Memphis Trip, Day 3...

Friday, May 2nd, 

I will start with the map of Memphis so you can tell where we visited.

It did rain in the morning. We checked what we wanted to see that was indoors. Then we decided this day was a car day, not a walking day. 

Our first visit would be to Sun Studios. There are lots of museums in Memphis in the area we were in that are about music. Several are located on Beale Street. We determined we would pick one and see it. Sun Studios goes back to the beginning of recording music and making music stars, so it was our pick. The provide tours every hour on the half hour. No prepurchase of tickets. You get there and wait your turn. There is a limited amount of space in the studio so this limits the size of each tour. It is still a recording studio at night. 

We got there between rain storms. The entrance is at the point and the ground level at that entrance is a gift shop and coffee bar. The bus load of people left not long after we entered giving us a place to sit inside. This was fortunate as it rained a deluge before time for our tour. A group of Harley Davidson cyclist pulled up on the sidewalk just as that rain started. They came in soaked to the bone. Brought back many memories. They were clearly a touring group from another country. 

The tour takes you upstairs where a museum of the history of Sun Studios is on display. Our guide was a musician who loved this art form. He was excellent but the man talked really, really fast. He started with the showcases near the door where we came up the stairs and walked the outside edge of this room talking about the history as he showed the artifacts on display. These pictures are some of the old recording equipment.

They are fortunate to have acquired the radio station set for Dewey Phillips, a radio DJ that is a big part of music history in Memphis. This is the actual furnishings with actual records on the turntables.

Our tour then went down the stairs to the opposite side of the first floor where the recording studio is located. This recording studio is original. 

The X on the floor is where Elvis stood to record. And the microphone in the pictures is original and guests on the tours are allowed to hold it and pose for photo ops. Claude and I opted not to hold the microphone. 

Along the front of the building with the recording studio behind the window on the right, is the office of the secretary, Marion Kestor. She was the first to greet Elvis when he came to make a recording for his mother. Back in that day, you could pay a small fee and make a record. Marion was quite taken with the potential she saw in Elvis. She told the owner, Sam Phillips, but he was not interested. Later, he did listen to Elvis and was not really impressed. Elvis was singing mellow songs. Sam was trying to record blues and things of that nature. Sam left the recording studio with Elvis and the two men who were there to play backup. Elvis knew he had to do something to not lose what was probably his only opportunity. He decided to try and limber up and he sang a rock song and moved around. Sam came back and liked that. The rest is history. 

Nice tour and learned a bit of history. 

Another thing we really wanted to do while in Memphis was have some barbeque. There is a huge barbeque competition held in Memphis every year in the middle of May. We missed it by a couple of weeks. We really needed to try some Memphis barbeque. We had several recommendations. We picked one and drove to The Bar-B-Q Shop. This is where it became apparent to me that ribs the the barbeque of preference in Memphis. We did not have ribs. Claude is the carnivore in our family. My go to when we have barbeque is brisket. I eat meat, but sparingly. The server assured us they had the BEST ribs in Memphis. They also serve barbeque spaghetti!! Our meal was really good and we were satisfied with our Memphis barbeque experience. 

A little more daylight and more rain threatening. We decided we had one more indoor venue to see. We drove back to in front of our hotel. Jefferson Street is at one corner of our hotel. It goes toward the River. Going down Jefferson Street and crossing Riverside Drive, the street is now named Bass Pro Drive. Why? Because it is the only road into the Pyramid Bass Pro Store. 

There is ample free parking. The place is enormous. We would walk almost all of it and not purchase one single thing. If you are a Cabela's fan, this store will suit you nicely.

There is an elevator you can pay to ride to the very top of the pyramid and get great views of Memphis. Alas, weather had closed this option down. 

Love seeing the little touches to add to the theme of the store.

We headed back to our hotel for the rest of this rainy day. 

We were in for a great surprise this night. I always pulled the curtains way back when we entered the room so I could thoroughly enjoy this view. We heard music and realized it was the start of the Riverbeat Music Festival. Those three stages must have been rockin' and rollin' big time. Toward the end of the evening, we noted a drone performance. It was soooo fun to watch. Apologies for the television in the background of the video clips. 

Missy Elliott was one of the performers. I am sure this is her in drone lights. Do you agree?

When the drone finished...there was MORE!! The fireworks began. What a treat!!

We filled this rainy day nicely. It was not a shut-out at all for us. And Riverbeat added to our fun. Way to go Memphis!