Tag: memphis

“Up in Memphis the music’s like a heatwave. White lightning, bound to drive you wild.” — Alannah Myles

On By HanneIn Food, TravelLeave a comment

After what seemed like a whirlwind of adventure to get to New Orleans it was time to head north. Nashville is about 530 miles north and a little east of New Orleans, which translates to about 8 hours. I wanted an early start to the day as I had plans to stop in Birmingham, AL to stop at the Civil Rights Institute which was open from 1-5pm. By the time I was on the road (after a detour to drive through the Garden District, and to swing by Starbucks) it was close to 9am.

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I got to within 23 miles of the Institute when I hit some stormy weather. No tornado warnings, just a total downpour. I ended up exiting the freeway to wait it out in a CVS parking lot because I couldn’t see and the amount of water on the roadway was incredible. Very thankful for those new tires because I was certain I was going to skid off the road at one point. I didn’t arrive at the Institute until nearly 3pm, but it was absolutely worth finding my way downtown for. Because it’s free on Sundays the place was packed and we had to go inside in groups so that they could space everyone a little bit. Also because the A/C was having a hard time keeping up with all the people in there and it was a little too hot in some areas. It was very eye opening disappointing in a way. To see how far we HAVEN’T come in the past 60 or so years is, well, sad. AMERICA, PULL YOUR SHIT TOGETHER.

I wanted to grab a late lunch in Birmingham, but my radar showed a massive front headed toward Nashville (3hrs north) that had already caused problems in Memphis and had flood watches popping up all over central Tennessee.

I skipped lunch and headed North, watching as the storm clouds rolled in… and then nothing. I had about ten minutes of a sprinkle of rain and that was it. Nothing every materialized and I watched the dark clouds just roll on by. Damnit. My dinner (some diner near my hotel) was mediocre in comparison to the few places I had sought out in Birmingham. Oh well, I was able to get a pretty long, decent nights sleep.

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Rockin’ on the front porch.

The following morning I started off with a visit to the Belle Meade Plantation. What caught my attention about this place is it’s influence on the American Thoroughbred. I had *THE* best guide who led the tour of the house (no pics allowed inside, boo). He wove together the family history of FIVE generations who all seemed to be named the same, state history of Tennessee, slavery and the civil war as well as all this equestrian history. And it all comes down to this one horse I’d never heard of: Bonnie Scotland. I don’t remember the exact number, but something like 120 of the 143 Kentucky Derby winners can be traced back to this horse. Man O’War, War Admiral, Seattle Slew, California Chrome, Secretariat, etc.

So I spent a little longer touring the house, the carriage barns, the stable, etc, because it IMG_9742was 11am before I even hit the gift shop (and I’m not leaving without touring the gift shop). From there I headed to Downtown Nashville and circled FOREVER before spending a small fortune on parking. My plan was to tour the Ryman auditorium and then hit the Johnny Cash museum. Unfortunately, the Ryman was packed, so I just hit the Johnny Cash museum before my three hour drive West to Memphis.

Aside from the ridiculous amount of road work, it was a pretty easy drive. I detoured

slightly to drive through Loretta Lynn’s Ranch which is everything and nothing. When you first turn in there is an office for the campground/RV park, signs to a pool and arcade. You then drive past concert grounds, a motorcross… place (who knew she was into that?) before arriving at a gift shop and museum and place for horse rides, plus what looks like a private residence. In any case, the museum was closed (A/C broke). I let my GPS guide me back toward the highway and it took me on a long, narrow gravel road in the middle of nowhere for miles. At one point I almost turned around, but when I zoomed out on the GPS I saw it did know what it was doing.

And now, I’m in Memphis.

IMG_9780Because I’ve just got one day here, I stuck to Beale St., the Peabody ducks and a few of my favorite places to eat. But I feel like the next time I’m here, it’s time to discover a new part of town. I was a little let down by the hotel this year (the room is fine, the bed comfy) but the staff has been cold and unwelcoming which is a complete turn around from the last several times I’ve stayed here. For the past several years this has been hands down, one of my most favorite places to visit. And this time, just a standard hotel within walking distance of one of my fav. places to booze it up.

Speaking of, one of my absolute favorite places in Memphis is the Kooky Canuck. A

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Flying Moose: Melon, citrus vodka, raspberry rum, sour and mist. 

