There's a Moon over Bourbon Street tonight.

We left Memphis early Tuesday morning to beat the traffic on the freeway, though we did not get off to a good start as our GPS let us down, first up it would not accept the address we put in for the car hire company then it sent us in the wrong direction. Once we realised that we were heading the wrong way we pulled of the freeway and asked for directions. We were soon on our way without to much time lost. 

After dropping the car at the airport (more directions required ) we caught a shuttle bus to our Hotel, apparently you don't need a car in the French Quarter  and so far this seems to be the case. We checked into the Hyatt which is a very nice place to stay, it is just of the corner of Bourbon Street and bars and eateries abound. We organised some tours with the concierge and ventured out to get orientated.

The French Quarter is very vibrant and colourful with people playing music in the streets and most bars also providing entertainment. After wandering about for a few hours we ended up at Mr B's for dinner, it is one of the premier eateries in the quarter and we both enjoyed meals that we would not encounter at home.

The following morning we went out for a guided tour of the city this gave us a good run down on the background of the city and also included a visit to the city of the dead. The French in the early years attempted to bury below ground but gave up when the coffins kept bobbing due to the high water table that is present throughout the area, they adopted the Indian method of having the bodies above ground, though in stone and brick tombs. We were glad that they did a head count when we got back on the bus as you would not want to be left behind. We also learnt about Louisiana Voodoo it describes a set of spiritual folkways which originated from the traditions of the it derives from the African Diaspora and is a cultural form of the Afro American  which developed within the French Spanish and Creole-speaking African Ameriacn population of the state of Louisiana  Voodoo is one of many incarnations of African-based spiritual folkways rooted in West African culture.

We got dropped of in Jackson Square the old town square, there was live music is going on, as well as street corner painters and tarot readers we walked back along the Moon Walk by the Mississippi River front and had lunch at a out door cafe and enjoyed a pohboy sandwich ( the local fare ) while listening to a local band.

In the evening we went to the Bajou Bar for some more local cuisine and a few drinks.

Thursday morning we set of on our swamp tour with Cajun Encounters it was a great experience they are experts with local knowledge and we were able to see alligators, raccoons, owls, wild boars, nutria, snakes, turtles, bald eagles and many birds just feet away! We got up real close to scarface one of the larger alligator specimens at 13ft, our guide Scott informed us that he had managed to grab him by the snout a few weeks ago, he did not perform any heroics on this occasion thankfully. The cruise was scenic through the quite backwaters passing under the Black Cyprus and Maple trees all festooned with Spanish Moss. We also got to see more of the devastation from Hurricane Katrina on the 40 minute drive to and from the Bayou, there is still large sections of the town that have not been rebuilt, individuals and businesses have just walked away from their damaged buildings.

Our trip was completed by a dinner cruise on the Paddle Steamer Natchez it was a enjoyable evening,a good meal and a relaxing way to end the trip.

Well at the end of our trip we have visited 12 of the United States of America and two Canadian provinces so we still have some more to visit in the future and also some cities that we would really look forward to exploring further. We have both enjoyed ourselves on this trip and have enjoyed the company of our fellow travellers.

Down at the end of Lonely Street

Memphis is considered by most to be the birth place of Soul Music, breeding some of the biggest names in Music history: Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and of course, Elvis Presley. Our tours included access  to some of the best Memphis' Music attractions.

We got to visit Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley and see where the King of Rock n' Roll lived. Our tour also included the garage which housed his comprehensive collection of classic cars, his two jet planes and other items of memorabilia. We were also able to see where the biggest names in Rock n' Soul got their careers started, at the famous Sun Studio, this was a great tour conducted by enthusiastic locals who obviously loved there blues we got to stand in the spot where Elvis recorded his first hit. When Bob Dylan first visited the studio he apparently kissed the ground where Elvis had stood.

We had a break from the music after this and went down town to visit the National Civil Rights Museum, this starts at the Lorraine Hotel which is the spot where Martin Luther King jr was shot in 1968, this was a well put together memorial showcasing the struggle of the American Negroes.

On completion we resumed the music tours with a visit to the Rock n' Soul museum. We then headed back to Graceland to visit some of the attractions that we had not fully seen in the morning. We then went out to fuel up the car for our trip to New Orleans in the morning and headed back to the Heartbreak Hotel for dinner and to watch Elvis live in Hawaii, as you do!!!

Memphis in the meantime.

We had a busy last day in Nashville, one of our tours was cancelled the Music Legends tour which was a bit of a bummer, so we went downtown and took the Ryman Auditorium Museum tour which was good as we had missed out on our concert the night before ( should of booked online ).

We spent the rest of Saturday checking out the many souvenir shops and honkytonk bars around the city centre, plenty of music to be sampled in the bars and the city centre was really cranking. We caught the circle line bus back to the Gulch around 5pm this district was within walking distance to our hotel. We went back to The Pub for a few drinks (from their micro brewery ) and a meal we really enjoyed the venue,great staff, the girls and guys all wore kilts, I am not sure who did the most perving Jenny or me and food was enjoyable as well.

