The 2013 Elvis Pilgrimage Tour. Day one.

We headed north on Thursday. At the suggestion of Son-in-Town we stopped in Tupelo for lunch at the Neon Pig. It is an interesting little butcher shop/deli. Mr. Macho ate a smash burger. I ate some muscadine sausage tacos. Mr. Macho liked his burger. I enjoyed the tacos, but would not go out of my way to eat them again.

On a whim Mr. Macho wanted to drive through Holly Springs. Civil War history always attracts him. Holly Spring has some of that history. We drove around the town square. Mr. Macho's idea of a drive through is just that. Drive through. Not my idea. My idea is stop and walk around the town square. We drove by an old tourist trap that we have visited years ago, Graceland II. Mr. Macho did not stop. He just headed out of town. When he realized I was pouting he offered to turn around and go back. And I said I did want to do the tour. Again. So we did. Two college students drove up at the same time and we took the tour together. It was the same as before. Silly. Smelly. Strange.

Mr. Macho and our host, Paul McLeod, in one of the many rooms filled with Elvis memorabilia. 

I left Holly Springs totally satisfied. And a little funky smelling. We took wet wipes and tried to wash off the stink. To no avail.

On to Memphis. After checking into our rooms we headed downtown. Beale Street. We stopped in at the Peabody to confirm the Duck marching time. A suited employee was just putting up the red ropes in the lobby as we walked up. I asked about the march and he said we were in the perfect spot. Even though it was another 20 minutes or so until the actual march he recommended we not move. He informed us the lobby would be crammed with people and if we moved we would immediately loose our spots. So. We took his advice. Mr. Macho still did not realize what a big deal this was. Not until after it was over did he acknowledge that he was a little flabbergasted. As we waited the lobby filled to capacity. People were lining the balcony. The Red Carpet was rolled from the fountain to the elevator. The Duck Master began right on time. With a short speech on the history of the Duck March and with much fan fare the ducks marched right into the elevator. Because there were not enough children lining the red carpet adults were invited to sit. 

And that is where I got the bird's eye view of the Duck March. 

The Duck Master invited the crowd to the roof for the last party of the summer. 

We left the hotel and grabbed some good ribs at The Pig on Beale. We sat and listened to a duo at Silky O'Sullivan's. Then Mr. Macho suggested we check out the roof party at the Peabody. 

And that we did. 

It was a great sunset view of the Mississippi River. There was a really good local band playing. Young and old were dancing. Us included. The weather was ideal. It was great fun. 

When the crowd started getting super thick. We decided we were tired and left. 

It was a good start to our adventure.