June 30: Beale Street, The Kings and The King of Kings

Today’s post is dedicated to my grandson, Odin because he loves his guitar and his favorite color is blue. Also, he would have wanted to touch EVERYTHING I saw today.

“A grandchild fills a space in your heart that you never knew was empty.” Unknown

Today was a very busy day. The boys and I set out about 10:30 to visit several different cemeteries to see if my mom was buried there. We had no luck, but what we did find was the best cemetery ever. It is Memorial Park Cemetery in Memphis where the Crystal Shrine Grotto is located. It dates back to 1937 and was created by Mexican sculpture, Dionicio Rodriguez. He created the entire structure out of concrete. Inside the shrine is walled with Arkansas crystals - so as large as your head, or larger. Also inside there are various scenes depicting the life of Christ. The statues are made of limestone and wood. Many different artists have made contributions to the cave. We enjoyed the serenity immensely. There was a sign that I thought was either a joke or just ironic. It was just outside the garden - “Beware of Snakes,” but I guess there really are snakes there. :0) Also the subtext on the sign says, "Stay on designated path," which just makes it funnier. After an exhaustive effort to locate my mother, I took the dogs back to the camper for a nap, while I walked over to the Graceland exhibitions. The cost to see everything (and you see everything, or nothing) was $75. I wasn’t interested in the airplanes or a bunch of other stuff. I really just wanted to see the mansion. We were given a ride across the street and an iPad with headphones for the guided tour narrated by John Stamos. New factoid I learned was that Stamos’ character on Full House, Uncle Jessie was named for Elvis’ older twin brother, Jessie Garon Presley, who was still born four minutes before Elvis was born. Everything seemed much smaller than I remembered. I am bigger now. I previously wrote that I lived across from Graceland, well we used to go and bang on the gate. There was a security office nearby and Elvis’ uncle would let us come in if he wasn’t there. One time we watched Porky Pig cartoons on the RV inside his limousine. This was before Lisa Marie was born. She was born in 1968 and we had moved to the new apartments at Valley Forge by then. After I picked up some memorabilia, I got my dogs and we headed off to Beale Street. On the way we stopped at the Civil Rights Museum housed at the infamous, Lorraine Hotel, where MLK Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. I remember the day so clearly. The memory has stayed with me and effected me since. The suffering of people of color and the poor in our country continues and the inequities are so apparent, which I have seen as I have traveled to many inner cities. Just sayin” Agree or disagree; it is what I see and it makes me sad.

The dogs and I walked Beale Street from bottom to top and back down again. There was a lot of different types of music, which was disappointing to me. I came for the blues. Also there weren’t many people and the atmosphere was rather sullen. A complete disappointment. I mean the one live band that was playing outside played Easy by Lionel Richie, which isn’t even R&B, it’s like soft rock. I like Lionel, but not on Beale Street. I was expecting some real blues - Muddy Waters, I Can’t Be Satisfied, Got My Mojo Working, or Mannish Boy. Jimmy Reed, I Ain’t Got You. Some B.B. King - There is a street that runs perpendicular to Beale named after him for crying out loud. At the very least some Bonnie Raitt. We listened and walked, I had one beer and bought a t-shirt, just to prove I’d been there, but I was greatly disappointed. Beale Street is the only place where anyone asked me if I had credentials for my dogs. It was a Memphis/Beale Street police officer that had only three teeth. I know this because she was very friendly and smiled in spite of her lack of dentin.

We had to turn in early because this was our last night at Graceland RV and Memphis, to celebrate we had BBQ pork rib sandwiches from a place called Ball Hoggerz BBQ. It was pretty darn good and the dogs did not snub their noses at it. They are such snobs.