Graceland - New Orleans, fourth day

On the motel tv set, on TMC (turner classic movies, needless to say, one of my favourite channels) they give an evening of Hurricane movies, now a John Houston one with Humphrey Bogart, perfect for falling asleep in New Orleans I suppose.

Graceland, Elvis' home, was a surprise, the house lies on the left handside of the route 51 going southwards out of Menphis towards the south, somehow a location that resume Elvis relationship with the musical world of the US. It is a normal route, with gas stations and tires stores, now it is called Elvis Priesley Bd. The property is just on the road the mansion just few tens of yards from traffic.

Graceland museum's stuff, regretfully, is not a bunch of Elvis' replicas, it is very professional and is composed for 90% of african american people. The house, is a large mansion, but not a gigantic villa with forty bedroom. The swimming pool is just an ordinary middle class one. On the ground floor, near the kitchen and the sitting room, the room where his parents slept. The basement and a dependance where probably they spent most of their days. The decorations in true 70s style are worthed the visit. No access to the private rooms upstairs. The collection of outfits is also very interesting as they span from the fifties to the seventies. I should get one of those to drive to LA...

On to the other side of the road where the parking and shops are I get myself a keyholder for my keyset, and a Peanut-Butter and Banana Toast, the one HE was addicted to. It does not taste bad.

stomach and eyes filled, time to drive off. Direction south on the Interstate 55 from Tennesse, across Mississipi and to Louisiana

In Menphis there is still quite lots of snow and is quite cold. Only 50 miles south, however, one enters Mississipi the climate change; for the first time I do not need any heater in the car. North Mississipi, along the I-55, is a vast damp area, one would just expect to see some prison inmates and the dogs chasing them, out of some of those classic movie scenes. It goes on and on.

On the phone I get directions for a AAA office on my way, just north of Jackson, right on the 55. How to find a place in a shopping area? Not everything is listed in those big panels at the entrance. I drive and drive around but could not find it. In the end I ask and finally I find it. Cars or Pedestrians, in the end one need the address. From a lively white haired Mississipi Boy (his own definition) I got maps, guides and many advices for the second part of my trip. But of this I will talk in another post.

Southern Mississipi is a bit more civilized, one sees cattles and crops, I get to Louisiana that light is fading away. Approaching the New Orleans area is amazing, the motorways runs on pilons on a vast area of shallow water and mud. The sunset is a colourful one.

Driving throughNew Orleans one passes just over the dome, one of those sights that is now in everybody's memory. Downtown or the little I have seen in one evening, Canal Street and a section of the French Neighborhood bears no signs of Katrina and has a very cool atmosphere.