Day 23: Our last full day in Memphis started at Sun Studio. The actual building where all those actual historic recordings were made.


And this is the actual studio. And that is our actual fantastic tour guide. The tour is basically just two rooms, but it was the best
tour of the weekend.


There are three X's on the floor marking the places where Elvis, Bill Black, and Scotty Moore stood when they
recorded "That's All Right" back in 1954. That's Elvis' spot.


Speaking fo Scotty Moore. This is a modern Gibson Scotty Moore ES-295 signed by Scotty Moore that is on display in the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
Scotty was a fairly important figure in the area--with his relationships with Elvis, Gibson, and Sun Studio--and we heard quite a bit about him on our various tours.


Sadly, Scotty Moore died last week at the age of 84. There is a shrine to him at the Hard Rock Cafe.


After lunch we drove over to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Unlike, Sun Studio, Stax is a reconstruction on the original
site. The original building was torn down in 1989 and replaced with a vacant lot.


The tour is a 20-minute film followed by a lot of exhibits about the history of Stax Records and the Memphis sound.


The reconstructed studio includes the actual Hammond organ played by Booker T. Jones on "Green Onions." Booker T. and the M.G.s was
basically the house band at Stax.



Isaac Hayes was also a major figure at Stax. This was his car.


Well, we couldn't visit Memphis without seeing the pyramid. It was an arena, now it's a Bass Pro Shops with a hotel.


Not my idea of paradise. But maybe for some people. After all, there is a lake in there--maybe more than one.


Then off to the Peabody Hotel to catch the march of the ducks from the fountain into the elevator.


Since we are rookies, we did it all wrong--showed up at the last minute and couldn't find a good viewpoint.
I mean, we could have watched the ducks swim in circles anytime all day. Next time we'll do better.


I'm so tired of fried food. Tomorrow I'm having nothing but salads.


We stopped by Alfred's on Beale Street for dessert and to see the Memphis Jazz Orchestra play their first set. The band was better than the food.
The beer came in plastic cups.