Memphis is AWESOME. If you take anything away from this entry, know that.
We're out of Mississippi, and into Tennessee, staying in Memphis before we turn East to Shiloh tomorrow. And in contrast to Charleston, Memphis is a proper city, with buildings taller than 10 floors, a major league professional sports franchise, and one hell of a nightlife.
Anyway, we left Vicksburg this morning and headed North, queuing up the O Brother, Where Art Thou? Soundtrack as we headed past Yazoo City and Indianola, as most of the movie takes place in Northwest Mississippi. Honestly from the road most of the state still looks like it did in 1937, and I was glad that we had a full tank of gas. I also remarked that unlike the other states we've been in, it was a struggle to see non-Mississippi plates while in Mississippi. It's not that we didn't see any; there were some Alabama and Louisiana plates in Vicksburg, and some Tennessee and Missouri plates up North, but the vast majority of plates were just from Mississippi. Not to be snide, but I think it's just that not a lot of people visit Mississippi. It's still the poorest state in the Union, and the number of trailers we saw on the road was equaled only by the number of abandoned or foreclosed houses. Sorry to say again that Mississippi didn't dispel any ideas I had about it before I arrived. Every other state we've visited has shattered my pre-conceived notions otherwise.
Though it's not quite fair to say I only had pre-conceived notions about Tennessee. My mom was born and raised outside of Knoxville in east Tennessee, and while East and West Tennessee are VERY different, it was odd how much more at home and at ease I felt immediately after we crossed into the Volunteer State. And that was before we'd even reached Memphis.
Coming from someone that doesn't know much about the Blues, or BBQ, Memphis makes me wish I did. The whole city smells delicious, as scents from all the restaurants waft everywhere. Even the hot and stagnant parking garage where we put the Prius smelled like pork. We visited the home of WC Handy, who apparently invented the Blues, as well as the Cotton Museum, housed in the Memphis Cotton Exchange, which is a gorgeous turn-of-the-century building demonstrating the place of cotton in Southern life past and present.
Unfortunately we missed a Memphis tradition by a matter of minutes, when we went into the Peabody Hotel to watch the Duck Parade. The hotel has a fountain in its lobby where they've had ducks for like 100 years, and every morning and evening an impressively-dressed doorman (think Sid Caesar) escorts them too and from the fountain. We had multiple recommendations to see the parade from my brother Scott, my uncle Joe, and our friend Liz, but alas, we arrived right as they were rolling the red carpet back up. Next time, I guess. We also went to Beale Street for dinner, where I had the most delicious pulled pork sandwich I've had in my entire life. Oh, also, there's no open container law on Beale Street, so I was able to get my beer to go, and later order both a local brew made with pecans from a walkthrough bar window, as well as a Dr Pepper in a glass bottle, made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Both were unfairly tasty.
There was also live music in every restaurant and bar up and down the street, which ran the gamut from traditional BBQ to Cajun to Creole. Seriously, I want to come back, preferably in the winter so I can enjoy 65 degree heat instead of 100 degree heat, and so I can go to a Memphis Grizzlies NBA game, since their arena is right on Beale Street too. I can only imagine the pre and post-game scene.
But really, other than our jaunt downtown during the evening, I don't have much to report. We're both looking forward to Shiloh tomorrow since it's the biggest battle we both don't know much about, and I'm excited for Amanda to see more of Tennessee, since part of my family's history is here and I'm hoping she likes it. But once again it's getting late, and if I'm to be chipper for the drive tomorrow, I should probably pack it in. G'night!
-M
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