| Downtown Memphis was more spread out than we expected. It was
also empty of both cars and people even though it was mid-week. It was a
similar mix to other cities we have visited with both old and new
architecture and with the good interspersed with the positively dismal.
Jan is really into round towers so this shot quite took her fancy.
The (poor) shot below is of a Mississippi pusher tug pushing 28 barges
upriver. The river runs through Memphis and has obviously shaped its
development and its history.
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| This struck us as a typical cityscape. The Peabody hotel is just
behind here and is famous for its resident ducks, we didn't get to see
them. This was a view from Beale street which is the heart of the music
district. We found it rather naff and lacking in any sort of taste (at
1500hrs). But it
is supposed to be one of the highlights of the city. We also paid a visit
to Sun City Records where Elvis recorded his first tracks. (That's where
the free transport went to.) If he hadn't then it would have faded into obscurity in 1958
(and probably should have). |  |
 | They
do have a quaint tram system with both four wheel and bogied eight wheel
trams. I imagine they are popular in season but they were empty while we
were there. However they were colourful and gave character to the city. |
| Memphis has many Egyptian influences, besides its name, one of
which was this 32 storey high Pyramid exhibition hall. We went to an
exhibition of "The Art of the Motorcycle" which was virtually
empty but was an excellent exhibition showing over 100 bikes of US, UK and
European origin spanning over 100 years. |  |
I took over 100 photos. The differences between the UK, European and US
machines in style was quite noticeable. Here I've stuck to US machines with the
"Indian" which dates from the 1930s but which I think was a classier
machine than the Harleys. The Chopper (made from Harley parts) was made famous
by the Easy Rider film. This is a replica since the originals no longer exist.
One was destroyed in the film and another was stolen, but it remains a classic
American design icon. The last one is a modern Harley Davidson and is to my
European eyes an ugly machine. Which is a pity because the Harleys I see on the
street are older and more elegant than this one. |