We started the day yesterdat at Sun Studios, the "birthplace of Rock and Roll". It was very cool to learn the history of the recording studio and label where greats such as B.B. King, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, and of course Elvis got their start. Our tour guide Amy was very cute, and had an accent you could listen to forever!
There were so many more things we wanted to see in Memphis, including the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, to Stax Records, aka Soulsville. I guess we'll just have to go back to Memphis sometime.
We got on the road around 11:30 for our long drive to Houston. 55 south down through Mississippi and into Louisiana, then 12 west through Baton Rouge, to 10 west all the way to Houston.
Reflecting our trip to Sun, our soundtrack started with lots of Johnny Cash, from the greatest hits and the concert at Folsom prison, to American IV The Man Comes Around. Then we listed to Elmore James, King of the Slide Guitar, for a little Delta blues (and a strong indication of where Led Zepelin got all those riffs from.) By that time we were in Louisiana, so we listened to Lucinda Williams sing about all the cities we were driving through, such as Jackson, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, etc. Other bands included The Gossip, Led Zep, and as we moved into Texas, ZZ Top, Janis Joplin, and Steve Earle.
All day we went in and out of rain squalls. With the Katrina disaster just one year ago this week, it weighed on our minds as we drove though the states which were devastated by both nature and the government.
A cool part of our drive was the elevated highway through the Atchafalaya Basin, an area of marshes and swamps just west of Baton Rouge. Again, an area I'd love to explore more in the future.
Overall, we found this part of the south verdant and lush. We spotted vultures and cranes alternately. I'm sure alligators lurked in the swamps just out of our sight.
We were greeted in Texas with billboards advertising Jesus and babies. Welcome to Texas!
As our 10 hour drive neared an end, we were treated to a John Ford-esque sunset.
We are staying with Charlie (one of Karl's oldest friends) and his wife Linda. When we arrived, they had not yet gotten back from their baby shower (due in ~ 2 months), so we showed ourselves into their huge home - twice the size of our old condo in JP and almost half the price. So this is why people live in Texas!
This morning we need to get an oil change - yep we've driven that far already! Then off to Austin later this afternoon.
I'm having problems uploading the photos again, so look for those in a separate post.
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