right on bro!

[Note: This entry is about Sunday.]

It hasn’t been sunny since I went through Oklahoma City, and Sunday was no exception. Memphis’ skies were gray and depressing, and a light drizzle permeated the air. Ugh.

My first stop of the day was Graceland. I’m not an Elvis fan by any means - I recognize some of his songs, but have never seen his movies or anything like that. But Graceland was pretty cool. Elvis had a really nice house. I didn’t know that he had two 8th-degree black belts in karate - but now I do.

After the Graceland tour, I hit I-40 again, headed towards Nashville and the night’s planned stop after that. I stopped for lunch at the Cottage Patch Restaurant in Parker’s Crossing, about halfway to Nashville. I guess the area had a big battle back in the Civil War - the walls were lined with pictures of Confederate soldiers. The drive seemed to go on forever, but I finally made it, up through I-65 and into Kentucky.

The night’s planned stop was Cave City, Kentucky, which is right next to the Mammoth Caves national park. The reason for this stop wasn’t the caves, but for the Wigwam Motel. This place is a series of 15 teepees, arranged in a half-circle facing Dixie Highway. I read about it on Roadside America a long time ago, and since then I’ve always wanted to visit.

I was in Wigwam #11 for only an hour and this I know this place is already going to be the best place I stayed at on my trip. After a week of Motel 6 and Best Westerns, this was a fantastic change. Glad to know there is still a small slice of weird Americana left.