So we departed Chicago and our fantastic time on the east coast of the USA to make our way down south and hopefully warmer climate!
First stop a day ind night in St Louis (still not sure whether to pronounce it Saint Lewis or Saint Loowie!) where we ran into a bit of luck. I managed to find us a cheap room in what turned out to be a fantastic hotel with our room on the 17th floor overlooking the infamous 'Gateway to the West' which is a huge metal arch that stretches into the sky, a really incredible structure! On this short visit we took in the arch and also Busch Stadium home of my good friend Si's baseball team the St Louis Cardinals!
On from St Louis to the home of blues and rock n roll, Memphis! (Best Elvis voice) Uh huh huh! Two great days spent visiting the King of Rock n Roll himself (well his grave site) at Graceland and having a Saturday night out on the infamous Beale Street! Graceland is a fascinating insight into the life of not only the great icon the Elvis is but also into the man himself. A great tour that included the Mansion, his cars and some interesting exhibits of his tours and beginnings. Our delving into this land of musical history also took us to Sun Studios, the recording studios which discovered the like so of Elvis, Pat Carter, Jerry Lee Lewis and Mr Johnny Cash! The Saturday night included a fair few beers and listening to some of the best live music I have ever heard courtesy of the house band at BB King's Blues Club! Really great night going from bar to bar listening to live music and loving the atmosphere, fantastic!
So here we are at last in the furthest sudden point of this part of the journey,the big easy, New Orleans. So far it has been a great time of walking round the French Quarter, eating lovely seafood (including a dozen fresh oysters in the half shell) and hitting the infamous Bourbon Street for a night out which included so great live jazz and a fair bit of rock n roll (even heard a live band do the Proclaimers 'I would walk 500 miles', could not stop laughing!) New Orleans has been a place that I wanted to visit for such a long time and it has certainly lived up to expectations! A wild city with historical overtones and delicious food on every corner!
So now we a westward bound, first stop Austin Texas then on to...who knows! Will keep you posted...
