Due to our late departure from Orlando we did not arrive at our hotel in Atlanta until 3am. I felt bad that Ben had to drive the second part as it was so late and dark and there was nothing to see outside and the roads are just so monotonous so obviously I fell asleep. Thank goodness when we eventually arrived we had a pretty decent, warm room with a nice big King sized bed! In the morning we couldn't lie in as we had to get up for breakfast and out to see the city as we weren't going to be there for long. We drove into the centre and had a little look around Olympic park before heading in to the CNN headquarters for our studio tour. It was pretty huge inside and really busy. There were little shops and a big food court in the centre, you could see all the way up the centre to the ceiling, there were flags from around the world everywhere and of course TV screens showing CNN news everywhere. Our tour began with having to go through security then we went on the biggest free standing escalator in the world (impressive ay!). We got our photos taken posing as news reporters then we went into a replica control room and learnt about how they line up the news, queue stories, communicate with the reporters and so on. We actually got to listen in on the real control room in live action too. We got shown how the news readers use teleprompters and one guy from our group gave it a go and was actually a total natural was very impressive! We saw how weather reporters do their thing and we got to see the morning news anchor in action (shame we didn't really know who she was but some of the Americans were excited to see her so we were too!!). We got to view the news rooms where all the information is gathered and distributed, and we peeked at CNN Espangnol!! The whole building was very impressive and it was a really interesting tour. After the tour we sat in the food court and got a salad while watching the disastrous news about New Zealand and were so glad we weren't there anymore! We then got back in the car, stopped off at Margaret Mitchell's house (author of Gone with the Wind), took a photo, then went to find the Atlanta History Centre. We got a little lost but ended up seeing some absolutely GINORMOUS and stunning mansions in the hills which was kinda cool. When we got to the History centre we got a tour of Swan House - a 1920s mock-classical mansion and then a tour of Tullie Farm - from the 1800s pre-civil war. Both tours were quite interesting however the first tour lady was a big of a dragon laying down all her rules and not really having much patience, the second lady was much nicer and was genuinely interesting in teaching and sharing questions and thoughts which was cute. We then went into the actual museum and had a look around the civil war section (as it was Ben's forte from his degree) and then had a quick look at the Olympic section as Atlanta held the games in 1996 so there were some cool things there. After the museum kicked us out to close we decided to go check out the 'famous underground' area downtown which was apparently full of cultural and exciting life. Well we parked up and walked into the entrance of one of the old underground tunnels, and quite frankly felt rather uncomfortable. It really wasn't a touristy area. It was just…let's say 'cultural' and we felt rather out of place. So after a swift walk through, we went back to the car and back to the first car park of the day as we still had the ticket for the whole day. We found a Western Saloon restaurant which was actually really quirky and the food was really nice.

Next day we got up for breakfast and then headed back downtown to visit Coca Cola World. Apparently Coca Cola was invented there in Atlanta by Pemberton. The tour was actually quite fun we got a little talk on the history of coke, how it's made, all the different brands, we got out photo taken with the coca cola bear, went through a little museum all about coke, saw an amusing promo video, had (another) 4D movie experience, got to taste loads of coke products, then spent AGES in the HUGE gift shop at the end, consumerism doesn't need to try too hard with us! When we had finally managed to drag ourselves away from Coke world we went and picked up a sandwich to take on the road with us and headed towards our next destination - Nashville.

We gained an hour due to the time difference so when we arrived we had a few hours to kill so we just chilled out in our room watching TV and faffing about. We got ready in the evening and headed downtown to go experience some real live country music in a Honky Tonk! There was just one block of them all crammed together with their neon signs, music floating about in the air and cowboy looking locals wandering about. We wanted to get the full experience of eating in a bar with a beer and with live music, so after looking around the whole strip we settled on 'Roberts' and enjoyed some beer, hot dogs, moon pies, goo-goo clusters while listening to some live bluegrass and country - It was good fun! We moved on to another bar after, but it was a little disappointing and one of the girls that attempted to sing was just painful. So we skipped out and had a lookie around a couple of souvenir shops and checked out the fancy cowboy boots. We then went Tootsies which was the busiest bar on the strip - it was rammed inside and the bands were a little younger and really quite good. There were two floors with different bands playing and the locals clapping along and having a jolly old time - was a really enjoyable night.

Thursday we thought we should see a bit more of Nashville before we headed on to Memphis so we went back into town and took an hours city tram tour. We were the only ones on the tour so we got our own little private viewing of the city and the tour guide was great - very informative and so passionate about his town, he even thanked us for visiting the city which I though was lovely. Unfortunately it was a bit rainy and grey but we still got to see a fair amount and learnt quite a bit about the city of music and religion. After our tour we had to get on the road as there were storms forecast so we wanted to try and avoid them as much as possible.

Well we didn't manage to avoid the rain, the whole of my first half of the journey it poured, it was grey and horrible. The second half when Ben drove it started to get sunny and warm-cheers! We arrived late afternoon and relaxed in the room for a bit. That evening we wanted to go check out the famous 'Rendezvous' restaurant famous for its 'dry BBQ ribs', frequented by celebrities such as JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE and others! Anyway we set off and started to hear some interesting chat on the radio so cranked up the volume to hear the DJ's warning about severe weather and floods heading towards the city and warning people to stay inside. Well I didn't really believe it could be THAT bad until suddenly the sky just opened and the rain and wind and hail were so bad that I couldn't see out of the windscreen! So we managed to get back to the hotel at a snail's pace, sprinted inside and still got soaked, turned on the TV and lo and behold - 'severe weather warning' flashed all over the news: torrential rain, flash floods and a tornado warning. Ben had said in the car he could hear a siren, and when we were back in the room it was even louder so we called reception to find out what was going on and were told it was the City siren putting us on 'tornado watch' but that it was due to hit further North of where we were, so we'd be ok, just stay in our room! Arghhhh!! So we were a little worried, but also (shockingly enough) we were kind of hungry and as our dinner plans were ruined and we were room bound we were worried we were going to STARVE!! Haha well reception said that Dominoes would still deliver as they were only across the road. So we ordered online and about half an hour later the little delivery man rocked up with our food, well we felt kind of bad dragging him out in the storm so we gave him a good tip! So we spent the evening in the room with our pizza watching American Idol, keeping an eye on the weather updates.

