Woke up and felt TERRIBLE. That was too much meat consumed lately. Anyway, got ready and drove to Graceland to tour it. The private plane and private jumbo jet were cool albeit very dated, but you could tell they were once top of the line in their time. Wood paneling is laughable now, Elvis. Next was the Vegas exhibit which featured a bunch of flamboyant outfits. The Tupelo exhibit was odd; it featured a tribute to Elvis' Mississippi hometown and talked a bunch about his stillborn twin brother. The auto museum had an amazing collection of Elvis' vehicles and motorized toys. Next was the mansion tour, which we had to line up and take a shuttle bus to as it's across the street. It was an audio tour with headphones and was interesting as the estate was very eclectic. We wrote our names on the wall around the mansion (as do nearly all visitors) with a #GART to commemorate our trip stop there. Popped into the Hawaii exhibit quickly then got back in our car and drove back to Beale St. Parked and then took a tour of the Gibson guitar factory. This is the newest Gibson factory and only makes hollow and semi-hollow body models here. All are made to order. There's still a surprising amount of hand-done stuff instead of using machines. Looked and smelled much like a big high school shop class.
Got back into the car and got dollar coins as change from the parking machine, which looked suuuuper fake (like arcade tokens) but after checking around apparently they are legit and are typically used for/dispensed by parking machines but are accepted anywhere. Drove to a WalMart to stock up on supplies and booze and realized we were the only white people in the whole store. Got a few confused looks from other shoppers. Oh, scratch that, the on-site police officer was also white. Stopped off at a Subway for a veggie-loaded sub (thank heavens, after all that meat) and then like Johnny Cash sang, we were going to Jackson. Mississippi was only two lanes per side on the interstate and the road was in poor shape. After a section of swamp, it surprisingly looked exactly like the area between Saskatoon and Prince Albert or even a little north of there. Wide open skies and lush forests. However, any rivers we crossed over looked murky, brown and probably gator-filled. Twenty miles north of Jackson is an enormous Nissan manufacturing plant and water tower. Seemed like a strange spot for it. Cheap land, I guess. Into Jackson we drove around but didn't see much so went for a photo at the state capitol building. Beautiful old stone building. Very quiet around there. Was hot but seemed odd that people weren't around. Around the other side we saw a wedding party of 15 bridesmaids and 15 groomsmen and then the bride and groom arrived. Weird. Got back in the car and drove all around downtown. Ghost town. This is a city of like 175,000 people. Barely a car to be seen. Stopped at a gas station. Closed. Did we miss some sort of mass evacuation ordinance? This is spooky. Hop back in the car and carry on south into Louisiana.
There is a bridge of maybe 20 miles over the swamps as you head into New Orleans. Such a cool site off either side; you see swamp shacks (reminded us of Waterboy) and shrimp boats and such parked out front of them. Then the rain started again. Really looking forward to Texas, which will hopefully have dry climates. Pull up to our hotel in a pretty ghetto looking neighbourhood. This was the only one remotely close to the French Quarter for a halfway decent price. And despite this, we were overcharged. Big time. I'd say the place has character, but that's where the good ends. Half the lights in the room don't work, red stains on the shower curtain (please be paint, please be paint), drapes hanging half off the bar, with sketchy dudes peering at us from across the street in some sort of project housing. Drug deals happening on the street below. So basically a nice, welcoming family place... It does feel authentically New Orleans though. We take a cab further into the french quarter and walk onto Bourbon Street. Wow. I have never seen a busier, crazier stretch of road than this. Overwhelming. People packed into the endless bars, flooding onto the streets, walking every which way with drinks and shouting. We duck into a place called 424 seafood for some late dinner. Matt opts for a Po Boy sandwich, while Nick and I each try the Taste of New Orleans combos (crawfish etouffee, seafood gumbo, red beans and rice) with a locally brewed beer each. Tasty. Wander back out into the street and walk around. We stop in at a place called Famous Door that has a jazz/funk cover band that absolutely belts out groovy tunes. Two singers, two keyboard players, guitar, bass, a full horns section. Looking around we realized this was also what we are now referring to as a "Wal Mart situation" in that we are the only white people. Didn't matter. Had a great time. They have a tricky tactic here with shots though. Nick buys 3 beers for us and the girl goes "oh comes with shots, here, here" and pours them in your mouth. Then says "extra 3 dollars please." The next one that came around we had to physically push away to refuse a shot. Band takes a break so we wander down the road again into some random shops. Head back to Famous Door for a couple more songs then cab home. Cab driver hears where our hotel is and goes "oh that's where y'all are staying? Haha, okay then..." so that's reassuring...
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