in Centennial Park.

Cutting loose on the Ryman Auditorium stage.

The Ryman Auditorium.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The man in black's suit - Johnny Cash.

Broadway in Nashville. Honky Tonk town.

The house that Washington built

Another early start today to make my way to George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. The tour company was to pick me up at 7.25am at my hotel. Well I was there at 7.25am in the lobby, only to be told that the bus had already left. I was so livered. Another screw up with my DC tours. I will never use them again! What is the point of confirming your attendance if they don’t even wait for you to show up! So, again, I had to make my way to Union station and meet up with the tour there. I got onto the tour in time only to have to wait for the tour company to get into gear and get going. We FINALLY left the station late and headed the roughly hour and a half drive to Mount Vernon estate.

On the way there we drove through Old Alexandria Town. Old Alexandria is recognized for its 18th and 19th century architecture, including several streets still cobbled. One interesting attraction in the town is the house that spite built. John Hollensbury wanted to keep carriages and loiterers out of the alley way next to his house so he built a house in the alley way. The house is 7 feet wide and two stories high. It looks pretty cool and was a fantastic idea!

We get to Mount Vernon not long after. The tour guides tells us that 80 million people have visited the home since its opening. Incredible. In case you didn’t know, George Washington was the first US president and according to what I read and hear, he was da man. Loved by many and after two terms in office, the public were saddened to hear he wouldn’t continue for a third.

The house is located alongside the Potomac River on 8,000 acres of land once owned by Washington and now run by Mount Vernon Ladies Association. The house takes up a small part of the estate, as well as upper and lower gardens which are quite extensive. Other out houses includes the kitchen, the gardener’s room, slaves quarters, laundry, smoke house, and the list goes on. It is exceptionally quiet at the estate which is a nice change. I ask someone who works there if this is common and I’m told it gets busierin the afternoon with kids. I was happy to hear that! I got straight into the house with a small group. In each room an employee was there to explain the surroundings. The tour started in a gorgeous dining room with bright blue walls. I know it doesn’t sound crash hot, but it was beautifully decorated. Washington’s taste was for the finer things in style. I like him already! We slowly move through the house which was often hosting many of Washington’s friends and colleagues, which is why he had it extended twice in his lifetime. We got to George and Martha’s bedroom where their bed still resides, the one that George died in after a short illness. After his death Martha never slept in it again and slept in another room of the house until her death two years later. After touring the house I continued to look around the grounds. I noticed it had started to get really busy with a huge line to get into the house. Suckers. I got to Washington’s original tomb where he was buried after his death. As per his wishes in his will, his body was moved to a tomb created years after his death, as Washington knew of the deterioration of the original tomb. The tomb where he now lies also contains Martha and some of the Washington family such as the estates later owners, nieces and nephews. George never had his own children.

After looking around the estate I headed to the museum and education centre. The museum section housed artifacts from George’s era and what they found that was his. About 40% of the artifacts in the house are from the time George lived there, the rest have been collected pieces from the time period. The museum also features some of Martha’s jewellery and paintings of George. The education centre next door is a lot more interesting. An American university collected all they could about George Washington’s physical appearance, mainly from sculptures, busts that are considered accurate by family members and paintings; and re-created George Washington as a man in his twenties, in his forties, and in his sixties. It was fascinating to see the result and kinda creepy too.

Speaking of creepy, the creepiest thing in the education centre is George Washington’s false teeth. Yep, that’s right, his dentures. They are made from wood and hippo ivory and I find it amazing that people would actually wear them in their mouth, Thank goodness for dental technology. George was plagued with problem teeth his whole life and had lost all his teeth by the time he was president.

After I checked out the museum it was time to meet the bus driver and head back into DC. After an hour and a half, and most the bus asleep, we were at Union Station. I got myself a cab to my hotel and chilled out for a bit. I booked my shuttle for tomorrow for the lovely time of 4.30am. Oh that’s going to be fun…not! I went and got some dinner up the road at Chipolte. It’s a Mexican take out place one notch higher than Taco Bell. After dinner I got myself packing. Another packing challenge, as I was not looking forward to tomorrow’s trip to the airport to get on the plane.

