When I first booked this trip, I had certain expectations from each state we were visiting and each one completely exceeded it......... Memphis was the one I was not sure what to expect from as I had barely heard about it (except in songs) but this was the one that completely took me by surprise.........

Graceland
Our first stopover was elvis presleys home and it was overwhelming....... We had a tour of his enormous mansion.......... From his well planned kitchen, his living room, dining room, jungle room ( with floor and ceiling decorated in grass!), his game room where he entertained friends with games of pool to his garden which still has the swing set from when Lisa Marie Presley was young......... It had a lovely sense of fun about it .... We then moved onto the racquetball room which gave us an insight into his final days.... The piano which he played on the day he died, the dreams and plans he had were also shown on an interview not long before he died........ We then moved onto his meditation garden where he spent time to get away from it all and was very special for him....... This is also where he is now buried alongside his parents and grandmother....... Really did not realise he was actually buried there so that was a shock........ The plaques were absolutely touching and the impact overall was emotional......From the tiny glimpse into his life, it was obvious he was a lovely, carefree man who lived life to the fullest ....... I think we all left developing a crush on The King:)

Slave haven underground tunnels

Our next stop was an underground slave museum which was a complete eye opener........ The house was set up by a guy named Jacob Burkle who used it to rescue slaves and was responsible for their freedom. In an era where 'coloured' people were used as slaves ( we saw signs in the museums which we were used in those days - 'we welcome coloured people but please use back door', 'whites only' ) Burkle set about creating an escape route whereby slaves were kept underground at his place (which we saw- it was tiny and cramped but as our tour guide pointed out, to them it was the Hilton) until there was a boat ready to take them across the Mississippi River to freedom......... Burkle was a guy I had never heard of before but left a big impact through his determination to do such a selfless thing

Civil rights museum

Our day ended with a visit to the civil rights museum dedicated to Martin Luther King......... This was situated at the Lorraine hotel where Martin Luther king was assassinated. We walked by the balcony of his room (room 306) where he was shot down and it was the most eerie experience......to think anyone was shot down at the same place you are standing was awful.
We visited the museum soon after and learnt more about Martin Luther king and what he stood for....... How he was responsible for the civil movement for African- Americans but most importantly, how he tried to get his point across without resorting to violence......... We also learnt about the build up to his assassination ( how one escaped convict was able to do this without any outside help was a great big question mark?!), how the assassination was dealt with promptly and how the sniper was caught ( we were full of pride when we learnt London was responsible for the capture- Go Immigration Officers!)......... Really wish we had longer at the museum so we could have fully absorbed the massive impact this one man had on so many people's lives....

We all ended the day at the infamous Beale street, in total agreement that this was by the far the most educational day of the entire trip........ From elvis to Martin Luther king- it was an emotional roller coaster.