I arrived in Memphis last night – got there in time to watch the Idol Results show (first season in years I’ve been hooked). Afterwards, I decided I was going to head out and find some Memphis blues … I headed for BB King’s club on the main music street. As I arrived, I found a street party with a LOT of motorcycles – I discovered that it was ‘bike night’ – apparently happens every Wednesday night in the summer when literally hundreds of motorcycles and people take over 3 blocks of Beale Street.
It was great – beer and wine for sale on the street and live bands in the clubs and outdoor patio areas – the highlights …
- A Tokyo newlywed playing and singing the blues – seriously, not bad …
- A trio that were just wild – electric guitar, large cello (?) and drums – they were bouncing all over the stage – reminded me of Jerry Lee Lewis
- Standing against a tree in a park watching a band of 10 in a pavilion with an older man sitting on a stool, singing the blues – definitely old school and amazing
I have to admit, it was the first time on the trip that I felt a little lonely –it would have been nice to share - but I’m so glad I got out and found it – I was smiling all the way back to the hotel :-)
Today, I was up and out early so that I could attend an Iyengar yoga class with Lou Hoyt at Eastern Sun Yoga – it was a great class. As Lou said afterwards, one of the wonderful things about Iyengar yoga (and pros of the regulations), is that you can go to a class anywhere in the world and know what it is going to be like. I found her to be an excellent teacher – a lot of focus on leg and foot alignment, which was a nice continuation from Cliff’s focus on feet yesterday. In particular, she helped me with my Halasana and shoulder stand – with all the driving, my upper back is definitely a focus this trip. Her studio is the opened up main floor of a small bungelow – it has a lovely airy feel – nothing like doing Shavasana with a warm soft southern breeze flowing through …
The ladies at class were incredibly friendly – curious about my trip, described as going to a wedding in Toronto with a slight detour south - and happy to give me advice on Memphis. Their best advice was to lunch at Miss Cordelia’s on Mud Island and then walk along the Mississippi – it was beautiful – and yes, they’ve had a lot of rain and the trees are literally in the river.
I then headed for the National Civil Rights Museum, which is located at the motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. It's an exceptional exhibit that traces the history of the civil rights movement as well as a video recalling the events that led up to MLK's death - it's hard to believe just how recently it all happened and how long the struggle took - puts Obama's victory and what it means to the country into even more perspective for me.
And then, yes, I did go to Graceland – as I was told, no visit to Memphis would be complete without it. They were right – but they do take advantage in how they price it … It was most interesting to see how relatively normally he lived - and I had the chance to once again see the lovely green shag carpet I grew up with!
No comments:
Post a Comment