Canadian restaurant. But the drinks here are amazing. As are their fried green tomatoes and fried pickles – both of which are pretty much life. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Thick cut, juicy with just enough breading to keep things interesting, but not get gross.

Tomorrow I head further west to Oklahoma City. It’s about 7 hours (direct on I-40). It’ll be interesting to approach from the other direction, but I doubt I’ll need my GPS. I have a full day scheduled for the following day visiting my favorite shops, driving through a specific neighborhood in Moore that I’ve toured every year since the tornado. It’s been interesting to see how everything just slowly comes back together. And of course a martini at my favorite bar, Flint.

Ciao!

brb, Memphis kitchen calling!

On By HanneIn Food, Travel1 Comment

Before this latest trip to Memphis, I had never tried friend green tomatoes.  Funny enough, the first place I tried them was a Canadian bar/restaurant called The Kooky Canuckphoto 3. Not exactly your soul food restaurant. Unless you’re Canadian and poutine is your comfort food. 😉

I was at the Redmond market yesterday and surprise one of the stalls had green tomatoes – not some heirloom variety (you can find those at whole foods) but legit GREEN tomatoes. I picked up a couple and tonight decided to fry them up. I’ve never made them before, never even fried anything before, so it was a but of an unknown going into it.

I found a basic recipe here and picked up the rest of the supplies at Whole Foods. Frying things at 9pm probably isn’t the greatest idea I’ve had, but the results were worth it.

Step 1: Make sure you’ve got an assistant. Mine had four legs, quite a bit of fluff and eagerly accepted the bits of red tomato I offered. But soon gave up to watch me from her bed.

Step 2: Measure everything out, mix the milk and eggs, the breadcrumbs and cornmeal, salt and pepper.

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Step 3: Dip sliced ‘maters in flour, milk mixture, and then into the breadcrumb/cornmeal mix

Step 4: Fry that shit up! I used canola oil. Medium’ish heat – don’t want it too hot because the outside burns before the inside becomes tender (but no mush).

Step 5: Drain, dip in sauce (ranch in this case) & enjoy!

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I think the cornmeal was a little too course. I fried a few firm red tomato slices as well and left out the cornmeal – those turned out great too. But I think it’s a fine line of being firm’ish and turning into mush. I also threw in a few walla walla sweet onion rings as well. Again, for never having fried anything they turned out pretty tasty.

 

“Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues…” Mark Cohn

On By HanneIn TravelLeave a comment

Oh man…

For as much as I bitch and moan about the ridiculous heat, high humidity and sketchy liquor stores down dirty side streets because you can’t buy wine at a grocery store – I really love this place.

I know I mostly get the ‘tourist’ view of life in Memphis. While poverty is a big issue here, there is enough police

This place should be hoppin' with tourists and locals alike!
This place should be hoppin’ with tourists and locals alike!

presence that the general area around Beale st. feels very safe. You’re not completely sheltered from the homeless, but even turning them down when they request a few bucks, they wish you a blessed day. It’s sad to walk along main st. It’s tucked between tall, old buildings and the combination of those buildings and some trees keeps the pedestrian area pretty shaded. There are a few bars, cafes dotted along the way, but the majority of the shop fronts are closed, boarded up and unused. There is a trolly (that I didn’t see) that runs down the center of the street and no cars can drive down. It’s a fantastic space and greatly reminds me of Strøget in Copenhagen. But with Beale st. getting the majority of the tourism, no one really ventures a few blocks over. It seems like it’s a vicious cycle, money is needed to get the cafes, shops off the ground, but it’s also needed to keep them going. And it would be hard to pull tourists off historic Beale st., so attracting locals would be their number one draw. But with poverty levels nearly twice that of Seattle (28.3% vs. 15% – for 2012) I don’t know where they would start. That one day, when I win the mega millions… you know what city I’ll be adopting.

But other than the heat/humidity, I have had a fantastic time. The locals that I’ve talked to have found it amusing at my dislike of the heat, saying, “honey, our summer weather hasn’t really started yet.” Which I find horrible funny that 92F (and the app saying it feels like 102F) isn’t summer weather – that’s a damn heat-wave! Apparently once it hits 100F the electric company won’t switch of your electricity even if you haven’t paid, so you can keep cool and survive the summer months.