The next morning the storm had passed, no tornadoes had hit and all was good in the world, except it was really cold. Today we were visiting Graceland - a trip to Memphis would be incomplete without it! So after breakfast we made our way there. It was a little expensive, but as it was such a must-do we just accepted this! The day began with an audio tour of Elvis's house where we got to see his lounges, kitchen, dining room, his parents' bedroom, the famous jungle room, the games room, his memorabilia room, trophy room, garden, horse paddock, racquetball court and his meditation garden where The King and his parents were laid to rest. It was a really interesting tour and the audio guide really bought it to life with quotes and music and stories about his life. I hadn't realised how quirky and cool the house was he really had personalised it to his own eclectic taste so it was really fun to look at and walk around. Our tickets also included the 'automobile museum' where we got to see his vast collection of cars, bikes and other vehicles he liked to play on in his grounds. We also saw inside his private airplane the 'Lisa Marie' and his jet. We saw a showcase of the '68 Special' when he made his first comeback after being in the army. Also his 'fashion museum' collection of some of his crazy outfits and accessories he fashioned over the years. Obviously there were gift shops at every possible interval too but we refrained from buying any of the over- priced goodies. We ended up spending about 3 hours in Graceland so we definitely got out money's worth! Next on the agenda we drove into downtown Memphis and did our own little photo tour of the main sights of the city - The Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was shot, Fed Ex Forum stadium, Gibson Guitar factory, Sun Studios where Elvis and a few other famous faces recorded music, The Pyramid where concerts used to be held but is now empty. We parked up and walked down Beale Street looking in at a few of the souvenir shops. We then attempted to see inside the Peabody Place as recommended by our guide however when we got inside it was desolate and there really was nothing there anymore. On the way back to the car we stopped off at what seemed like the only café in Memphis for a coffee and a snack before heading back to the motel. So this was another city which seemed to have been hit hard by the recession and the off peak season had left the streets eerily quiet. That evening we re-attempted to visit 'Rendezvous'. It's strangely tucked down a back alley in the basement of this building but it all added to the charm of the place. The place was full of memorabilia and trinkets which they'd collected over the years, photos of all the famous musicians that had visited (yes I saw the pic of Justin and got excited); it was all really quirky and old school. The food was served in baskets and basically consisted of a lot of meat and not a hell of a lot else but it was really cool and fun and the ribs were awesome! After dinner we had another little walk down Beale street to check out the atmosphere at night but it wasn't overly busy and due to driving one of us couldn't drink (me that night) so we weren't overly up for a bar crawl so we called it a night and went back to the hotel and watched 'The Devil wears Prada'!

The next day we packed up and headed out on the road again to St Louis. By the time we arrived it was about 2.30pm and it was colddddd. We went straight into the City as we were only planning on spending the one day in St Louis. So after we parked up we went to see the 'Gateway Arch' which seemed like the main attraction of St Louis. We took a few photos of the outside then went down to the visitor centre below to try and get a ticket to take the shuttle up the inside of the arch. However luck was not on our side and they sold the last ticket literally 5 minutes before we arrived. So as we were deciding what to do a little man in the visitor centre approached us and gave us some advice of a few things that we should see. So firstly we went to see the Courthouse which also has one of the best views of the city with the courthouse in the foreground and the arch in the background - so obviously I had to get a photo of that. Then we went inside, it was free entry, and we got to learn a bit about the History of St Louis and the famous court case that took place there during the fight for civil rights. It was a pretty building inside and outside. We had a really long chat with the lady in the gift shop about University and education which was quite interesting comparing that of the US to ours. Next we decided to get the City Loop bus in an attempt to see a bit more of the city. The bus wasn't really a tourist one though and you couldn't see a hell of a lot - but it killed some time and gave us a feel of St Louis! The visitor centre man had recommended that we go to 'The Landing' which is apparently a must see full of shops, bars, restaurants and atmosphere. Well I can see that it would be a fun place if there were actually people there but (a common theme it seems) it was dead. Ok it was fairly early, but still 5pm on a Saturday night you would expect a little more life about. After walking around for a bit and encountering too many homeless people for our liking we fell upon The Spaghetti House which was actually quite busy - the only busy place it seemed! We were told we would have to wait about half an hour for our table which was perfect as it was a bit early for dinner, but by the time I got us a drink at the bar our table was ready and as usual when you don't need quick service - you get all of your food in a flash! It was ok, nothing particularly special. I ordered a 'small' carafe of wine as it was cheaper than two glasses and got nearly 4 glasses out of it so I had a good time! As we were finished so early Ben suggested we just get a bottle of wine and go back to the motel to chill out with it so that we could both drink, so we did just that and had a nice wine filled evening in front of the TV and messing around on the internet.

The next day was the end of the first and main part of our road trip as we were heading to Chicago to stay with my family friends for the week. We were both very excited to get to stay in a real house with sofas and a kitchen and our own beds and spend some time with other people. So we've had a successful trip so far, lots of long hours driving on long dull straight roads full of trucks, with no need to change gears but it wasn't all that bad and we got to see and do a lot in the short amounts of time we were in each place, we got to see quite a selection of Cities and say we've been to quite a few States too. On to Chi-Town baby!!!