The photos on this page are here because Chuck had his little Palm Zire71 device and snapped some stuff that kinda came out, so it showed up here first. Next, Jeff and Carol shared theirs. Here they are. A bit later, we received some more from Keith and Denise. Click here to view them. Our newest addition is a video page...we'll add to it as we edit the files down to a reasonable size. Check it out! Lehigh Valley Blues Network also has some posted in a slide show (photos provided by Barry and Val). You can view them here.
	This egg-shaped thing sits out in front of the Welcome Center to Memphis, which overlooks the banks of the Mississippi River. It was the first time most of us had ever seen the Ol' Man. It is all shiny tile mosaic on the surface, with a light white and multi-colored background, black "Memphis" and musical notes; the blue text reads "Home of the Blues" and the red text is: "Birthplace of Rock 'n' Roll". The Welcome Center building is in the background. Let's go inside.
The first thing inside the door is this huge bronze statue of B.B. King, with "Lucille". She's a Gibson, and their headquarters-factory is right there in Memphis, about a block from where we performed. From the air, the building is shaped like a Gibson guitar -- what else?
	There's one of Elvis, too, off in its own special Rock 'n' Roll alcove.
Outside again, and not far from that egg, is an American Veterans (AMVETS) Memorial to those from Tennessee who have served our country in the Armed Forces. Some of us have been there and some of us have lost some there, so we thought y'all might appreciate seeing the evidence that Memphis and Tennessee are recognizing theirs, too.
	Some of us drove, while most of us flew, but all stayed at the same place. We did all get together on Wednesday evening in Thom and Denyse's room to get ready to head into Memphis from our airport motel. Some of us were straggling a bit, so here's a shot of the rest of us waiting... and waiting... and waiting... but we all did show up, eventually...
Then, Thom went over the planned set list with us, just so we could try to get in some "wood-shedding" if we needed it before hittin' the stage on Thursday.
	Here's proof that we found the right street.
It was time for something to eat, so we stopped in here. The sign reads "PIG - Pork With an Attitude".
	Inside, we found the rest of the crew from the Lehigh Valley, and all sat down to "pig out" together.
After that, some of us decided to walk off the meal. That's when we first spotted B.B. King's Club, but we had no idea yet that we'd be performing there for the next two nights.
	Keith and Denise decided to take a ride, and came back loaded with information about the city sights.
Thursday morning, we needed to register and find out where we'd be performing. Here's a shot of Julie, Al, Danny, and Thom waiting for the rest of the old guys to catch up.
	Back on Beale Street, we "noted" that they don't have stars in the sidewalks; they have 8th-notes. This one is Robert Johnson's.
Here is the Blues City Cafe. This was the place to get BBQ ribs or catfish or crab au gratin. We also found our share of gumbo at the King Palace Cafe or at B.B. King's.
	Imagine cutting a pink Cadillac one foot in from the edge of the driver's side and mounting it on a wall. That's what they did here; it was inside the Blues City Cafe.
An entire block between Beale and Peabody Place on Second Street used to operate as Elvis Presley's Memphis. It's closed now, but this great sign is still there.
	The Beale Street Merchants Association has a unique logo, with the "Beale St." text arranged to resemble a trumpet -- or is that really more like a cornet?
This is the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River, spanning from Memphis to Arkansas. It has been nicknamed the "Dolly Parton" Bridge. Rumor has it that Dolly filed a suit against the architects because those arches are "too flat" to do her justice. The case was settled out of court because she didn't want to bare the evidence to enable a comparison by the judge. Somebody mentioned Janet Jackson the other day...

This page created by Chuck Steele