What I learnt in Washington DC today:

• The portrait of George Washington that was used for the one dollar bill shows a George Washington with a slightly down turned mouth. This was probably the result of ill fitting dentures.
• George was the man. Very loved and did a great job. No affairs in his history!
• American TV has implemented this cheeky form of advertising in which the volume of some commercials gets louder to grab the viewers attention. It's dam annoying, constantly turning the TV volume up and down when it happens. I keep noticing it the longer I am here!

You can buy ANYTHING related to the presidents in and around DC. Including these lovely Lincoln 'grabbers'.

The Upper Garden

The house on the left. Gardener's quarters on the right.

The out house where the slaves lived.

The laundry out house, run by slaves. The slaves were emancipated after Washington's death as noted in his will.

Washington's Tomb on Mount Vernon Estate

Aim, fire!

I was very excited about my plans today, as today I made the trek out to Gettysburg. Gettysburg is in small town in Pennsylvania that has its name down in the history books as the town that the famous climatic battle of the Civil war occurred. It was the battle in which the Union Army defeated the Confederate Army, who were under the direct Command of General Robert E Lee, in July 1863.

The bus picks me up at 7.30am for the two hour bus ride to Gettysburg. I didn’t really know what to expect and what to see other than the land so I’m rather curious. I snag the back seat of the bus as I figured with the trip being so long I might as well lie down and sleep. And that’s exactly what I did. I woke up to the bus driver telling us we were in Gettysburg and we are to go to the Artillery Ridge Campgrounds where a museum exists that holds the most accurate diorama of the battle at Gettysburg in miniature scale. The diorama took two years to construct and includes more than 20,000 hand painted soldiers. When we get there, I will say I was very impressed by the diorama, but reluctant to call it a museum. On the walls of the large room are several more dioramas depicting various battle scenes that occurred during the three days in Gettysburg. The walls are also covered in dozens of paintings depicting various battles and people. Most of these scenes involve the Union army, not the Confederates. We are asked to sit down on a small grandstand on the side of the room that overlooks the huge diorama. We are to watch a show. The lights are dimmed and a recording comes on that talks about the battles and described what happened on each of the three days. During the description, lights shine on the areas of interest and sound effects are used. It does give a good explanation, however after it is over I am still slightly confused. I think it’s just too much detail in one hit and I cant help but think about Gettysburg the movie and see how that ties in. I even ask the woman running it, ‘So which side was the Jeff Daniels side again?’

After seeing the diorama we are taken to another location, called General Pickett’s Theatre to meet our tour guide who will take us around the Gettysburg fields for two hours. We meet our tour guide at the base of Cemetery Hill. As we head off on our tour is becomes very clear how huge this was, mainly just from seeing the hundreds of monuments that lime positions where the Union Army once was. There are 1,320 monuments on the fields at Gettysburg to give you an idea of why it seems like you pass one every few seconds. Most of the monuments were put their by Northerners since the 1880’s to honor the 50,000 killed there. The tour guide asks ‘why Gettysburg?’ and his answer is, 'mainly fate', as it’s where the two sides met and where the Union Army stopped the Confederates from taking over Washing DC.

We stopped at several places along the way and our tour guide continues to talk about the battle. He is extremely knowledgeable and overviews what happened on each of the days. Our next stop is at the only monument of Robert E Lee, which sits next to another two monuments put their by the South. It’s a large monument of Lee on his horse and is situated on Seminary Ridge where Lee would have witnessed Pickett’s charge from this vantage point. His monument was actually created by the same guy who did Mt Rushmore. Our last stop is at Little Round Top where we head onto the hill and get a fantastic view of the fields of Gettysburg.

