TCB

The breakfast at the hotel Tuesday morning had a few options but it was kind of hard to tell because the kitchen was blocked off with a table and you had to ask for what you wanted. I did get a pretty good cinnamon roll but since I was up before everyone else, I went to Waffle House to get hash browns for everyone. They were pretty good. I hadn't even been to one before but they were cheap and good.

After breakfast, a local P3er (friend of Puddles), Shannon, met up with us before she headed to work. It's always fun to catch up with others that love that clown. She didn't have much time before she had to run (and we needed to head out, too).

We left Southaven on I-69 (nice) until we could head east on I-22. An hour or so into the day's drive, we stopped in Tupelo, Mississippi. I expected that Elvis's birthplace would be a plaque next to a house with maybe a place to park. What we found was a rather large park, museum, exhibits, and frankly, impressive stop. Tupelo more than made up for missing Graceland. I highly recommend it to anyone passing near the area.

To be completely honest, I've only ever had a negative perception of Mississippi. Much of that is justified by history but as a traveler, it was the nicest roads by far. It wasn't when close. It was also beautiful, lush and green scenery. The few people I encountered were warm and friendly. The one knock I have is that the weather was warm and humid. Yuck.

I really hoped to see America in a new light on this trip. I now know what a beautiful state Mississippi is, and I only saw the corridor that cut across the northern part of the state. I hear it has beaches, too.

Wild Chicken and Barbecue Pork

Monday morning, we picked up Linda, got some gas and got on I-70 heading east. I should note that the breakfast at Drury Inn was excellent. An hour or so into the day's drive, we stopped at a Casey's General Store for a break and a chicken greeted us in the parking lot.

We took a bypass route that took us south of St. Louis. You could get a sense of how big the St. Louis metropolitan area is by how long the bypass was, going through a lot of the suburban towns. It was interesting to still see signs indicating that we were on the Lewis and Clark Trail, despite being so far from home.

I-59 took us south, just west of the Mississippi River. This continued into Arkansas. I think it's safe to say the flattest land we've seen so far wasn't in Wyoming out even Nebraska, but in northeast Arkansas. You can see for MILES. I guess that doesn't sound impressive but it was flat.

The interstate through Arkansas was okay. Better than Iowa but that's about it. I was driving at this point and hit I-40 East.

It wasn't long before we were finally crossing the Mississippi River into Memphis, Tennessee. To the left of the bridge was a giant glass pyramid that said Bass Pro Shops. I don't know much about it and couldn't really look more than that. I drove right through the city to check into our hotel in Southaven, Mississippi.

After check-in, we headed to Graceland, hoping there would be some late activity related to Elvis Week. Since it was August 16, it was the 44th anniversary of Elvis's death. When we got there, though, everything was closed. We were able to kind of see the buildings and planes but not able to visit the Meditation Garden or exhibits.

For dinner, we went to Marlowe's, one of the many famous barbecue joints around Memphis. The smoke smelt amazing. I think Jason got a full order of proper barbecue but I had an amazing black bean burger. It was fun, fast, good, super friendly. I'm pretty sure Elvis ate there. Slightly touristy but well worth it.

After dinner, everyone wanted treats. So, we walked from our hotel to an Aldi. Like the German grocery chain. I'm not sure why it was there in Mississippi but it was. I had some lower cal ice cream.

As has become tradition on this trip, I went to bed long before everyone else. I need my beauty sleep.