USA 2023 : Part 4 : Memphis and the Blues Highway

Friday 21 to Tuesday 25 April

There's a lot to see in Memphis.

Elvis's Graceland

Sun Studios 

Rock and Soul Museum 

Bass Pro Pyramid - a huge sporting goods store - almost a theme park of shopping.

Since we have done all these things before we decided to chill a bit every morning instead.

They've had ducks in the fountain at the Peabody Hotel for 70 years. Twice daily the ducks are walked through the hotel and over the road. We just went for the cocktails.

We found an awesome restaurant called Flight. Everything is available in flights of 3. Wines, whiskeys and all the food. An amazing concept for tasting and sharing. I don't know why more places don't do this! We loved it so much we went twice. 

There was a Corvette competition on with hundreds of cars lining the streets.

We enjoyed the music on Beale St, but don't try  the food. It was awful even at BB King's for Sunday Brunch. Places in Memphis are a bit down at heel with lots of boarded up buildings in the downtown area. Unlike Nashville which feels prosperous and happening.

On Monday we hit the " Old Route 61" Blues Highway down to Clarksdale and the famous Crossroads.

We stayed over at the quirky Shack Up Inn. All the rooms are original, salvedged houses and gins and furnished with old, repurposed stuff. Very cool.

 Hopson Commissary is a live music bar on the same property.

On Tuesday we visited the Grammy Museum in Cleveland, MS and the BB King Museum in Indianola.

Hal and Mal's in Jackson, MS had live jazz and good, local food.

On any road trip in the South, you have to have a breakfast at a Waffle House and pick up snacks at a Piggly Wiggly Grocery Store.

USA 2023 : Part 3 : Nashville

18 to 20 April

Tuesday

We cruised into Nashville only to find that our confirmed reservation via Hotels.com was not available!  After an hour on the phone to someone in India, we had been properly upgraded to a hotel right downtown on Broadway. 

We travel for lots of reasons but friends are a big part of it all.  It was fun to catch up with Blaze in Music Row. 

Broadway is buzzing day and night. Live music from noon till 2am, 7 days a week.  A lot of the places are owned by music stars;  many are multistory, multistage venues with bars, clubs, restaurants and rooftops to choose from. We chose Casa Rosa tonight.

Wednesday

Hattie B's does fantastic spicy, fried chicken. Luckily the line was not long for an early lunch. 

We enjoyed an afternoon of music at Mellow Mushroom on Broadway.

We met Sam and Ruan at 60 Vines for dinner. 

Later we saw some awesome music at Alley Taps in Printer's Alley; a slightly less touristy area just off Broadway.

Thursday

"5th and Broadway" is a new multivenue development with a food court offering lots of Nashville's top foodie spots. How's a shared brunch of taco to start, chaat for main and banana waffle for dessert? 

And an afternoon of music at "The Stage"and "Dierk's"? 

"Old-School Fine-Dining" in the US is a very particular white table clothed affair that we do enjoy from time to time. Last time we were in Nashville we had a wonderful dinner at "The Palm." How we ended up there is a great story by the way.. to be told another time..

So this time we chose Il Mulino instead. We had to pour ourselves into an Uber afterwards eventhough the hotel was only a quick 650m walk away!

Countdown to 60..Bubbly Party No.41

 Saturday 15 April..At a little farmhouse in Virginia with Clive and Cherer.. I am grateful I can travel to see my friends...Saffers are spread all over the globe...

USA 2023 : Part 2: East Coast Road Trip

12 to 17 April

We drove to Winchester, PA to stay with Clive and Cherer.

On Thursday we visited the interesting Gladstone Estate and Gallery. Beautiful gardens and gallery spaces housing large, contempory installation art pieces. 

Arterra is a boutique winery in Virginia.There are over 300 wineries in Virginia. Most are small and can't compete with larger wineries in California so winemakers need to be innovative to find their niche.  

On Friday we started with brunch at Bonny Blue before driving down to Charlottesville, PA for the weekend.

Gabriele Rauss winery is a hidden gem. Neil was happy to find they had Pet Nats and Orange wines. 

Our next stop was Blenheim Winery owned by musician Dave Matthews. He does the artwork for the labels himself. 

Charlottesville is a college town with a very pleasant pedestrianized downtown area and quite buzzy on a Friday night. 

On Saturday we visited Ragged Mountain Bourbon Distillery. We took home their mash-fed prime-rib steaks for a BBQ at the airbnb  farmhouse we rented.  

On Sunday after a lazy start, we continued our road trip to spend the night with Joan and Raymund at Lake Norman in North Carolina.

 

Then Monday we drove to Pigeon Forge, TN. This is the home of Dollywood and the tackiest theme parks and attractions in the world. We got to see a Soul Music Revue and a Magic Show with a bus load of seniors on tour! 

And then dinner; American "cuisine" at it's best at Flavortown.