Memphis was a beautiful old town though slightly run down that has the infamous 'Beale St' and of course Graceland. Our accommodation in Memphis was right beside the Mississippi river (though under a bridge and near a highway thus its budget status), it was a slightly scary location with all the surrounding buildings closed down but it is run by a lovely Indian family who drove us anywhere we wanted for a fee and will pick you up late at night so it was good being able to be out at night and not worry about having to walk home in this area. Our first day we spent hours on Beale St looking through souvenier shops that have Elvis everything and eating in the multiple diners and Bars that run down the entire stretch of road that is closed off to vehicles. We then spent several hours at the 'Rock n Roll' museum learning the history of music in the Memphis area and about artists who were discovered there which seems to be nearly everyone. That afternoon while we were walking back up Beale St to meet the shuttle we noticed a sign advertising their Mardi Gras parade for the next afternoon (again a case of being in the right place at the right time). So we headed back to Beale St for the parade which was lots of fun though not quite to the standard of New Orleans. The streets were packed with people drinking and having fun and also families with kids collecting the beads. After the parade we went to the Fedex Forum basketball arena to see Memphis play Philadelphia and it was great that Memphis won though our seats weren't quite Kardashian style this time, with the atmosphere at the NBL games over here it is obvious why American's love it so much. Our last day in Memphis we went to Graceland and while lining up for our tickets someone gave us a coupon because they already had one so we saved $8 on entry, not a great deal but still a nice gesture from randoms. The mansion was absolutely amazing though it annoyed Jesse the whole time that no one was allowed to go upstairs in respect to Elvis' privacy, apart from that the house was massive and its hard to imagine what he was like and how he lived. He even had his own raquetball court and shooting range and each room in the house was decorated differently, he bought the house when he was 22 for $100 000. We also got a tour through his car museum and the 2 planes he owned but the most interesting part was probably the gravestones where the family was buried. Elvis and his mother were both originally buried at the Memphis cemetry but for protective reasons Vernon Presley had the bodies moved to Graceland. The most interesting thing for me that I had no idea about was that Elvis was a twin and his brother 'Jessie Garon Presley' was stillborn, apparently 'Elvis suffered greatly throughout his life being a twin-less twin. The condition is heartbreaking and more or less, untreatable. Twins have a bond inside the womb that is irreplaceable when one twin dies, thus adding difficulty to the childhood of the surviving twin. This is likely to have contributed to a number or Elvis's personality traits, strengths, weaknesses etc'. Jessie's body was never taken to Graceland and he just has little headstone near the rest of his family. Overall Graceland lived up to its expectations and I am glad we left it to our last day to top off Memphis.