Memphis
"Put on my blue suede shoes and I boarded the plane. Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues in the middle of the pouring rain.W.C. Handy -- won't you look down over me. Yeah I got a first class ticket, but I'm as blue as a boy can be. Then I'm walking in Memphis - walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale. Walking in Memphis, but do I really feel the way I feel!" Thank you Marc Cohn! Celebrating my promotion at work, Rich and I decided to meet up in Memphis, Tennessee! Above is a picture of downtown Memphis from Peabody Place.
So what's there to do in Tennessee. Hmmm, well I figured if we're in the Mid-South I better enjoy some of the common activities! That's right Day 1 we hit a gun range. Rich, Mike, and I shot .40 cal glock and a .45 glock, also shot a .40 USP. You just walk in, sign a form and off you go. I have to say you can never anticipate the power of a pistol. Above we're shooting at the mini circle targets at about 20 feet.
Everyone I asked about Memphis said you have to experience the Peabody Ducks at the finest hotel in town - The Peabody Hotel. Basically there is the "Duckmeister" who is a guy dressed in a cape, cane, etc and he picks a kid from the audience to assist him in "bringing the ducks down the elevator". At 10am they leave the elevator (on a red carpet) and run to their fountain! At 5pm they hear music that leads them from the fountain back to the elevator to their private suite. All hail the critters!!
After we warmed up at the gun range we kept up the manly
day with some paintball. This was worth every penny. The place had many
courses (Ground Zero, Wild West, Jungle, etc). At the start of the Ground
Zero Round, I layed a long line of surpressing fire to get Mike and Rich,
deep into enemy terrority. Near the end, I ran out of paintballs, so I ran
over to Rich's position and got a quick refill (the kid barely ever shoots!).
He then kept our lone enemy occupied, while I manuvered around our targets'
flank, where I layed 5 rounds into this guy from 10 feet away!!! so much
fun. The only thing better was when Mike got hit, ran off the field, but
left his gun for me. I went Rambo style running around the course with 2
guns!
How many times did we try to see the Memphis Redbirds (St. Louis Cardinals AAA baseball team)?!! Our very own Carol works in Memphis and we met up my first night for ribs and Beale street (more about those later). Well my Monday tickets were rained out. Then I exchanged for Tuesday's game vs. Nashville and it got called for an "unplayable field condition" (yes after we were let inside the park). And what's this about no refunds for out of towners! booo! (Carol why don't you take DeAngelo Williams to a game?) Hurricane Katrina rolled just east of us and we only experienced 40 mph winds and a few inches of rain. Our thoughts were with those in AL, MS and LA.
Memphis is on the border of Mississippi and Arkansas. So during the "gun" evening, Rich, Mike and I headed due South to Tunica, MS and gambling heaven for the locals. We stopped at the Horseshoe casino, played some slots and roulette. We kinda scammed the casino by getting new membership cards and playing a few dollars only to get a comped meal at the grill (Yummy Mississippi Mud Pie).
THE PYRAMID! What a great sight to see in downtown Memphis. This 32-story pyramid brings a taste of Eygpt to downtown! It used to house basketball games before The FedEx Forum was created. After this we cruised over to West Memphis, Arkansas. Who can ever forget seeing signs for "Tom Saywer's RV Park straight ahead". Ah the joys of exploring.
My first night Carol and I visited downtown and went to the famous Rendezvous Ribs restaurant. Wow, what sceneary and I have to say I like dry ribs better.. (I had wet ribs at Corky's Tuesday. Picture of me devouring a full slab of ribs upon request!). Service was slow, but we got to catch up on each other's lives. Then we went to Beale street and the Rum Boogie Cafe. Listened to some Blues / Jazz music and had some drinks.
Since I was aware Carol worked at the Univeristy of Memphis, but not certain which department, Rich and I departed to play "Where's Carol". You'd think calling her would be the right move here, but no, that would ruin the surprise! hehe I start talking with the football team Mom about tutoring and things of that nature. "Carol, I don't know a Carol, what does she look like, do you have any more info on what she does?" I really didn't. Well somehow during our conversation, I mentioned she had curly hair - and no joke - the lady then was like "Yes I know Carol" and I found her! GOT YA!
If you go to Memphis you have to visit Graceland. You just do. We toured Elvis's mansion (jungle room, pool room, racquetball court, awards, records, etc). Learned a lot about the King! Here's a picture of his burial site. Not two weeks ago was the anniversary of "the day he died", so they decorated it with flowers.
View from Hotel downtown (20th floor). Remember all those times walking on Riverside and Main street?!!
Artillery in Confederate Park overlooking the Mississippi River and Interstate 40, Rt 55. Fun times included Mudd Island, (the "club" in MS after gambing), and just college nights chatting the night away! :)