Memphis, Tennessee
MEMPHIS – WHERE ELVIS WILL ALWAYS BE ALIVE
There are many reasons to visit Memphis – and they all sound good. The largest city in the US state Tennessee has been the stepping stone to an international career for world stars like Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash.
Today tourism in Memphis benefits from it. But the city also has a lot more to offer. Not every city in the USA had the guts to name itself after an ancient metropolis when it was founded. In Memphis they had this guts and showed right from the start where the journey was going. The aim was to build great political influence and a strong economy. Just as it was once the case in Memphis, Egypt.
Exceptional self-confidence
According to campingship, the City Fathers of Memphis, Tennessee, have carried out their proud project, albeit with a few interruptions. Today the city is one of the economic Top Twenty and has a great attraction for young people in the neighboring states of Mississippi and Arkansas. Memphis Airport is unbeatable. It has the largest cargo volume in the world. Not because so many Elvis memorabilia are sent from here. Rather, the reason is that FedEx, a shipping giant, has its headquarters in Memphis. By the way, not only the economic success reminds of the ancient model. There is also a veritable pyramid in the skyline. However, it has recently been built from glass and steel.
Night is turned into day on Beale Street
Of course, there is plenty to do in and around Memphis during the day! But why not just start with a “ sight ” that is especially accessible after dark? That’s when the restaurants, bars and music pubs on Beale Street wake up, which today have even been officially recognized by the American Congress as the “home” of the blues.
Just listing the names can get a music lover hot and cold. After all, greats like Louis Armstrong, B, B used to be on the three-kilometer-long music mile. King and Muddy Waters out and about – to name just a few examples. Her spirit and her music live on here, mixed with modern elements and a lot of talent in today’s music scene. No problem if it gets late here. All cubs on Beale Street are allowed to stay open until five o’clock in the morning thanks to a special permit.
Forever Elvis
Memphis without Elvis? Does not work at all! A visit to “Graceland” is therefore a must. Incidentally, not least because the property has the second highest number of visitors in all of the USA – after the White House. Well over half a million people want to see how Elvis Presley lived every year. His daughter and heiress Lisa Marie Presley opened the property and some rooms for her. The house in which the legendary musician lived from 1957 until his death in 1977 has 23 rooms. Visitors can enter the legendary “Jungle Room”. This is where Elvis produced his last records in a tropical environment. The first floor of the house is not accessible to visitors. Among other things, there is the room in which Elvis died. His grave in the park of the building is included in the tour. This also applies to a museum in which various exhibits reminiscent of Elvis are on display. Graceland’s address is 3765, Elvis Presley Boulevard. The property is open every day.
Civil disobedience
Not only the music, but also the civil rights movement has its place in Memphis. Those interested in this side of American history should visit the National Civil Rights Museum (450, Mulberry Street). The museum was built in close proximity to the Lorraine Motel. Civil rights activist Martin Luther King was shot dead on a balcony of this motel in 1968.
Some fresh air please!
After all, it’s time to get some fresh air at Overton Park. The park has a number of attractions, each of which is a real sight in itself. Outstanding, for example, is the Memphis Zoo, which is one of the best and most interesting zoos in the USA. Those who prefer plants will like the Tree Garden. 70 different tree species grow here. Great art can be admired at the Brooks Museum of Art.
JACK DANIEL’S DISTILLERY IN LYNCHBURG
Old men with faces tanned by the weather sit in the sun, play cards and wait. Waiting for the whiskey to ripen in the big barrels in the warehouse behind them. A promotional picture and almost the truth. Lynchburg, Tennessee , has 5,200 residents but is world famous for Jack Daniel’s Distillery, a series of large brick buildings hidden behind old trees.
The sleepy town is primarily a marketing object, as the advertising strategists at Brown-Forman, who has owned the distillery since 1956, have recognized. The company controlled by the Brown family, which is one of the ten largest manufacturers of alcoholic beverages in the world, is based in the town of Louisville, Kentucky. A good quarter of a million visitors make the pilgrimage to Lynchburg every year. The approximately 400 employees still produce the whiskey using the same process that the founder Jack Daniel used almost 140 years ago. Corn, rye and barley are mixed with the spring water to form a yellowish pulp, the mash, which is fermented and distilled. The crystal clear alcohol is filtered through charcoal. The fabric gets its color in oak barrels, in which it rests for four years. The barrels from the company’s own Blue Grass Cooperage in Louisville are only used once, after which they are sold to Scotland (advertising slogan: Scottish whiskeys always contain a bit of Jack Daniel’s).
Nostalgia is just a facade
However, this nostalgic picture is only a facade. Behind the brick walls there are gigantic steel containers, the alcoholic liquid flows through pipes from station to station and into the barrels. Computers control the entire system. 50 large warehouses are hidden in the hills around Lynchburg. After all, 6 million boxes of nine liters were sold in the 1999/2000 financial year. The souvenir shops in Lynchburg around the small market square offer masses of souvenirs bearing the Jack Daniel’s label. Only whiskey is not available here. Lynchburg is the only town in Moore County and this is a “dry” district, alcohol is not allowed to be sold or drunk here. Only the Jack Daniel’s souvenir shop itself is allowed to offer a bottle due to a special permit. official website of the distillery. Here you will also find information about visiting a distillery on site with corresponding directions, as well as the possibility of a distillery tour online (this virtual tour is in English).
By the way: The late entertainer Dean Martin dedicated his book “The Power of Positive Drinking” to Jack Daniel’s whiskey, which is almost something like the national drink of the southern states.