After the tour we head to General Pickett’s for a buffet lunch. I sit with a family from West Virginia, and the mother asks me if I’m Spanish. WTF. That’s a new one! They know nothing about Australia and do ask if I have a kangaroo. It’s at this point I find it hard not to laugh. After too much food, I head to the adjacent store. If you ever wanted anything related to the Civil War, head to Gettysburg. The main street is lined with shop after shop of Civil War merchandise, it’s just incredible.

We got back onto the bus soon after and head to Main St where we visit the Shriver House. It was home to the Shriver’s during the Civil War. When the battle got close, the family moved out and Confederate army camped in their attic during that time. The tour through the house was run by a lady wear costume of the day. It was a great tour and I enjoyed seeing a house from that era. It makes you realize how materialistic society has become. I know I have a lot of ‘stuff’!

After our tour it’s time to call it a day and head back into DC. I take this opportunity to sleep again, so the ride is quick for me. We get back in at 6.30pm so I head straight back to the Thai restaurant I had discovered the other night and get something to eat. I wanted to go to the Crime and Punishment Museum and luckily it is open late so I made my way over there. It’s another museum very close to my hotel and it interested me more than the Smithsonian’s. It was a great museum. They went through the history of criminals from Jessie James and good guy Wyatt Earp, to Al Capone and the Chicago gangster rings. They had a lot of great memorabilia from James and Capone and the museum also outlined forensics used in crime scenes and details on all the current US goals. The one section that creeped me out was the one that looked at the death penalty. They had electric chairs and gas chambers that were actually used in goals. Not a nice thing to think about. I ended up spending several hours there and thought it was a great museum. I find all this kinda stuff interesting, like serial killers and their motivations. The museum displayed artwork by serial killers like Gacy, and the people that enjoy collecting serial killer artifacts. Which just creates the idea that serial killer’s can become infamous.

After a long day on the road and it being 11pm I headed back to the hotel and hit the sack.

What I learnt in Washington DC today:

• Gettysburg is visited by 3 million people each year and is owned and run by the National Parks. You’d have to have an interest in the Civil War to live there.
• You can still be lucky and find yourself the owner of a bullet or two from the fields of Gettysburg and they are still found today. Currently 7 million bullets are unaccounted for.
• Washington DC is not a place you would walk around at night in.

The Washington monument

The Korean War Memorial

The Gettysburg Diorama

The fields of Gettysburg

Monument of General Robert E Lee

The view from Little Round Top

Yes Mr President

Today I tour the nation’s capital. I booked a tour of DC that was to start midday so I got myself up early to fit in something before the tour started, and hopefully I can check out something when it finishes. I still had Milo in my luggage that I hadn’t gotten to eating, so I took it down with me to the breakfast restaurant and asked for just a cup of milk. I can safely say, the waitress thought I was odd, and I think the couple next to me thought I was eating some kind of diet shake!

I walked past the International Spy Museum the night before and thought it might be fun to check that out. So I wondered over to the museum in the morning to have a look. Washington DC is another of those cities that’s really easy to navigate in. The city is laid out like a grid, and you can either follow streets named after letters, like my hotel being on E St; or you can follow numbered Avenues. It doesn’t get much easier than that. The museum was only a stones throw away from my hotel and I only had to see the crowd hanging outside of it to realize something was in there.

Thanks to the joy of school holidays the museum was really busy. I’m not super keen on what I am to learn about spying, but you never know. I get into the museum rather quickly and have to participate in this game about false identities and have to pick one I am to have for my time at the museum. I can not be bothered with such a game and secretly head out in front of everyone else. The museum is too small given the crowds that pass through it so it’s a shit fight to actually get to the exhibits. But, once there, it was interesting. There were a lot of exhibits on spy gear that spy organizations have used over time, like tiny cameras, lipstick guns, shoe phones (very Get Smart) and recording devices. The museum looks a bit at spies in moves and has on display the James Bond car from Goldfinger. It then goes into the more modern gear of today and the new spying, computer warfare. Overall, it wasn’t too bad and I’m sure I got something out of it. After the museum, I quickly got some Subway before I headed back to the hotel.

