22/11/2019 bis 24/11/2019 - New Orleans → Jackson → Memphis → Nashville / USA (1.100 Kilometer)

We set off again. In Jackson, we stopped for a short lunch break and continued on to Memphis. We had arrived in the next musical city and stayed here for 2 nights. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and we only saw the city in a dreary gray with thick rain clouds. The southern metropolis on the Mississippi River is an important place for the development of blues, soul, and rock 'n' roll. Beale Street is one of the centers of the blues. We visited it in the morning. There was music in the air, but of course it wasn't as busy as on a sunny evening. We walked past bars, restaurants, and record stores. We paid a visit to the curiosity shop A. Schwab. Here, on two floors, there was all sorts of knick-knacks about the city and its music. We continued walking through the city's streets and came to the Lorraine Motel. Once, it was one of the few hotels in the city where black citizens could stay without being bothered. On April 4, 1968, it became the site of a serious crime. American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot on the balcony of room 306. Today, the motel is a place of remembrance and the National Civil Rights Museum. Our city tour led us back to music. We had booked a tour of the Sun Studio. The recording studio was opened in 1950 by Sam Phillips and still serves its purpose today. The discovery began in the cafe. Many photos, vinyl records, and souvenirs. We then went into a room where the tour guide told us the history of the studio through pictures, memorabilia, playback devices, and music. Finally, we entered the sacred halls - the recording room. Music history was made here. World-famous musicians like Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis were discovered and recorded their records here. The wall insulation, a bit damaged in the meantime, has been hanging since the beginning of the first recording, and the microphone into which Elvis breathed his emotions, is still ready.

The next morning, we had fantastic weather and wanted to visit Graceland, the villa of the King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley. But at $41 per person for the villa and $61 per person including his pink Cadillac and golden records, it was really too expensive for us. So we only took a photo of the sign and his jet and continued on to Nashville.