Sunday morning we were of fairly early for our drive to Memphis the entire trip was spent on at least a two lane highway ( the Interstate 40 or Music Highway as it is called ) we had a easy journey through pleasant countryside stopped for lunch at Jackson and arrived at Elvis Presley's Heartbreak hotel around two pm. Well what can you say about Graceland, they don't miss a opportunity to cash in on the legend.Graceland has become one of the most-visited private homes in America with over 600,000 visitors a year, so there is no shortage of punters to cash in on.

We spent the afternoon checking out the souvenir shops and went to a local restaurant for tea. We have a busy day coming up on Monday with our Memphis Music Attraction Package tours.

C'mon Baby drive South

We had a great last day in New York, spent the early part of the day partaking in the usual retail therapy.. Seasoned travellers that we are we even got to use the New York subway. We made arrangements to meet up with John, Janelle, Brendan and Steph at Time Square which was no mean feat considering the crowds that are always present there. After meeting up and checking out a few more shops we headed to Planet Hollywood for dinner. It was a great last night! We caught a cab home and just our luck we had a driver who was on his first day and despite our directions could only get us within a block of our apartment.

The following morning we were up early for our flight to Nashville. We arrived in Nashville about 1pm and picked up our hire car. We made it to our Hotel without to many wrong turns, though it was still stressfull for Jenny ( much the same as driving with Jamie at home ) Jenny was keen for a feed so we headed to the Gulch for a feed and found a great eatery The Pub a traditional English Tavern with a huge amount of Ales to sample and a nice menu to boot, we had a good feed and went back to the Hotel for a early night.

Friday was a busy day as we had a tour of  Belle Meade Plantation which was the centerpiece of a 5,200-acre plantation, world-renowned as a thoroughbred stud farm and nursery in the 19th century.The present 30-acre site features 10 outbuildings, which include an 1832 slave cabin and a colossal carriage house and stables. Our next visit was the stately manor of Andrew Jackson, The Hermitage. This was the home of the seventh president, and a favorite son of Tennessee. We viewed the formal garden and visited the slave quarters, the original 1804 cabin of the estate and the sight where the president and his wife were laid to rest.

After the tour we headed into town and went to the Silver Dollar Saloon for some live music before heading back to The Pub for dinner, another fun day

Strawberry Fields

We had a sleep in this morning, as we were no longer on tour, we had a call from John and Brendan whom we had travelled with and arranged to meet them near Central Park. Everyone was keen to check out the Dakota Building which John Lennon had lived before his unfortunate demise, we then went onto the Strawberry Fields memorial and explored a few other attractions in the area, we then stopped for eleven's in the Boat House restaurant in Central Park.

After a quick feed we ventured on to the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for a brief culture hit, we then went back through the park and parted company from John and Brendan as they had a show to see that night.

We then continued to the shops and spent some more time partaking in Jenny's favourite pastime shopping. Jenny had some success as we had to purchase another suitcase to cart it all back to the Hotel.

We both felt worn out by this stage and decided to stay in for a meal tonight and conserve energy for more exploring of NYC tomorrow,must be getting soft.

Philadelphia Freedom

Our tour split up today as most of the group were travelling south while some of us were heading back to New York so it was onto a different bus with a new Tour Director for our trip to NYC.

Further sightseeing as we departed  Washington DC to Philadelphia, the city of Brotherly Love. where visited the Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell before returning to New York City. Our tour ended upon arrival in Midtown Manhattan we dropped some of the group at the starting Hotel and the rest of us were dropped of at the Mid Town Port Authority transport hub. We caught a cab to our Hotel the Beacon which is situated around 75th street and Broadway just a couple of streets frm Central Park. The Fairway Market is just across the road, it is the largest fresh food market in NYC and open to 1pm very popular with the. The Becon Theatre is right next door this is a very fine performing art venue and Jamie was lucky enough to Catch the band Steely Dan perform with a  eleven piece backing band.. Great to be back in NYC.

Gettysburg, Amish Country and Washington

In the morning we traveled  through the Appalachian Mountains along the picturesque Susquehanna River, the longest river on the American East Coast. In the afternoon we visied the historic Gettysburg Civil War National Battleground, site of the largest battle ever fought on American soil, and where Abraham Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg address in 1863. Afterwards we journeyed to the nation's capital, Washington DC. Our hotel for two nights was the Omni Shoreham Hotel this is the best Motel of the tour many celebrities have stayed there Clinton had his inauguration ball there. In the evening we went out for dinner at a French resturant with the group and did a tour in this exciting city. The tour included the city sites and the John Kennedy Performing Arts centre.

The following morning we had a city tour with such highlights as the US Capitol Building, Supreme Court, Library of Congress, the FBI Building, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, the White House and Arlington National Cemetery, site of the John F Kennedy Memorial. We were really impressed with the Korean War memorial it was brilliant in its design and visual impact. We spent  the remainder of the day exploring some of the many museums comprising the Smithsonian Institute, we started at the Aeronautical and Space museum followed by the Native American Museum, then the Natural History and American History. Needless to say we could return and spent a whole week exploring, they are very fine institutions. We were pretty weary after walking for hours so we just slipped out for a quite meal on our own. Another great day!