Day 3 - July 4, 2020

Today, we drove from Chattanooga to Memphis. It was a very pretty ride. The convertible has been really nice in the morning and at night...a little tough in the afternoon.

We stopped in Nashville for a beer and some vegan food for lunch. Then, we checked out the Grand Ole Opry which was a bit disappointing - it was far from downtown and shared the location with an outlet mall.

Next, we headed to Memphis (got gas for $1.66/gallon!) which reminds me of New Orleans which has Bourbon Street. Here, they have Beale street. Lots of bars with alcoholic Slurpees. We walked around downtown, but there wasn't much going on other than Beale Street, which was crowded and it was uncomfortable wearing a mask because it was pretty hot. We saw Jerry Lee Lewis' club, which he used to perform at. After roaming downtown Memphis, we got back in the car and drove to Graceland. This is a very commercial area, which surprised me because I thought it would be more secluded - maybe it was more so when it was first built. Afterward, we drove to Sun Recording Studio where a lot of singers got their big breaks (e.g., Jerry Lee Lewis). Then Ian got some bbq and we realized fireworks going off everywhere. Multiple neighborhoods were shooting up really great fireworks - just like the pros. We pulled over and watched the fireworks while we ate (I ate all his corn fritters and coleslaw). This was a really great surprise!

Went back to the hotel and decided to adjust our itinerary - so we will go to Columbia, MO tomorrow instead of Joplin (our apologies, Janis!).