Walking in Memphis

I've been meaning to write about my trip to Memphis with my friend, Rhonda, for a while, but I can never get around to it. We had SUCH a great time!

We left Friday afternoon and headed out through the soybean fields. On Highway 64 that's about all you see once you get past Augusta! We got to Memphis and checked into our hotel with absolutely no problems. The place was great! We stayed at the Hampton Inn right off Beale Street. After we got settled in, it was time to go have some fun!

The first thing we did was head down the the casinos. Rhonda had never been to Tunica, so we felt like it was something she should experience at least once. We went into the Gold Strike (I think) with our $40 and a good attitude. We left about forty minutes later without our $40. You know, it just isn't much fun if you're not winning. Rhonda and I both had better things to spend our money on, like FOOD! We headed into Memphis, parked the car and headed out to The Rendezvous. Their ribs are fabulous, and it's just a Memphis kind of thing to do! As stated in the magazine Southern Living, "There are plenty of good places to get barbecue… but if you only have one chance to eat it, it should be at the Rendezvous." I couldn't agree more!

After stuffing ourselves on ribs, we headed over to the Peabody. This is another "must see" in Memphis. We got lucky enough to find the rooftop patio was open, so we headed up there for some fabulous views of Memphis and the Mississippi River. It sounded like Beale Street was jumping, so we left the Peabody after a little more window shopping in the lobby shops, and headed down to where the music was.

Rhonda had never been to Beale Street, so, of course, we had to walk around for a while! It seems like time stands still in this little portion of the world. There are still little boys and teenagers who do backflips for tips down the middle of the street. There are still lots of people out looking for a great time at the Rum Boogie Cafe or B.B. King's. There are still women who insist on wearing high heeled shoes and short skirts to walk down the brick street. We decided they must be insane. We finally settled on a bench in Handy park and listened to a great band. It was a ton of fun, and we didn't make it back to the hotel until after 2am. That's a late night for old women like us!

The next morning we slept late. I mean really late. We didn't even stir until after noon. I think is was actually closer to two. We went down on Beale to have lunch and then walked down Main Street, where the trolley runs. We took a few minutes to take a peek inside the Madison Hotel and were truly impressed. It was beautiful, and the views from the rooftop patio were almost as good as the ones from the Peabody, if not better.

After all the walking, shopping was in order, so we headed to the Wolfchase Galleria Mall. We didn't stay long there because we were hungry again. Neither one of us had ever been to a fondue restaurant, so we decided to try The Melting Pot. It was AWESOME! I really enjoyed eating there. I can't wait to go back!

Our weekend ended all too soon, and we headed home on Sunday. I think we'd both like to make this an annual trip, if not to Memphis, then where ever the road takes us!