From Memphis to Texas in Less Than a Year

I forgot to check today's mileage, but it's almost 1:00 a.m. and we just checked in, so it's too late to worry about it.  Suffice it to say, we drove from Memphis, TN to Shamrock, TX today, crossing entirely through Arkansas and Oklahoma.  Honestly, I don't think we missed much.
On a positive note, I had what may be my best New Year's Eve of my life on Beale St. in Memphis.  We had decided a day off would be good, and it was the best decision we could have made.  We started out with a nice lunch on Beale St, complete with blues band.  Then, it was off to Graceland for a tour of the mansion (which Elvis bought when he was 22, by the way.  Puts your life into perspective don't it?)  I was prepared for a little cheese on this one, but actually came out with a lot more respect for the King than I thought I would.  The Hall of Gold really put me over the top.  I don't really need to go into the whole history, but the guy sold a lot of records.  A lot.  Like, tons.

Ah, but where did he get his start?  Why, Sun Records, of course.  Sun is the still-active recording studio in Memphis that Elvis paid $3 to cut a record at after graduating high school.  Eventually, they even called him back and the rest is history.  Sun also has recorded some of the most famous and best-selling artists of all time, including Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and U2 (Rattle & Hum was recorded there.)  If you have any appreciation at all for music history, or even if you just like cool stuff like that, spend the $12 on the Sun Records tour (and hope you get the cute blond guide).  It's totally worth it.

Then it was back to downtown Memphis, and possibly the best dinner ever of barbecue chicken and ribs.  Seriously, eat in Memphis.  I don't know what they do different to the chickens down here, but they are delicious.  If I lived here, I'd weigh 500 pounds.
Next, it rained a lot.  Buckets of rain.  But how can you go wrong in a place where they serve huge beers in the street?  And we actually braved the rain for a few minutes to watch a really amazing hair band called Rock Sugar, play mash-ups (They had some nutty combos, like "Enter: Sandman and "Don't Stop Believing.") We rang in the new year at Coyote Ugly, which rocked in every sense of the word (for the uninitiated, that's the bar where chicks get up and dance on the bar.  And there is nothing wrong with that at all).

Okay, so this is a lot of gushing, I know.  But I would never have thought Tennessee could be so much fun.  Between the Bowl games, New Year's, and the food, this has been an amazing couple days.  I think I will have to return there some time.  But for now, it's onward to L.A.  Today was another long day of driving, and more to come tomorrow, but we are in Texas now, so that just leaves the rest of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Cally, and then... back to work?