We're going to Graceland, Graceland

But first: New Orleans, a city with many different vibes and scenes. Where you can feel like you're in Spanish Lloret de Mar when walking on Bourbon Street and like you're in a scary vampire horror movie when you're walking on one of the typical New Orleans cemeteries. But also, a damaged city, which is still recovering from the hurricane Katrina in 2005. The neighborhood where we stayed, Tremé, was a good example of a place where you could still see the after effects, but also the progress in renovating and rebuilding of homes.

The French Quarter - NOLA

When we arrived in New Orleans, it was pouring. Even though it was raining, it was still tremendously hot! We decided to start up easy and just do some grocery shopping, and to start exploring the city in the hopefully, cooler evening hours. Spontaneously we decided to walk in to the French Quarter after all skipping our grocery shopping. The French Quarter is an historic place, with beautiful buildings, but is also very touristic. When we reached Bourbon street, we were a little surprised to see all kinds of people walking around with neon-colored alcoholic drinks and big ass beers (beers in a glass shaped like an ass..). Timon immediately said "this looks like Lloret de Mar.", besides the fact that the majority is not 16 but 50. We walked around a little more, before finding a supermarket and heading back to our AirBnB. Spontaneous plans are nice, but a mental note to ourselves: bring water the next time. Not so long ago we were overheated in Okefenokee, you would say that would teach us a lesson..

Since we had 3 nights in NOLA, we had the chance to start up slowly. It was way too hot anyway to walk through the city the whole day. We had temperatures going up to 38 degrees Celsius with a humidity of 85%. When we step outside Timon can't see a thing because his glasses will fog up and after 20 minutes I will look like a fried tomato. We took some time to read a book, work a bit and book some next parts of our trip.

Having seen the French Quarter already, we walked to the neighborhoods Marigny and Bywater. Following a tip, we ended up at a cute place, Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits. In their cozy backyard, you could sit down, relax and listen to live music. We also tried a real NOLA Po-Boy sandwich, which is basically a french baguette with a little salad, roast beef and a lot of gravy - results in messy eating :).

Like mentioned in our previous blog, our car unfortunately still didn't feel right to Timon. I wasn't sure, but as soon as we arrived in New Orleans, we brought our car to a VW dealer again. Timon's feeling appeared to be right; the new tires we received in Nashville were not aligned. That resulted in a shake while driving. From now on, I will trust Timon's instincts even though I don't think (or I probably just want to deny it) anything is wrong. With the return of our car, we drove back via the St. Louis cemetery. Like the Netherlands, New Orleans is below sea level. But unlike in the Netherlands, they can't dig holes in the ground, because they will fill up with water immediately. So they build their graves above ground. A little creepy it was especially with the thunderstorms in the back. Story goes around that Nicholas Cage already bought his grave there, in the shape of a pyramid. We didn't see it, but you know some people are crazy enough..

St. Louis Cemetery

Leaving New Orleans behind, we drove to Elvis Land: Memphis! The drive from New Orleans to Memphis was 386 miles, probably one of our longest drives in our US tour. Graceland is of course one of the biggest attractions in Memphis, but saw the entrance fees and decided not to go. Instead, we booked two nights on the Graceland campground with the idea that we would still see Graceland. Entrance fee for $59 per person or $28 per night for a campsite (with pooooool!) - what a hard choice for two Dutchies who are not enormous Elvis fans ;-). But, what we could've thought about, is that the campground was obviously not on the Graceland terrain. Just a short walk, we were able to see Graceland after all.

After seeing, and experiencing, on the street drinking in Savannah and the Lloret de Mar like partying in New Orleans, Memphis was not so new anymore. Same kind of scene on Beale Street, which we passed by quickly. By a coincidence we ended up in The Rendezvous. Normally not open before 4 pm, but because they were celebrating their 70th anniversary, they were open all day. The only thing you could eat there was their famous dry rub coal grilled ribs. If you're ever in Memphis - go there! Best ribs I've ever had.

What was interesting in Memphis is the National Civil Rights Museum, at the Lorraine Motel. In 1968, Martin Luther King was shot there, and the rooms are restored in the old way and the museum is quite interesting. Even though I think you can create never ending exhibitions about civil- and human rights, this museum kind of puts you back on the ground with your two feet.

The Lorraine Motel - Civil Rights Museum

To have a last sort of Elvis kind of experience in Memphis, we booked a reservation at a BBQ place called Marlowes. The booking included us being picked up by a pink Cadillac. Very cool, but the BBQ was not very special.

After Memphis, our next big stop(s) will be in Texas, but first we stopped for two nights in Arkansas. We decided to stay on a campground at De Gray Lake, just below Hot Springs. Hot Springs is a village famous for its several natural hot springs, and bathhouses. One of the old bathhouses is now a museum, where you're able to see what it was like to visit one of these. Interesting to see, but since it was again very hot (42 degrees Celsius) I started to become more interested in some ice cream.. :).

Camping in those kind of heats, is not to comfortable. We noticed that we were the only tent without conditioning! Yes, tents with AC! The campground owner probably thought I wouldn't survive the night, cooking in the tent, after seeing my red face. So he lent us one of his fans. So for the first time in my life, I had a fan in my tent. I slept like a baby :).

The heat is probably something we need to get used to, Texas will probably not be any cooler. We'll see, we'll survive. If we post a new blog, you'll know :).