Since I've been in California, I've spent most of my earmarked vacation dollars on plane tickets to Colorado Springs to see James, so there hasn't been much in the way of exploring strange new worlds. No complaints though, I love my James!
This past weekend though we roadtripped ourselves from Colorado Springs to Memphis. There is no easy way to get there, it's just 16 hours of driving no matter which way you go. And we drove through the night both ways, since we were traveling with a 7-year old. We figured he would sleep most of the trip (he did).
The point of the trip was so that James could play volleyball in the Italian Fest tournament. He won! I knew my man was good, but I didn't know he was
professional good! It was insanely hot and humid, one of those days Southerners call "normal." I was sweaty and dirty, and I wasn't even playing!
Nathan and I decided to go and scope out some wedding locations. We went to the Hunt-Phelan Inn. It's at 533 Beale Street. Close to downtown, it's an antebellum mansion that has been converted to a bed-and-breakfast. They have 11 rooms available, and decorated in lush antebellum style. The back patio area is perfect for entertaining. And the restaurant is where the posh meet to eat. Perfect for a "Southern Affair"!
We also checked out the Pink Palace museum. Give yourself a few hours on this one. We stopped by there thinking it was another possible location for our wedding ceremony, but one look at the unkempt grass and barren facade told us otherwise. We did take Nathan through the museum though, and he loved the dinosaurs, Civil War displays, and the shrunken head (they give you a recipe for this too). Great for kids!
The Italian Fest itself was just a standard, dusty pseudo-fair. There was a bandstand and tons of booths of retail and food vendors. You use the same tickets for the kids' rides as you do for the food. Don't try to calculate how much you're spending, it's too much. I imagine we'll go there again for future volleyball tournaments, but it's a definite "pass" on my list for the festival itself. The food was questionable, and the rides weren't even rides, just blow up slides and bounce castles. And the stench, ew. I don't think people should be cooking outdoors in 95 degree heat, right next to uncovered trash cans with quickly decomposing garbage. I am not a fan of the Memphis Italian Festival.
We ate a Gus's, a place known for it's fried chicken. The recipe has remained unchanged since 1852. Not really. I'm not sure what the date was, but it's famous. I didn't like it, though. I'm a Popeye's kind of girl myself. And this stuff was the type you could just squeeze and watch the fat drip out. Gross.
On the other hand, Rendezvous was delicious. It's in 1000 Places To See Before You Die. We went with a large group, and they wouldn't seat us until the entire group showed up. This is pretty standard practice in my experience, but some members of our party (James) were upset by this. The service was great and hilarious. Don't expect to be coddled here. When the waiter (working there since 1948!) asked what we'd like to drink, someone said, "What do you recommend?" To which the waiter said, "Oh, don't start." And walked away! Again, complaints in my group, but I thought it was great.
The dry rub ribs were perfect, but I'm no food critic, so I won't get too specific. Add this to your list of things to do in Memphis, though.
We went across the street to The Peabody to see the ducks, and took the elevator to the rooftop to see them. Lovely place, lovely view, a little out of my price range though.
We walked Beale Street on Friday night, but it just seemed like a college bar scene. Apparenly, frat boys like to hang out in the birthplace of the Blues. We didn't spend much time there. James said it's better during the daytime, without all the drunks hanging out.
There is so much to do in Memphis though, just avoid the summer if you're not used to the heat. I'm not, and if it were up to me, I'd never go there again between May and August.
The weekend was July 12-13. They did have a hot air balloon festival that weekend. Great if you've never seen one before, but who hasn't? We did do a dawn horseback ride on Sunday, complete with a real cowboy as our guide. The morning ride was beautiful, especially with the hot air balloons in the background.
