Thursday, 11th October, 2018
While in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas were being battered by Hurricane Michael, we on the contrary, woke up to bright blue skies but somewhat nippy morning. On the weather channel we saw what havoc Hurricane Michael did on the beaches of Panama Beach and other coastline townswhere we had been just a few days back.
After breakfast we got all our stuff packed into the car and as soon as we left the Holiday Inn hotel, we filled up the car with gasoline (petrol) at the first fuel station just down the road. By 10.15 am we were on the road again – this time we drove 250 miles in 3hr 30 minutes, crossed state lines from the state of Mississippi to the state of Tennessee. On the way we saw cotton fields amidst the thick green trees. It was difficult to take pictures as we could not stop on the motorway. We arrived in down town Memphis at our hotel Comfort Inn at 2 pm – well we had stopped for coffee and snacks on the way and also to enjoy the sunny weather and get out of the airco car and move around.
We are again staying at the Comfort Inn and it is located right in the middle of Memphis city just along the banks of the great Mississippi. Our view from the 10th floor room is just fantastic – a network of bridges, highways and a silver coloured pyramid
Once we had settled in, we went out to explore the neighbourhood – all the interesting highlights were in walking distance and it was a pleasant sunny stroll along the Mississippi. Our hotel was on Front Street and this is where the Cotton Row is also situated – large buildings were cotton trading took place as well as warehousing. By late 1840’s riverboats loaded with cotton lined the river banks and cotton became very important in the economy of the city of Memphis. The cotton market had actually started as early as 1825 and by the start of the Civil War some 400.000 bales of cotton was being handled in Memphis. Front street became the heart of the cotton trade.
Of course we could not miss Beale Street which is the birthplace of the Blues and Rock n Roll – a significant location in the city’s history of the Blues, however nowadays all the clubs and restaurants that line Beale Street are just major tourist attractions. Also interesting to see were the street cars or trams, in our language, and trolley busses and the little stations.
Just before we ended our tour, we stopped for cocktails and beer on a rooftop bar. The sun was still shining and it was warm sitting there while I sipped my Pink Flamingo and Gerry his local draft beer.
As it was getting quite chilly, we returned to our hotel and after some time out, we changed to warmer clothes before going out for dinner. We were dead tired and decided to walk back after dinner – this way I had time to finish my blog before turning in.
Tomorrow, we’ re off to Nashville and visiting with my friend Carolyn. Another 3 hour drive ahead of us.
