STLF Tour - Memphis, TN

Date: April 2nd
Stop: Memphis, TN

Memphis is a big city. When we got off the bus, we were immediately attracted by all the signs, the noisy crowd, and several black street buskers doing somersaults along the street (they are in the picture).

Memphis is also well-known for beer. Almost every store and restaurant on the main street sold beer. I grew thirty that I couldn't help asking my friends, don't they sell anything around here except alcohols?

What welcomed us first was this statue of Elvis Presley. I soon learned Memphis is not only the birthplace of Elvis but also "the home of blues". Even though I'm not a fan, we took pictures with the statue and talked about his popularity and contribution to music. Boru (the boy next to me) obviously didn't realize the significance of that statue because he asked me after we took the picture, "Who was that guy with the guitar?"

Some other Asian people and I ate at a fast food restaurant. I ordered this thing called baloney which is deemed as a deep South feature. It was basically the same kind of meat as hot dog, but made into a patty and eaten as a hamburger. I didn't find it very special.

There were carriages on the street and a museum of musicians, but we didn't have time to visit it.

I felt fortunate that when my friends and I took a walk after dinner, we watched the sunset disappearing in the Mississippi River. It was beautiful, but watching sunset with friends in a special place made it even better.

The city woke up in the night with the bars and the neon lights! We could hear blues live coming from many of those bars.

Souvenirs of Elvis everywhere! From clothes to cards to clocks to glass to action figures and to rubber ducks. Yea that's right, Elvis rubber ducks.

I think I was more interested in the crazy frog decorations in the same store.

It took me several seconds to realize they were rain boots MADE IN THE 50'S ROCKER STYLE OMG! But are those things practical?

This was Elvis Presley Boulevard, where Elvis's old mansion (and he died in there) located. We passed it by but I didn't take a picture. It was a rather small building for what you imagine a superstar would reside in.

We headed to where we slept after staying on the main street for about 3 hours. Our next community service product would only be revealed in the morning because everything would come as a surprise.