Wednesday June 27th 2018

Yesterday evening’s thunderstorm didn’t do anything to break the heat and humidity. Today was another day with a heat advisory in place. The temperature reached the mid nineties with high humidity. The reported heat index was 105.

Elvis is in the building. This statue of Elvis is in the Tennessee Welcome Center.

B,.B. King statue.

In the late morning I headed into Memphis to start touring. My first stop was the Tennessee Welcome center just over the Interstate 40 bridge on the banks of the river. My goal was to get better information about the attractions in the area. The Welcome Center is a modern building in a park like setting overlooking a marina on Mud Island with various bridges and roads towering above the area. In the Welcome Center are two massive statues of the cities musical celebrities. One is of Elvis Presley and the other is of B.B. King.

I saw the bridge crossing from the Civic Center area to Mud Island Park near the Tennessee Welcome Center. I thought it was only a pedestrian bridge until I saw the tram moving along under the structure.

Pyramid building that is now a Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World. It is very bright and reflective.

Just north of the Welcome Center, on the other side of the I-40 overpass, is a massive glass and aluminum pyramid. It was originally built as an arena in 1991. The facility is now the home of a huge Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World. Inside the aquariums, ponds and outdoor scenes are over the top even by Bass Pro standards. The big Catfish and Alligator Gar in the ponds are only dwarfed by the actual Alligators in one of the other ponds. I didn’t set out to go shopping today, but I found a couple of things I’ve been looking for. I found a new hat and a new pair of New Balance shoes. They were on sale, so the price was quite reasonable.

Catfish in one of the ponds at the Bass Pro Shop.

This fish is four to five feet long.

After about three hours in a very small area of Memphis I returned to camp for lunch and to get out of the heat. Tomorrow I’ll return to the downtown area for more touring.

Tonight’s sunset.