Greetings from Graceland...

Day 5 - Monday- Greetings from Graceland!
I arrived at Graceland this afternoon, after an uneventful ride from Nashville. The terrain is starting to change... gentle rolling hills... Goodbye Smokey Mts...Hello... plains?... I felt like the mountains were "gentle giants". Not jagged like the Rockies... but because of all the trees, they seemed to have "soft edges"...
Anyway back to Graceland... It is really right in the middle of a pretty developed area... I'm sure originally it was way out there... but now... Graceland just sits right on the highway... Elvis Presley Highway. It was sort of odd walking thru a house sooo preserved in the 70's. First, just the style... shag carpet... the colors... the dark wood in the kitchen that is preserved in avocado and gold.... the fuzzy round white bed...but, secondly... the technology... I grew up in the 60's and 70's and it's odd to think of how far technology has come in just 30 years... the size of the televisions... the stereo... eight tracks... those were so advanced then... now they are so antiquated. The monitors used to show video clips were flat screen TVs... juxtaposed with 70's technology. Then there was the cost of things... the receipt for a Ferrari was $20,000. Sheesh, add another zero for it today... the title for a car and the address was just ...Graceland ... Highway 51, Memphis, no other address necessary.
I came away marveling at Elvis' accomplishments... how talented he was and certainly with a new appreciation for all of his music. Whether I liked it all or not, I did come away with an Elvis CD.
I decided to stay downtown on Beal Street. The street was closed to cars and there was music playing in all the clubs I passed... I had Memphis BBQ in Blues City Cafe...Yummm (across the street from BB Kings Blues Club), and walked to the park to listen to the blues band that was playing outside... Sort of reminded me of New Orleans... music and beer outside...This could be a fun city to hang out in, but with someone... it felt a bit sketchy to me... and I was a little uncomfortable out there by myself...
I forgot to add my favorite thing people have said to me in Memphis when I've asked for directions... "If you've gone over a really big bridge, you've gone to far." I guess I'd notice if I crossed the Mississippi!
I am enjoying my adventure so far... I have a hard time remembering what day it is... which is why I put it at the top... so I can remember... but I sometimes feel like the "Accidental Tourist". So far, I have made sure I stay at the same hotel at each stop... I know what to expect. It will be comfortable... clean... safe... free internet...
I guess that's the best of both worlds... I get to experience each new area and then lay my head down in a really comfortable bed!!!
So far... it's been fun...
Tomorrow... Little Rock to see the Clinton Library and then on to Oklahoma City...