A magical train trip to Memphis saw us sail through American towns that immediately a tune to mind – Jackson, Clarksdale, Yazoo City. A sweet New Orleans couple in our carriage were celebrating their 52nd anniversary. The husband told Shaun that the secret to a successful marriage was to choose the right woman. ;)
Graceland – Our first truly American ‘amusement’ park.
Tacky in every way, but I kept picturing The King in each of these rooms.
This is where Elvis ate burgers, shot pool, made love to Priscilla, sat by the pool with a margarita and drank whiskey with his posse in the den. The house itself is not nearly as lavish as you’d expect of a celebrity of his status today, but its 70’s styling and famed shag-pile-walled jungle room are something to behold.
Speaking of amazing 70's styling, the Ike and Tina display at Stax Museum was my favourite. Tina would have looked out of this world in this canary yellow dress and sparkly heels.
Continuing north, we landed in Chicago and soaked up the gothic architecture and art deco stylings.
Imagine Gotham city, then add the most beautiful parks and gardens smack in the centre, a smattering of public street art, and a raised subway that clangs and cranks its way around city blocks and through (yes, through) buildings.
Pictured is the giant silver ‘Bean’ statue that bends and contorts the reflection of the city skyline and its visitors.
By far the highlight of Chicago was a baseball match at Wrigley Field where we witnessed the Cubs get whooped by the Florida Gators. We ate giant pretzels and chicago dogs and sang 'Take me out to the ball game' in the ‘seventh stretch’ with the 10,000 strong crowd.
Chicago dogs and Chicago deep-dish pizza were the local snacks, so who were we to argue? A Chicago dog ‘dragged through the garden’ is a hot dog with pickle, mustard, lettuce, cheese, wedges of tomato… everything except ketchup. The deep dish pizza has a base like a pie with raised edges so they can fill the whole thing with cheese. It’s like cutting into a big molten cheese pie – I wasn't sold.
We couchsurfed in a creaky old apartment with a great verandah looking out over Little Italy, with a sweet medical student called Will.
Will was great, though his bizarre eating habits were somewhat disturbing. He intends to start a obesity clinic which preaches an even more extreme version of the Atkins diet. Will believes humans can eat as much fat as we want and don’t need to exercise unless we eat carbohydrates. I watched him fry up bacon and scrape the fat off the pan to smear back on the rashers. He has bottles of coconut oil lining his shelves which he pours on his steaks and salmon because he doesn’t think they’re fatty enough. Only in America.
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