Memphis day 3

On the third day we started off by heading towards *drumroll*... Graceland! We got a ticket that included a tour around Elvis's house, his cars, his planes and an exhibit showing his later days as an artist. I must say I prefer Elvis at the start of his career when his musicianship not only felt more real, but he was also a better looking fella ;) During his later career you can clearly see someone who was not feeling great. Anyhow, back to the tour. The house was a lot smaller than we expected, the decor would be considered very outdated today but I guess all the newest and best back then. The house had three floors, of which only the two lowest ones could be visited by tourists since the top floor was considered Elvis's private space. He did not let anyone up there unless they were family. We also got to see his grave that is placed in his garden. The car exhibit was one of the best things of the tour, closely followed by the planes. There was a stage outside where Elvis-lookalikes sang his songs and at one picture you can see Asian-Elvis doing his thing. Instead of me rambling on about it further, take a look at the pictures below.

After felling a bit Elvised out we headed towards the Lorraine motel. "Why?" you ask. Well, this is where Martin Lutger King Jr. was assassinated and is today home to the National civil rights museum. Here they give you the history and information about the civil rights movement, the shooting and the investigations that went into finding and eventually sentencing James Earl Ray as the killer. However, there are many other theories about who actually was behind the shooting and some of those where also presented. The actual museum is located right across from the motel where the shooter is believed to have been located at the time and the bathroom where the killer was shooting from is still there, preserved just the way it was back then. We could also walk up on the balcony of the motel where Martin Luther King was standing when he died. On our way from the museum we noticed a stall and a lady sitting by a sign that said welcome to the "James Earl Ray worship museum". This woman called Jacqueline Smith has been protesting here for almost 20 years because she thinks the museum has cost too much money for what she believes is the opposite of what Martin Luther King would've wanted. To be fair, she has a point. There was not a lot about Martin Lither King and his cause in comparison to the shooting, police investigation and James Earl Ray. However, it was still pretty good and informative and it felt really strange to stand on the balcony of the motel where one of history's greatest human beings once stood.