It is a bit hot & humid to stay outside for longer periods at a time, so we try to stay inside or in the car as much as we can.
Graceland
Today we are heading to Graceland, Memphis. We actually got tickets go get in! Didn’t expect that, since it turned out to be Elvis week. Seems to be many people going there. There is a guided tour of the mansion every 15 mins. Lasting for two hours. Having a tour at 10:30 this morning. We opted out of the ultimate VIP tour…. $169
Along Mississippi
Driving Highway 61 from Memphis and south.
U. S. Highway 61, known as the “blues highway,” rivals Route 66 as the most famous road in American music lore. Dozens of blues artists have recorded songs about Highway 61, including Mississippians Sunnyland Slim, James “Son” Thomas, “Honeyboy” Edwards, Big Joe Williams, Joe McCoy, Charlie Musselwhite, Eddie Shaw, Johnny Young, Eddie Burns, and Mississippi Fred McDowell. The original route, now called Old Highway 61, was just west of here.
— http://www.msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/highway-61-north
West Helena, AR
First de-tour was across the Mississippi River to West Helena, AR. Just to visit Arkansas.
A quick trip to Arkansas. West Helena Visitor center
The Delta Blues Museum, Clarksdale, MS
A nice Blues museum in Clarksdale, MS.
The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States exists to collect, preserve, and provide public access to and awareness of the blues. Along with holdings of significant blues-related memorabilia, the museum also exhibits and collects art portraying the blues tradition, including works by sculptor Floyd Shaman and photographer Birney Imes.
The museum is located in the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Passenger Depot, also known as Illinois Central Passenger Depot or Clarksdale Passenger Depot, which was built in 1926 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
–Wikipedia
Sister city of Notodden, Norway. The employees knew several Norwegians in Notodden, related to the blues festival.
Club Ebony, Indianola, MS
The Mississippi Blues Trail marker reads:
“CLUB EBONY – Club Ebony, one of the South’s most important African American nightclubs, was built just after the end of World War II by Indianola entrepreneur Johnny Jones (1907-1950). Under Jones and successive owners, the club showcased Ray Charles, Count Basie, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Albert King, Willie Clayton and many other legendary acts. When owner Mary Shepard retired in 2008 after 34 years here, B.B. King purchased the venue to keep the vaunted Club Ebony tradition alive.”
Hotel – Courtyard Marriott Vicksburg
A really strange customer experience with this hotel. We booked a room with 2 queen beds and a sofa bed, via hotels.com.
When checking in we were told there was a sofa bed in the room. This was not true as we discovered when walking into the room.
They tried to roll in a rollaway bed, which was way too big to fit in the room.
The Manager did not seem to take the situation seriously, and was not willing to solve the problem. After long discussions with the manager he offered us another room at employee rate.
Really not satisfied that we had to pay $50 extra for a bed we already had paid for. Will send a complaint to corporate, possibly hotels.com, tripadvisor…. Reading through the tripadvisor reviews, there is multiple reviews of bad customer service.
From now we will book rooms directly through the hotel web pages, so we can avoid this again.
Map
Along the way 