Bus took us to board the American Cruise Line Melody. their newest on the Mississippi.   Watch this 11 min 23 sec video to get a full tour of the boat.   In general: While ships are designed for open, deep-sea navigation, boats are for smaller inland, river or coastal waters. Remember U-boat during the world war, for the German Unterseeboot?  Stands for undersea boat.  So yes, a submarine is a boat. A very large yacht is still a boat. The Melody was actually launched in 2021, measures 269 feet long and 56 feet wide, and is a boat.   Holds up to 180 passengers and has four decks.  Known for large staterooms, with standard rooms of 250 square feet.  The fourth floor has suites, and our room 418 has 405 square feet.   You can read the details here. It is nearly 400 miles from Memphis to New Orleans.  Maybe a 6-hour drive,  Our itinerary, which will take 13 days, or 12 nights, to complete    Frankly, I am surp...

I'm the guy who feared coming to Graceland because I had read that: Memphis was the most dangerous city in the USA. However, according to Google AI: Based on data from late 2025 and early 2026, Memphis has experienced a   significant, historic reduction in crime , though it still faces challenges regarding its reputation and overall safety levels compared to other U.S. cities. But more than that, I had also forgotten about the history of Memphis, and how influential this city was to the future of the USA and World. Our bus ride from Graceland to our American Cruise Lines ship was a guided tour through the city of Memphis.   Tour guide Bob convinced me that Memphis is an amazing city. Sure, they haven't totally controlled crime, but they have done something wonderful about their  homeless problem , and if you can recall some history, this was where Martin Luther King was assassinated, changing the nature of civil rights in the country. Heard of St. Jude?  Here is...

Took two shuttles from our Graceland hotel to the Graceland Mansion, where Elvis lived with his family. Here is a  long video of the tour  i found on You Tube, and a  shorter one. My version will be a few spotty photos and a short video, Here is  Wikipedia' s description. Graceland Farms was originally owned by Stephen Toof, founder of the oldest commercial printing firm in Memphis, and named the site after his daughter, Grace. She inherited the property from her father in 1894. She passed away, and niece Ruth Moore inherited the property. Moore built the  10,266 square foot mansion in 1939. Elvis in 1956 purchased a Memphis $40,000 home for his family in 1956.   Here with his parents.  Caught fire  in 2017. When his fame increased, he gave his parents, Vernon and Gladys Presley (the two restaurants at Graceland are called Vernon and Gladys), $100,000 to find a farmouse-like property with a lot of buffer space so as not to irritate his neighb...