The Wes Paul Band Arrive at the Court Square Apartment 

The Apartment was a dream and we set about exploring the various rooms.

I sat by the window and took in a fantastic view of Main Street and The Mississippi River. We then started photographing the aprtment so that y'all could see some nice piccy's just in case you may want to book in if you ever come to Memphis...

We set off to the apartment - on the wrong side of the road - lol. I was never looking forward to this and must admit I was a bit frightened of driving on the right hand side of the road - I had been pensive for weeks before the trip.

We passed not far from Graceland which was pretty exciting and sent a slight shiver down my spine. The SatNav we had purchased on line was an absolute boon and was to serve us well throughout our 25 day tour.

It was about 12 miles to the Hotel in Main Street but the journey was so enjoyable (Becky says it wasn't and that it was wrought with tension) by the time we reached the hotel I had a pretty good handle on the use of the car - I only drove on the wrong side a few times.

On arrival at the apartment Becky went to check out the check in procedure whilst I parked in Jefferson. We were able temporarily to park outside the building (The Court Square Centre) whilst we unloaded all our kit. We met Della our host and paid $1000 for our rent for the week and the security guy took us to the private car park.

This was our first encounter with the amazing civility of the people of Memphis they were so polite it was unbelievable.

We took the lift to seventh floor and entered our fabulous apartment. Living Room/Kitchen area, a long corridor led to our huge en suite bedroom at the end and on the way was Paul's bedroom, a spare bathroom, a utility room with washing machine and drier.

Next step was something to eat. Preferably vegetarian. Back on Main we checked our whereabouts and decided to go left...

A little while later and a few false turns we noticed Huey's so we decided to go in and try a beer and a bite to eat.

This was Huey's downtown and we were playing in Huey's Mid Town in a few days... The quiz had just finished and folks were chatting away...

Becky and Wes had a Huey's Veggie Burger and Paul had a classic burger - we shared a pitcher of Bud and got chatting to the locals...

As we needed to be up early the next morning for some sight-seeing we headed back to the apartment...

Next day (Tuesday 26th) up at 8:00 to go shopping. On the corner of the next block we went to a couple of convenience stores - 'Easy Way' and 'Jack's' - we had been told to watch the prices at 'Jacks' which was mainly a beer joint... (you can't buy liquor in a beer store in Tennessee) our main hit was at 'Easy Way' which was a new shopping experience. Different types of food than the UK - some of our usual things were on display and some were a little strange.

We bought eggs, milk, bread, cheese, pasta and some pasta sauces, sweet potatoes, various fresh vegatables and salad materials, salad dressings and so on... No tea!!! They drink lots of ice tea in the South - its sort of traditional... However there was a bit of coffee in the apartment so we made do... 

Right guys back to Jack's for some alcoholic drinks and cokes...

At 12:00 noon we met up with our drummer Jason Vawter who took us to Memphis Independent Studios for our rehearsal/recording session (five hours)

Next - Memphis Independent