Day 4--Memphis, Tennessee

The long drive across Mississippi left us parched and hungry for some more "road food." We stopped in the small town of Holly Springs where we went on a search for the Phillip's Grocery, which we had heard was a good stop for hamburgers and an object of real interest--fried pie! Finding Holly Springs didn't turn out to take too much effort but finding the restaurant was a bit of a mystery. Holly Springs is a small community with the town center surrounding an old fashioned town square like something out of To Kill A Mockingbird.

We had a rough map which directed us to the outskirts of town. We took a few wrong turns before noticing that the place was located across from the railroad station. The station wound up being down a side road that got progressively more pot holed until it dead ended between two ramshackle buildings--one the old railroad station circa 1850's and the other none other than the Philip's Grocery. We parked in the gravel lot next to the tracks and got out of the car. Immediately hit by the heat and humidity, we were also struck by the cacophony of sound coming from the trees. The screeching Cicadas added to the heat and the place and the southern accents of the locals let us know we were definitely in the deep south. Now we know why the folks in the south tend to talk and move a little slower. If you lived in this kind of heat and humidity, you would too.

We walked up the wooden steps of the Phillip's Grocery and went on in. Immediately we felt we had found a real southern road stop. Ceiling fans twirled slowly and folks sat at tables scattered around a large room stuffed with memorabilia collected from over a hundred years of selling pop and groceries and cold beer. The building began as a saloon, then became a grocery store but has built its reputation on hamburgers since the 1940's. We ordered hamburgers and a fried pie along with our sweet tea. The burgers were fine though I can't say they were worth the drive. We didn't get what we had ordered on the burgers but decided not to object to the counter lady as she hadn't been that friendly in the first place. The fried pie was okay, but again, not worthy of the effort to find the place. It basically tasted like a Hostess fruit pie that had been squashed flat, then deep fried in oil that wasn't hot resulting in a pie that tasted of oil and peach jam.

We walked across the street to the railroad station to take a look and it turned out to be a lovely building in spite of its rundown condition. Parts of the station are homes and other parts are warehouses. Its glory days are still evident in its architecture and the plaque out front comments on the part it played during the Civil War.

We headed back out of town and drove quite a way along a back road towards the interstate that would take us on up to Memphis and a new state. Arriving in Memphis in the early afternoon, we decided we had time to head straight to Elvis Presley's Graceland for a tour. It turned out to be a good day to do it since the parking lot had plenty of room and we walked right on to a tour. There are several tour packages available depending on your level of infatuation with "the King." For a little more you can see the stables and for a little more you can tour his two jet planes and so on. We just wanted to see the house which included the grave site. The waiting area across the street from his home is where his planes sit and the rest of it is all cheesy souvenir shops. A shuttle bus takes small groups at a time across the four lane road and up the drive to Graceland. We were dropped off right at the front door to the home and welcomed in. We were able to tour the entire first floor but couldn't go upstairs. The home is furnished in a cheesy over the top style that had us saying to each other, "Money is wasted on the wrong people!" Just awful decor. The two rooms filled with his awards and costumes from movies and concerts were interesting. Sadly, the whole experience was just, sorry to use the word again, cheesy and tacky and just had no class at all. Still, we were glad we did it.

Our hotel for the night was only a couple of miles from Graceland but we decided to head for the next spot on our Road Food map--Gus's Fried Chicken downtown Memphis. We found a parking spot right at the front door and a got a table almost right away. We'd heard that Gus's had the best fried chicken in the world and while I am not ready to absolutely bestow that title, I am here to tell you that it was pretty terrific fried chicken. Fresh out of the fryer, crisp and juicy. We really got excited when the fried green tomatoes and fried pickles came out. The tomatoes were delicious, sweet, juicy but firm and the pickles were just to die for. Dipped in a ranch dressing or by themselves, the crunchy outer crust and the sour pickle flavor inside were a fabulous treat. The price is right as well. We left Gus's feeling much better about our southern food experience.


Next up--Memphis Blues and Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous