Elvis has left the building

We’re already on the cruise as I type this, we’ve just sailed out of New Orleans or Nawleans as it’s pronounced. I’ve been unable to type up this blog because we’ve either been driving, touring, sleeping or eating which of course means drinking as well!!

So, from what I can remember, we went to Graceland, of course, that was the whole reason for the ‘deep south’ road trip. We were all very impressed with the ‘estate’ . The house is quite large, people have said it’s not as big as you’d imagine, but it’s plenty big enough. Some of the rooms look pretty dated, but because of the fashion trend, maybe not so. We were not allowed upstairs, the family want to keep this bit private, also it’s where Elvis passed away.

We decided on driving to Graceland ourselves rather than paying for a tour which would have rushed us around in two to three hours. Can you believe we were there for seven!! There is so much to see … car museum, two jet planes, clothes, records etc etc.

Elvis and his parents are buried in the Meditation Garden and everyday flowers are sent from around the world, some are chosen for display.

We stayed in The Peabody hotel whilst in Memphis, this is where ducks are marched down from the ‘roof palace’ at 11am to splash about in the fountain in the lobby until 5pm when they are marched back upstairs!

Our hotel was just two blocks from Beale St which comes to life on Wednesday evenings. The road was blocked and dozens and dozens of Harleys and Goldwing bikes roared up the road and parked up showing off their designs and lights. An amazing site and we were thrilled to have been part of it.

We left Memphis behind us as Phil drove the long straight road to New Orleans. It took about 7 hours but we stopped quite a few times for coffee breaks and lunch.

I didn't complete this blog because I had no free access to the internet and found it an intrusion into the holiday.

We're home now and currently undergoing renovations, so have decided to give a weekly blog on our new garage and dining room extension instead. Starts tomorrow!

Nashville but no Opry!

One of the main reasons for coming to Nashville was to see the Grand Ole Opry, I think that would be most people's first stop, hmmm! It was CLOSED! To be fair, it was flooded in May and opens in about two weeks time, so we've just missed out. We headed out to The Hermitage, which was on our to do list anyway. This was the home of the 7th President Andrew Jackson. The mansion house is really well preserved and stands pretty much how it did back in the day. There was no photography permitted inside the house but the rooms were large, well furnished and reminded us of Gone With the Wind. Andrew Jackson went to war with us Brits in 1812 and won! The big house is the rear of the Plantation Mansion

He kept a quite a few slaves these are the outhouses they lived in

In the afternoon we took the city trolley tour for an hour but the trolley was being repaired so we were in a small bus. It's not a particularly large city so we were able to visit the park which has a replica of The Parthenon and the Chattanooga Train.

Both evenings we went to Broadway which is downtown and had very good food and enjoyed the live bands in the Honky Tonk and The Stage bars.

It’s 9-11 and we’re flying to the US of A!!

Security was fine at Heathrow but it took us two hours from landing at Atlanta to getting in the cab to the Holiday Inn for the night. Atlanta airport is definitely one to avoid in the future, unfortunately, we have do it all again tomorrow.

Photo is Phil's dinner on the plane, roast beef and yorkshire pud!

The hotel was fine, a standard Holiday Inn Express just outside the airport, no bar though, so that’s a minus! Beds were comfy , air conditioning noisy, shower was great, breakfast was mediocre but all for $108, can’t be bad.

Sunday 10 September

Back to the airport in the morning for our flight to Nashville, it was marginally better at security but we weren’t happy to find that we had to each pay $25 for the privilege of having a suitcase and Phil was overweight which cost $90. I’ll leave you readers to make your own comments on that!

Arrived in Nashville, picked up our hired car with Sat Nav and found our hotel very easily. Just going for dinner at a place called J Alexander’s which is just next door!

One more sleep!

Sue and Tommy have arrived which can only mean we're flying tomorrow! Our flight to Atlanta Georgia is at 3pm tomorrow and Heathrow's Terminal 5 is just an hour's drive away. We usually get a lift or a taxi but as there'll be lots of suitcases Phil's decided to take our car and we've booked valet parking which makes for an easy day. We hope!

See you in Atlanta (or maybe just wait until Nashville on Sunday!)

Almost time for the long awaited birthday road trip

Just another 15 days to go and we'll be on our way to Heathrow airport with my sister Sue and her hubby Tommy. Sue has just had a significant birthday and has always wanted to visit Graceland, the home of the late Elvis Presley. Our trip will start on September 11 when we fly to Atlanta. The following day we fly to Nashville for two nights, pick up a hire care then drive to Memphis for two nights before two nights in New Orleans where we embark Carnival Triumph for a weeks cruise to the Bahamas. I have a new little notebook that I'll be taking with me, I'm just trying to get used to it now!