Walkin' in Memphis.

January 5, 2016

                

We chose Memphis as our first destination on the way to Santa Fe via Route 66 and Amarillo, Texas.  Doug drove for 7 hours on a long, lonely highway and we were getting ready to stop so we started calling ahead for a hotel.  Disaster.  Securing a pet-friendly hotel has never been an issue. Suddenly, having a really big dog had become a really big deal.  "No dogs over 40 lbs", "Sorry, no dogs over 60 lbs".  We booked a La Quinta and pulled in, only to learn at check-in that they too had weight restrictions.  Multiple more calls.  No room at the Inn.  No room for a dog over blah blah lbs.  Alas, the perils of traveling with an XXL canine.  Then Doug found a La Quinta near where we wanted to be. Yes, they accept dogs.  They didn't ask the dog's weight and we didn't tell.  Zu never makes a peep, just curls up on her bed and chills out.  There, guilty feeling alleviated.  We'd been on the road for 11 hours and we were knackered. I was seriously wondering if we were going to have to sleep in the car!  We grabbed a bite to eat and fell asleep in a heap.  

Snow fell upon the city and the area during the night, about 3/4" of fine white stuf that virtually crippled the city. Almost nobody has snow tires on their cars and the city has only a meager fleet of snow plows and sanding trucks.  Schools and all events were canceled and multiple accidents happened on highways and in town. Skidding cars flipped over on the side of the road and there were many many collisions.  The news advised everyone to stay home. So we did. Doug was glad to catch up on work at the hotel and when the sun came out just after noon we drove into the city and walked around the Beale Street neighborhood, which consists of a few blocks of bars and music venues, cordoned off for foot traffic only.

There were only a few people on the street, 

mostly crazy tourists like us who are not deterred by icy sidewalks.

We wanted to meet some locals so we stopped in here 

for an afternoon drink.  Friendly folk.  Great energy.

We picked up a couple of souvenirs here:

It felt surreal to have this famous street, the birthplace of many  fine musician's careers, all to ourselves.  

We stopped for lunch at Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken because it's supposed to be the best fried chicken in town.  More like the best fried chicken on the planet.  Lightly breaded and not greasy, it is unbelievably scrumptious.  You'll just have to take my word for it.  We don't usually eat fried foods but this was well worth jumping off the health wagon.  When in Rome ....

BEST.FRIED.CHICKEN.EVER.

Don't be scared off by the humble exterior.

The place was packed with people from every walk of life.  

And everybody was smiling.

After a very late lunch, we drove by Graceland, home of Elvis Presley.  It's closer to a main road than we thought and we felt sad that within the view from Graceland's front gates, you could see Taco Bell and other fast food chain restaurants and tacky gift shops. Marlowe's, a nearby BBQ restaurant was a favorite of Elvis:

Walkin' in Memphis.  

What a fun way to spend a chilly January day.

#Graceland, #Memphis, #BealeStreet, #BBKing'sBluesClub, #BBKing'sCompanyStore, #Marlowe'sBBQMemphis