Liz and I left New Orleans Monday and headed up to Tupelo and Memphis. My wife is a major Elvis fan, so we had to do the whole Graceland experience. Five hours of E is a bit much for me, but it was fun to see her so excited.
This evening, we were heading down to Beale Street, which is more to my liking. My wife suggested we drive out to see what was visible of Elvis' old ranch, the Circle G, of which his honeymoon house and ranch remain in decay. The gate to the ranch was open, we had her 4x4 truck, so we drove on in. I saw a guy working some equipment off in the distance, down by the lake. We took pictures of the house, stables and big cross. I noticed the workman leaving. We headed back to the gate and found this:
Locked up tight with darkness approaching. I eyeballed the chains and gate for a while, before determining we weren't leaving the way we came. I also found a "KEEP OUT" sign, face down in the dirt...
I drove the perimeter hoping for a whole in the fence or another access. The property must be several hundred acres, criss-crossed by farm trails. I was really starting to get worried that we were either spending the night there or getting a ticket/arrested for trespassing. I remembered the gate near the house looked to be in pretty rough condition. Sure enough, it was barely standing up. I pulled it down, drove the truck across the cattle barrier and out to freedom. I did put the gate back up. I snuck out onto the main highway and I believe no one was the wiser. We do need to get her black truck washed tomorrow..
The Kings honeymoon hacienda.
Stables & Cross
We headed back to civilization for dinner and music on Beale Street. Memphis is pretty smoker friendly, so I was able to enjoy a pipe on a patio.
This guy put on a great show and did several early Elvis tunes, so that made Liz very happy.
We visiting the Rock & Soul museum tomorrow morning, then off to Nashville. Stay tuned....
This evening, we were heading down to Beale Street, which is more to my liking. My wife suggested we drive out to see what was visible of Elvis' old ranch, the Circle G, of which his honeymoon house and ranch remain in decay. The gate to the ranch was open, we had her 4x4 truck, so we drove on in. I saw a guy working some equipment off in the distance, down by the lake. We took pictures of the house, stables and big cross. I noticed the workman leaving. We headed back to the gate and found this:
Locked up tight with darkness approaching. I eyeballed the chains and gate for a while, before determining we weren't leaving the way we came. I also found a "KEEP OUT" sign, face down in the dirt...
I drove the perimeter hoping for a whole in the fence or another access. The property must be several hundred acres, criss-crossed by farm trails. I was really starting to get worried that we were either spending the night there or getting a ticket/arrested for trespassing. I remembered the gate near the house looked to be in pretty rough condition. Sure enough, it was barely standing up. I pulled it down, drove the truck across the cattle barrier and out to freedom. I did put the gate back up. I snuck out onto the main highway and I believe no one was the wiser. We do need to get her black truck washed tomorrow..
The Kings honeymoon hacienda.
Stables & Cross
We headed back to civilization for dinner and music on Beale Street. Memphis is pretty smoker friendly, so I was able to enjoy a pipe on a patio.
This guy put on a great show and did several early Elvis tunes, so that made Liz very happy.
We visiting the Rock & Soul museum tomorrow morning, then off to Nashville. Stay tuned....