I Love Memphis!!!

I loved Memphis! Driving over the muddy Mississippi, the fragrant smell of BBQ rubbed ribs, the sweltering humidity that sucked all the water right out of my body onto the back of my shirt, Blues in the air, and rock 'n' roll in my shoes. This was the first time we would spend any length of time in a city during our road adventure. We got to our Hotel, the nicest one of the trip, and we all passed out for a little while. I was ready for Memphis though, so I didn’t lounge around long, I got up and walked a couple blocks to see the Pyramid Center before meeting back up with the Jim and Jonathan.

Pryamid on the Left

I walked along the Mississippi and around the Memphis Grizzlies Stadium that resembles a Pyramid. Which makes me sort of wonder why they named the team the Grizzlies? Why didn’t they go with something distinctly Memphis like The Blues (I know it’s already the name of a hockey team), or something uniquely Memphis-Egyptian to go with there Pyramid, like the Memphis Mummies (probably not a good name if you’re team is not doing that well).

Anyways, I went back and met the guys so we could go walk around and check out Beale Street. Jonathan and I lit up our first Cigars bought specifically for this moment. There’s a refreshing aroma when Punch and Memphis humidity are mixed in the air. The downtown part that we walked through was recently redeveloped, or at least it looked that way. We walked through Jefferson Davis park; a very charming tribute to an American Hero. However, there were a lot of men in the park that looked like Confederates that were there in the days during the War of Northern Aggression and were still suffering the consequences. It didn’t seem like they wanted to be bothered by Southern Loving California Yankees, thus we moved along.

10 Commandments

We walked along the mighty Mississippi something I honestly thought I would probably never see in my life time. I’m not sure why I’ve thought that, but anytime I would see it on the news flooding over or picturesque in some movie I would quietly think to myself, “Yeah all probably never get there.” Yet, here I stood walking along Twain’s river. I desperately wanted to jump in and swim around in its muddy banks (actually they looked more rocky than muddy) but I was hesitant being still in my clothes. Though that might not have stopped me if I’d seen people swimming, canoeing, or boating up and down the river, but as far as the eye could see it was barren and lonely. No one was out enjoying this vast river for recreational purposes. Which leads me to ask, can you swim in the Mississippi? Is the current too strong? Is it too filthy? Or was I just at the wrong location to see all the vacationing throngs of people recreating on the water.

We then headed to Beale street the night life of the founding fathers of Blues. What once were the segregated side of the tracks and the heart beat of black music, is now degenerated to a couple city blocks of Tourist trap Blues. Don’t get me wrong; I enjoy a good tourist trap. In fact I have a neon blinking sign over my head when walking around that reads, “I’m a tourist, please trap me and take my money!” In all actuality, besides a couple of novelty stores and well-known Blues artist putting their names on some restaurants, the couple of blocks still has some good bars to hear some Blues. So, really Beale Street is more of a tourist trap for drinkers.

For dinner, we opted to stay close and eat right there on Beale Street. A food decision I have regretted since. Not that it was bad, but I was looking for some distinctly Memphis BBQ. I was told by one of the guys who worked at Sun Studios his favorite Rib joint, but it was night, we were walking, and the place was located in the bad part of town. So I asked someone else who might know good food…a bartender. He gave me two choices for us to ponder. Right next door to his establishment a place on Beale street and the Flying Saucer. We opted to stay close, he insisted it was a good choice and stated that the meat would fall right of the bone. He didn’t lie; The meat was tender and the dry rub was tasty. Overall it actually wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t what I pictured or read about Memphis BBQ. The place had the look and feel of a Johnny Rockets and just seemed too easy to please the big crowds that flocked to Beale Street. I would have much rather eaten at a Mom and Pop place with sticky walls and greasy tables. Plus, no sauce on the Ribs!!! I hear this is what makes Memphis BBQ Unique, but man I need a little sauce! I asked for some sauce anyhow, ready to feel the waiters wrath of indignation, but he was pretty hospitable and brought me out a small cup to spread over the ribs. Nothing like the Whole Hog!

While most of the 20-30 something vacationer crowd found themselves at some loud DJ bar that resembled a bar in TJ, we opted for Silky O'Sullivans. It was a slow night, the crowd was sparse but the music was everything I imagined and made the night completely worth it. The band was made up of a Piano player/singer, drummer, and guitar player all of which had played with every major music artist around the city. The singer was raucous, rockin and raunchy. His scratchy, guttural singing paired well with the foamy, bown ale of a Boddingtons.

On our way back to the Hotel, we noticed another place that looked pretty lively. It was off of Beale Street in the heart of the downtown section. It looked like a place where all the post-college business crowd was gathering after a hard Monday of work. Then we noticed that this was the Flying Saucer where we were told by the Bartender we should get something to eat. This was a much better crowd (because it wasn’t all vacationers, but the regulars) and probably much better food than where we ate. But what got all three of us upset and banging our heads against the table were their unbelievable prices on Import beers. It was half the price as what we were paying on Beale Street (which I suppose shouldn’t be surprising since I just told you that Beale street is the tourist trap for drinkers). If you head out towards Memphis and are looking to have a beer then this should be the place to stop, they have reasonable prices and a good selection of beers.
Outside singing the Blues

Lastly, let me comment on my California laid-backness versus Memphis and the rest of the South on out to the Atlantic. I opted to where my normal unimpressive jeans and preferably dark shirt. Someone, anyone could have left me a message, a memo, a quick email telling me this is not acceptable attire and that I should purchase no less than three to four polo shirts and Dockers if I wanted to fit in with the casual scene. I absolutely could not believe what I was witnessing while people watching at the Flying Saucer, every male in the place had a polo shirt on! I don’t mean a fancy polo shirt, some of them were down right ugly, but they were polo shirts nonetheless. This phenomenon was true just about every city we traveled through. I remember sitting in the oyster bar in Charleston and Jim counting all the men in the place with Polo shirts. We were outnumbered 10 to 1! Why is this the case and why do East coast men love Dockers so much? Someone please explain this weird fascination.