On the Road

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Blues on Beale

For our last nite on Beale Street we decided on BB Kings Blues Club for dinner. When we got there they wanted us to pay a cover charge. What? I wasn't really sure that was appropriate when we were only there for dinner, but we paid it...for the experience of eating at his club.

Oh my word...what we didn't know was that we would actually see a show - duh, the cover charge! Half way thru our dinner a blind man was led on stage and he began an absolutely amazing blues show. His name is Blind Mississippi Morris. He played with BB King, and even recorded with Elivis. We stayed for his whole set and really, really enjoyed it - an amazing and unexpected experience for sure!

So glad we didn't miss this over a silly cover charge.

Elvis Obsession

OK, I'm so not in to Elvis, but this is his home and he is everywhere! It was actually quite amusing to see everything they could think of to put him on. Enjoy!

Bendable & Poseable Elvis

Elvis Nail Files

Elvis Night Pants

The Elvis Bottle Opener

Elvis Toothbrush

An Elvis Light Switch Cover

...and Window Dangler

Beach Towels

and the ever-elegant Elvis Goblets

Memphis in May

The whole purpose of our trip to Memphis was the Memphis in May's World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest - the largest pork barbecue cooking contest on the planet!

The spectacular backdrop for the competition is Tom Lee Park on the banks of the Mississippi River.

The river is actually flooding in Memphis right now so the grounds were quite wet and muddy, and you could actually see the the water outside the bank across the river into West Memphis.

This is serious competition and there are more than 240 teams who are competing for big bucks, bragging rights and some porker trophies.

Their name is also incorporated into the design and decor of their booth. Some booths are all business and others are all over-the-top.

Each team has a unique name. I couldn't believe how many creative ways there were to express something about pigs or pork.

The teams are laid out across the park in sections according to the specialty of what they are cooking - ribs, shoulder, whole hog or patio porkers.

Since there are so many of them you can spend quite a bit of time wandering thru and peeking in at the elaborate booths and various cooking process.

Today was actually the judging day and you could tell everyone was taking it very seriously. When judging starts all the festival music stops and every team is intent and focused.

Every booth include a sizable display of their trophies, I'm assuming in an attempt to intimidate the competition.

Teams are not allowed to serve to the public but there was some excellent barbecue available for purchase. We did not opt for Fried Gator on a stick.

We did have one team slip us two ribs from the same rack they had just packed to present to the judges. We were thrilled and the ribs were amazing!

After judging the top three teams in each division are announced and they then have one hour to present a final portion. At the end of the competition day winner are announced and checks handed out on a huge stage set up in the center of the park.

We did not stay for the final judging but opted to go back to the Westin and watch Rachel Alexandria run the Preakness.

Across from the Westin

In the morning we discovered some incredible building just outside the Westin, including the Gibson Guitar Factory...

Memphis Rock & Soul Museum....

and the Fed Ex Forum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Beale Street Neon

The Lights of Memphis

Two years ago, on our trip around the US, we took a day with Ross and Taya to see a bit of Memphis and find some legendary barbecue. We enjoyed watching the march of the ducks at the Peabody Hotel, a tour of the Cotton Museum, and a Memphis barbecue lunch at the world famous Charlie Vergos Rendezvous.

Gary vowed we would come back someday and really do barbecue in Memphis. His dream - Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.

It is about a 2 hour drive from Little Rock to Memphis and we crossed the Mississippi River into the lights of Memphis at 9:30. As we drove past the competition grounds on the banks of the Mississippi we could actually smell barbecue in the air.

We had a bit of trouble getting to our hotel - the Westin on Beale Street, because all the streets around it were blocked off by police for a street festival. We finally were instructed by them to drive over curbs to get there.
We are actually a block from all the Beale Street action. We checking into our room and then walked over to see what it was all about.

The streets were crammed with people enjoying blues being playing in several different locations. What fun to experience a bit of the local culture.

Not gonna lie...it was a party.

Flying Fish

Before we drive on the Memphis we had dinner with the kids. Ross and Taya suggested the Flying Fish Company - a Little Rock classic that we have never been to before. It was a great choice and a perfect start to our adventures in the South.

There was a line from the order counter to the door so we knew the food had to be great. Basically the decor is hysterical - described as "jumbled miscellany". It celebrates fish with no less than a wall full of those singing Billy Bass plaques, and the motto "We catch and release (into really hot grease)" How great is that!

They are big on catfish down here so that is the specialty - in fact it was all-you-can-eat catfish Thursday. Gary did enjoy a catfish fillet, but the rest of us experienced other deep fried delectable such as shrimp, chicken and traditional hush puppies.

Ross had the most interesting dish - a whole fish deep fried on his plate - a very dramatic presentation I must say. There's just something about deep fried eyes staring at you.

And yes, silverware was included with our meal.

Isaiah enjoyed the fries in the bow of his boat!

When we left the line was out on the street. The Flying Fish is a Little Rock hot spot to be sure!

After dinner we left them and drove on to Memphis for a few days to take in a major event and a Gary dream - Memphis in May!

Finally to Little Rock

Gary and I are so excited to finally travel to Little Rock. We had to cancel our trip last November to care for Taryn after her accident.

We left Thursday late afternoon staying at a hotel near the airport where we could park our vehicle and get some sleep before catching our Friday early morning flight.

We are flying with American Airlines this trip and I must say I have not been very impressed. They really, really dinged us when we re-booked - to the tune of $340 - and then charged us $15 per checked bag. That's so not cool.

We flew thru Dallas and had about an hour there before catching a flight on to Little Rock. We were delayed for an extra hour and they had us tromp to three different gates before we finally left.

After landing in Little Rock our plane was held up for another 35 minutes while we waited for a plane to leave our gate.

We had been up since 4:30 am so we were feeling a bit rumpled when we got to Little Rock. But all of that was quickly forgotten when we saw Taya, Ross, Isaiah and Elijah! We were nothing but thrilled!