Memphis, Part Two
One of the reasons that Cindy chose to spend her birthday in
Memphis was geographic. She had not been
to Arkansas or Mississippi and wanted to check them off of her US States-Visited
list. To this end, we rented a car for a
day so that we could do some touring along the Mississippi. We headed over the river and into Arkansas
and ended up in Marion, a small town that we felt was a good place to turn
around. I stopped the car in the
enormous parking lot of a fundamentalist church and Cindy got out, did a little
Arkansas Two Step, and that was it for Arkansas. Fifteen minutes later we were heading back
over the river into Tennessee … ”We're goin' to Graceland.”
Now I had no intention of actually going to visit Graceland, but I sure did
want to see what all the fuss was about - and sugar, I can tell you there was a
big fuss going on there. We cruised
slowly, the only way to cruise given the traffic, past several of the airplanes
that Elvis owned, and traffic stopped us right in front of the ticket office
where there were lines with hundreds and hundreds of the Elvis faithful waiting
to hand over their money in exchange for the chance to be closer to their
idol. Everything surrounding Graceland
is pure American crap, from the cheap fast food to the endless strip malls, all
there to capture the residue of money left over from the tourists. We finally found a place to turn around and
headed back to Route 55, past the actual house and famous gate of Graceland. We
had seen enough and soon we were speeding our way south, tumbling towards
Mississippi.
It took about ninety minutes to reach Oxford and I must say,
the trip was far more enjoyable than I had anticipated. The countryside of northern Mississippi is
quite lovely, with rolling hills, lots of rivers and lakes, and clean as a
whistle. Oxford, home to the
University of Mississippi aka Ole Miss, is a lovely old college town with grand
homes, big lawns, historic buildings and a famous Square (that’s what they call
it, The Square) surrounded by shops, bars and restaurants. We parked and walked around for a while
before settling into a quaint little bar for a glass of wine. Then we walked some more and found a really
good little rib joint where we split one rib lunch which consisted of five
ribs, two little plastic cups, one with beans and one with slaw, and a piece of
pan grilled white bread all served on a paper plate with plastic ware. Accompanying this was the biggest glass of
water I had ever seen. It was all really
delicious so we pushed our luck and had a wedge of Key Lime Pie, which was
delightful. There was lots of local
color, which was nice since it was the only color other than white that we saw
in the entire two-hour visit to Oxford.
We exited Oxford via the campus of Ole Miss, which is truly gorgeous,
and Cindy found a cool shortcut back to Memphis which was ever so much more
beautiful than the highway.
As we were approaching Memphis we decided to stop at the Memphis Botanic Garden so that
we could visit the Asian and Japanese Gardens.
We lingered there for a few hours and truly enjoyed the peace and quiet
of the sprawling grounds, all of which were well tended and well marked. The extensive hosta gardens were especially
nice (and in the shade), and we were pleased to note that the exhibits about
dinosaurs and fossils had historically accurate dates! I consider the garden to
be a museum so that was three in two days, if you are counting. We got back to the Avis lot at about six and
left the car in the lot and started walking back to the hotel but we got sucked
into The Brass Door yet again, and had a great conversation with Scott the chef
and two glasses of well deserved Sauvignon Blanc. It was recommended that we dine that night at
Pearl’s Oyster House since we
had asked where the best oysters were served.
Goodness, we were well advised!
We got there and were directed to a little elevated table for two near
the bar and proceeded to have a dozen Eastern Oysters on the half shell with
fresh lemons and cocktail sauce, followed by six grilled oysters that had a bit
of a kick to them and ending with six Oysters Rockefeller which were heavenly
and made for a great pairing with our Italian wine. It was truly a full and fun day.
On the seventh day we rested - and by rested, I mean we only
did one museum - but it was a beauty.
Every Memphian you talk to will tell you that the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame should have been in Memphis, but the fix was in and Cleveland landed the
gig. So, not to be outdone, Memphis put
together the Rock and Soul Hall of
Fame, which is a marvel of interactive history. After a brief video, which is very well done,
you are free to wander around with a set of headphones and a controller that
allows you to enter the number of the exhibit you want to listen to. At almost every exhibit there is a jukebox of
the era, which allows you to listen to all of the songs of the day. You could
spend hours and hours just rocking ‘round the clock. We had a ball and were dancing our way out of
the museum when we realized we hadn’t had lunch and it was getting late. We went back to The Brass Door where we
shared a sandwich and had a lovely time with the staff before continuing our
walk around Memphis.
Monday was a working morning - we each had Skype or phone
connection we had to take care of - but as soon as it was all over, we headed
out for a long, long walk along the river. It was beastly hot and humid but
there was a bit of a breeze and we enjoyed the solitude. At about two, we
needed a refreshment break and headed back to The Pearl Oyster House, where
much to our surprise they had a special lunch deal of a dozen oysters for ten
bucks. What a treat. That night we had a drink at the top of the
Madison Hotel, which afforded spectacular views from their deck bar. At the recommendation
of the folks at The Brass Door we went to a little Italian place that offered
half-priced bottles of wine and pizza on Mondays, which drew in the multitudes.
We were seated next to a table of seven
women, all of them looking like models, who were celebrating one of their
birthdays. They attracted the young and not-so-young men at the bar like bees
to honey and the interactions were just wonderful to observe. It was obvious
that they were rather used to the attention and they handled it with
aplomb. They were having a wonderful
time and their laughter was infectious.
As we left we wished the birthday girl our best wishes and I mentioned
that the next day was Cindy’s birthday and they all immediately began to
serenade Cindy. A grand ending to a
grand day.
Cindy’s birthday broke clear and dry and after our run/walk
we repaired to a little espresso bar we had found a few days earlier. We then got ready for our 10:30 departure for
the Peabody Hotel
where we were going to watch the famous March of the Ducks. We found a prize spot on the Mezzanine of the
hotel’s lobby right above the fountain where the ducks would eventually spend
the rest of the day. There was a long
and well-done introduction/history of this event by the Duck Master of the
hotel and soon all eyes were riveted on the elevator that the ducks used in
order to travel down from their pens on the roof. Right on cue, at the stroke of eleven, the
doors opened and the four ducks quickly waddled their way across the Red
Carpet, into lobby and up to the fountain.
It was delightful. If you go to
Memphis and you want to eat duck, it is available almost everywhere except at the Peabody.
Cindy had an appointment to get her hair braided and we
decided to meet at The Brass Door when she was done. It was a good braid, but didn’t last for more
than two days, but for her birthday it was spectacular. We made arrangements to
meet David and Lauren (the couple we got to know who work at The Brass Door) at
McEwen’s for drinks before our dinner - and at about eight Cindy and I settled
in for a lovely b-day dinner, which lasted a couple of hours.
Our last day in Memphis was an early and busy one. Up at
seven, in the cab at eight thirty and wheels up at ten thirty for Atlanta with
a tight connection to Dulles. On our flights we reflected with great fondness
about our experience in Memphis and the Mid-South (as they like to say – we’re
not quite sure of the boundaries of the “mid” south). The Memphians are genuinely proud of their
city and it shows in every aspect of every interaction. We decided that they are truly justified in
their pride.
Best wishes, Cindy and Wm