I have confirmed today’s tour yesterday and was told to wait at my hotel for the bus to pick me up. Well it got to time and there was no sign of the bus. Waiting and waiting. It got to 15 minutes later and still no sign. I knew the stupid woman I spoke to on the phone yesterday didn’t understand me. It’s all English! So I ask at the front desk about whether they tend to run late and they offer to call. Turns out the bus had no idea it was to pick me up and I am instructed by GRAYLINE to get a taxi to Union station to meet the tour there, they would wait for me. They would pay for the taxi. I’m pretty pee-ood by now but do it as I had no other chance to take the tour. I get to the station and as I have said the station is huge. I’m running around like a headless chook trying to find the dam Grayline tour area, and I find several other people doing the same. It turns out to be tucked behind the station. By the time I get there and speak to someone, who is incredibly rude, I find out they left without me. Well I let rip, and I guess to shut me up they got another bus driver to drive me to where the tour is currently at to meet up with me. I agree and we make our way to the White House. 10 minutes later I find my tour and get about 5 seconds to see the White House and can only take one crummy shot before we head to the next destination.

We drive along Embassy Row to get to Arlington Cemetery. Embassy Row is just that, the street where all the embassy’s are based. Australia’s is one of the larger ones and distinctive by the statue of our emblem out front. We get to Arlington Cemetery 10 minutes later and are to head onto a trolley that tours the cemetery. The cemetery is situated in a beautiful area and very well kept. It is considered a sacred site due to the important people buried there, and of course, all the soldiers killed in action. Our tour guide tells us the gravestones are all perfectly lined up to represent the perfect lines they stood when in service before their death. It’s quite a haunting site to see. There are graves as far as the eye can see. We stop at the Kennedy grave site where JFK and his wife Jacqueline are buried. The eternal flame is lit there and it’s interesting to note that JFK’s grave aligns perfectly with the Washington monument over the river. Robert Kennedy is buried near by and is the only grave in Arlington that is a simple white cross, as per his wishes. After seeing the Kennedy grave site we head to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. To get there we pass an area of graves where high profile judges such as Thurgood Marshall are buried, as well as those killed in the Pentagon on September 11. What I notice that’s interesting about Arlington is that many buried there died from tragedy. This includes September 11, the PAN AM disaster that occurred in Scotland, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and so on.

We get to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers and watch the changing of the guard. It’s a slightly odd tradition how it plays out, but symbolic and important. After the 15 minute ceremony we head off on the trolley and our guide continues to point out the graves of prominent people. We get back to the Visitors Centre (finally a visitors centre where you can’t buy gifts!) and meet up with our initial tour guide to get going.

We are on the bus and heading to our last destination, and what I can only call, monument city. We stop at the Lincoln Monument which I am sure many are familiar with. It’s a great monument, but freaking huge. It’s also there that I look at the Korean War monument, and the Washington monument from a distance. We had driven past the Jefferson monument but didn’t stop. I’m telling ya, monument city. After a few photos and trying to get out of the heat, as it’s another dam hot day, we are off again back to Union Station. On the way we check out the Capitol building, which I do actually like and several more monuments.

Once at Union Station I head to the food court and grab some pasta for dinner. I have to get a moving at this point as I am in desperate need to do laundry and the laundry is only open for another couple of hours. If I don’t do it, I have no clothing for the next day. So I get to my hotel and spend an hour and a half washing and drying clothes to hopefully get me to the end of my time over here.

What I learnt in Washington DC today:

• At least one person is buried in Arlington Cemetery everyday, so you can imagine how big it is.
• Washington DC is a city of monuments. I find it somewhat over the top to have so many monuments and think they go too far when they even have a monument for a guy who ran for Presidency 3 times and DIDN’T get it.
• Grayline tours in DC suck.

The White House

An example of some of the embassy's along Embassy Row

The Marine Corps War Memorial

Arlington Cemetery

The Changing of the Guards in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers

The Lincoln Monument