We got up, packed up, checked out of the BnB, and went for breakfast. We had done some Internet searching for good neighborhood restaurants, and had settled on one called Brother Juniper. But when we got there, we found it closed - apparently, they were doing some repair work. Frustrated, we walked across the street to Insomnia Cookies and bought cookies for ourselves, and some to take back to Ashley.
As we were driving out of the parking lot, on our way to another restaurant, I saw a couple approach Brother Juniper, and called out the window "They're closed!" The next thing I knew, the man said "We were behind you at the Civil Rights Museum yesterday!" They turned out to be visiting from England.
As had happened the day before, our frustration at finding our first restaurant choice closed was mollified by our stumbling on another one even better. We ate breakfast at a place called Another Broken Egg. Not only was it a terrific restaurant, but we discovered they have a location in Burbank. We'll be back.
After breakfast, we went to see what I'd been looking forward to ever since we first decided to go to Tennessee, and the main reason I wanted to go to Memphis - Sun Studio:
Strictly speaking, "Sun Studio" is a bit of a misnomer. The recording studio opened by Sam Phillips in 1950 was called the Memphis Recording Service:
He didn't start Sun Records until 1952, and the studio was never called Sun Studio. The present day entity going by the name "Sun Studio," and housed in the building next door to the original studio, is a museum and tourist attraction, although the recording studio itself is still intact, and still functions as a working studio in the evenings.
If you're already familiar with the story of Sam Phillps, and his studio, and Sun Records, you don't need any further explanation from me. If not, suffice it to say that it played a major role in the early history of American rock and roll music, and has often been referred to as the birthplace of rock and roll. For more information, go and read the Wikipeida article (w), and then come back here. I'll wait.
We parked out back, and on the way in, I noticed that several of the windows had pictures of Sun Records artists, such as Jerry Lee Lewis:
Inside, we found a lobby dressed up as a '50s style soda fountain, and selling all manner of souvenirs:
...including, of course, CDs. I bought a CD of the Million Dollar Quartet (w) (the original session, not the Broadway show), and a guitar pick with the Sun Studio logo.
In the back of the room, I found this "wall of fame," covered with Sun records recorded at the studio:
We went on a studio tour, which started in an upstairs room filled with artifacts. The tour guide entertained us with the story of the early days of the studio and the record label, complete with several audio clips of famous songs recorded there. And then he took us downstairs into the studio itself.
I wasn't able to get a good picture of the studio. It's a small room, and it was crowded with tourists. I did take a picture of a row of guitars:
...and a piano, the same one played by Jerry Lee Lewis, and featured in the famous Million Dollar Quartet photo:
...and this drum set, which the guide informed us was left behind by U2 drummer Larry Mullen, when the band recorded a few songs there for the "Rattle and Hum" album and movie:
After the tour was over, the guide started some music playing, and invited people to step up to the microphone, the original microphone that so many famous singers had sung into. So of course:
(The guide cautioned us not to kiss the mike.)
After we left the studio, we drove back to Nashville, arriving in time for dinner. We ordered a pizza, which I went and picked up, and spent the evening visiting with Ashley and her friend Nick, who was visiting at the time.
Here's a repeat of yesterday's map, showing the location of Sun Studio:
