It’s the thing to do in Pigeon Forge. And this week was a special event called Barbeque and Bluegrass. That meant even more entertainment than usual so we had to go.

A couple approached us when we were getting in line to buy tickets and said they had two free passes they were looking to give to someone and they picked us! What a blessing! That saved us over $100. The first show we went to was a gospel quartet. It was a great way to start the day. The rest of the music was bluegrass. I liked the music. Of course, John loved it! All in all, it’s a great theme park, especially if you love music and roller coasters. So glad we went.

At Disneyland you see mostly strollers. This is what you see at Dollywood (although they said there was 80 buses of students there):

No words needed:

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills:

Beautiful drive through the Kentucky countryside:

Beautiful campsite. $10 per night with national parks senior pass:

Mammoth Caves (largest cave system in the world). Sure wish everyone would use deodorant before going. Just saying.

What is Memphis without a trip to Graceland? I had forgotten how good-looking he was and what a great voice he had.

Peabody Hotel in downtown. Claim to fame is the ducks that hang out in the lobby fountain all day. At five o’clock they go up the elevator to the roof top where they hang out for the night. Don’t ask me why.

Beale street is the happening place in Memphis. Unlike Nashville, very little music during the day. Mostly starts about 7 which is about the time we are getting into our jammies. But we made ourselves stay up one night.

Sunset over the Mississippi.

It turns out that Wednesdays are bikers night. A guy on the street told me that most of the time there weren’t many bikers but they were out in force tonight because of the warm evening. It was a crazy scene.

A biker chick:

Harleys and Cinderella carriages:

And finally a picture I snapped at Walmart today that reflects my observations about race after being in the South for months:

These two black women and one white woman were sitting there talking and laughing. Just three older ladies. I’m sure there are racial tensions we didn’t see, but what we observed was whites and blacks working together, playing together, helping each other and just living life together. Even the black and white bikers were just hanging out and having fun together. So different from what we see in the news. And that’s a good thing.

We are staying at a beautiful state park in Memphis:

We visited Sun Records that launched the careers of so many, including Elvis, Johnny Cash, Ike Turner and many others:

In the original studio, using the mic that many famous people used:

Kid in another candy store (Gibson guitar factory store):