Trip Recap

Trouble at Graceland

Touched down in the home of the Delta Blues with my sweetie and drove straight to my lil' sister's house. Superfly crossed the final hurdle to joining the Trouble family by making instant friends with the sis, the NASCAR-lovin' bro-in-law, the boy, and the dog. His 2-year old mind completely tweaked by the sudden appearance of his mom's "twin", the boy took some time warming to Auntie Trouble.

We hit Beale Street, alright, and even found karaoke! You bet we visited Graceland, and it was far and away the most surprisingly fabulous tourist trap we've ever visited. What strikes you is that this is Elvis' home, not a "Cribs"-ready house or a kitschy museum of some celebrity, and it's perfectly frozen in time. Super efficient management of the unholy hordes of fans who pour in by the thousands, daily.

Being that Superfly is a vegetarian, we didn't worry too much about barbeque, Memphis' official cuisine. We did eat fabulous Thai food and something called the "World Famous Huey Burger", and brought back BBQ sauce from Corky's, Memphis #1.

I think for both of us the highlight of the trip was Sun Studios. We took the fantastic tour, bought souvenirs, and get this: we each recorded a song at the studio, with Sun studio sound guys, a skip away from the "X"-marked spot where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and scores more, recorded their songs. I have a CD-single with a Sun label reading "Fever" TROUBLE. Superfly's is "Ring of Fire," natch. You can hear us grinning idiotically, on the CDs.

Only one tiny little thing kept this from being the Greatest Vacation of All Time: I managed to slog through some grass in my flip-flops and incurred the wrath of about a billion fire ants. My feet are swollen, blistered in two dozen places, red, and causing me unendurable misery. Now swathed in cortisone balm and soft socks, I bid you all a southern-fried adieu.