thursday - a music day

we started by going to the Gibson Guitar store, just two blocks from our hotel and one block from Beale Street. here we admired guitars and then took a half-hour factory tour. this was much more casual than the Corvette tour, we kinda wandered around and were allowed to take photos. we saw the guitars all the way from flat pieces of wood, shaped, assembled, holes carved, necks added, paint and lacquer and then electronics. the tour guide told us that to work in the electronics section, you had to be a guitarist. while we were there, a couple of the technicians tested their guitars by playing some incredible blues riffs! rylan wants that job.

then we did what you have to do in Memphis: we went to Graceland. it was not at all what i thought. I thought it would be really crowded, i thought it would be a huge house, and garish and tacky to boot. it was kinda over the top in terms of decoration (animal fur couches and giant ceramic monkeys) but it also felt like someone really did live there. the highlight, i guess you can call it, was Elvis's grave. I'm not a big Elvis fan so I didn't get overwhelmed by it, but it was interesting to hear the people around us. one woman sat down and called a friend on her cell phone. "Wendy," she said, "I am sitting at Elvis's grave." Her voice lowered and she said, "Yes, I know. I know." and she shook her head and put it in her hand.

tonight we will possibly go hear more music - the blues at BB King's nightclub, or else just sit in the park and listen to the free concert that is going on all night.