Friday 18 October - Memphis!!!

Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county of Shelby. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff.

Memphis had a population of 655,155 in 2012 making it the largest city in the state of Tennessee, the largest city on the Mississippi River. This makes Memphis the second largest metropolitan area in Tennessee, surpassed only by metropolitan Nashville. Memphis is the youngest of Tennessee's major cities. A resident of Memphis is referred to as a Memphian and the Memphis region is known, particularly to media outlets, as "Memphis and the Mid-South".

Kez and Dave were booked on the Platinum Gracelands tour this morning so we dropped them there at about 9.30.  Dave and I went 2 miles down the road to Walmart and did some shopping before going over to Home Depot for more.  On the way back, we stopped at a Liquor Store and bought some Jack’s as well as a Prosecco called ‘Cupcake’ and some Gran Reserva Concha y Toro.

Decided we would head back to Sears at the Southern Mall to be close to pick up time for Kez and Dave.  In the carpark was an IHOP so we also had lunch.

Picked the guys up, drove back into town to find the place to buy cruise tickets for tomorrow.  We really wanted to do the dinner cruise but it was booked out.  That done, we dropped Kez and Dave at Sun Studios to do the tour and we headed back to the hotel to sort out the shopping.  

Inside Sun Studios booking a tour

We all met at the Peabody Hotel just after 4pm.  The lobby area was crowded with people, In the middle of the lobby was a marble fountain with 4 ducks swimming around in it!  Dave and I managed to get a seat on a lounge.  Lined up at the bar for a couple of beers.  Kez and Dave arrived, $US15 for a glass of chardonnay!  At about 4.30 the Duck Master appeared with a red carpet.  He made some announcements over the next 30 minutes whilst roping off the area and rolling out a red carpet which stretched from the fountain to the elevator.  At 5pm precisely, the Duck Master pushed a red carpeted stair platform up to the fountain and the four ducks promptly jumped up out of the fountain and walked along the red carpet to the elevator which took them up to their  Duck Palace on the rooftop – floor 15 of the hotel.  We had to wait an hour before being allowed to go up and see them in their ‘palace’ on the roof!  This is a tradition which has been continuing for some 80 years!

The ducks in their fountain

Top storey of the Peabody - floor 15

Did a spot of shopping in the lovely stores, David found a beautiful blue silk shirt which was covered with motifs from Tennessee, as the saleslady said, ‘That shirt is a whole conversation in itself!’

Decided to walk across the road into a sports bar which was a part of the Holiday Inn.  The guys had barbecue ribs and I had a burger… no Beale St tonight.

One of the magnificent coaches which can be hired for a horse carriage ride around the district!