Hotel staff have been exceptional (even granting me super late check out so I don’t have to wait half a day at the airport with my suitcase). I’ve been able to catch up on some much needed sleep (10-12 hours a night) and they’ve let me be with my ‘privacy please’ sign hanging on my door. I heard the house-keeping lady across the hall and requested an extra roll of TP – we chatted for a couple of minutes and I returned to my room with a smile on my face. Everyone is just so friendly! This is my fourth stay in the past five years, and although staying across the street at the Peabody has become more and more affordable (only a $20 difference last year when I booked), I still choose to stay here at the Holiday Inn. I called to make my reservation and they knocked a big chunk off the nightly cost (enough that staying four nights was the same as what I would have paid staying three if I had booked online). Plus, you can’t see the big Peabody sign from your window if you’re staying there.

Mississippi river: too thick to drink, too thin to plow
Mississippi river: too thick to drink, too thin to plow

Yesterday I took a 90 minute riverboat trip aboard the Island Queen. We sailed down and back up a small section of the Mississippi river. The tour guide was funny and shared lots of interesting information about the river, Memphis and Mark Twain. There wasn’t much to see – you don’t go very far, and the Arkansas side is pretty much all trees, but it was a welcome break from the heat (the inside had A/C) and the tour guide made it worth it. I know there are longer cruises you can go on and I’ve now set my sights on one day sailing from St. Louis to New Orleans on an 8 day cruise. It’s pretty pricey ($4000+), but I imagine it would be a great time.

 

I guess it’s time to close down, finish packing and head to the airport.

Memphis… until next time.

 

 

 

n’awlins…

On By HanneIn Stress, TravelLeave a comment

Wow, what an experience.

We rolled into New Orleans around 11pm after a slow start in OKC. The drive was long, but the weather was perfect after all the Tornado drama. We pulled into the parking garage beside our hotel (located in an awesome part of the French Quarter on St. Ann. Opening the door was a bit of a slap in the face as far as heat/humidity are concerned. Check in was smooth and we were taken through a maze of a courtyard to our room.courtyard

Oh my Lord. Love.

The Place was beautiful. With a small pool, fountain with goldfish and big, green plants everywhere! I could’ve spent a whole week relaxing in the courtyard (in the cooler hours) and never left the hotel. We crashed pretty quick in the comfort of the chilled room. I think our hotel offered breakfast, but we ended up at Stanley for breakfast. Not a huge place, but super simple/delicious items on the menu. Much of Monday was spent in/out of shops, grabbing a bite to eat and shopping again. By 3pm we headed back to wait out the hottest part of the day and then hit the streets again around 7. We grabbed dinner and then headed to a bar called ‘Port of Call’ for a Monsoon. From there we found Bourbon St. and wandered a bit until we found a fun bar and parked there. Knowing we had to be out the door early, we started early and were back before mid-night.

IMG_6961Tuesday we hit the road by 8:30 and drove 30’ish miles to Jean Lafitte for an airboat adventure. Again, it was ridiculously hot/humid even by 9:30. We went out on a boat with about 12 people, plus our guide James. He was pretty funny and took us around, pointing stuff/alligators out. He got out and hand fed one named Vicky that he’s been working with ‘for years’. We moved on and were cruising along when suddenly we’re slowing and he’s asking me to get up (Cait and I were on either side of him). I jumped up and turn to see that there is smoke coming from the engine in the back.

The boat overheated.

So we sat. And waited.

It took about 30 minutes for the ‘rescue’ boat to come. James switched with us and the other guy towed the original boat back. We lost out on a good chunk of time, IMG_6969but James took us to this closed off area. He killed the motor and suddenly all these gators are swimming toward the boat (these gators know the sounds of the boats and come quick for treats). He’s feeding them and talking about size and suddenly goes…. “okay, who wants to touch one? I’m not suppose to let you, but I gotta make it up to you.” Cait and I nearly fell from the boat, we were so excited. Basically he brought them in close and then as they turned to swim along side the air-boat, we could reach down and pet behind their eyes. So cool. I touched a wild alligator. Life changing. Such a powerful creature.

Afterward we headed back to the hotel, grabbed lunch and hit up a few museums before retreating to the cool of our room for a few hours. The museum exhibit about hurricane Kartrina was so sad. And the huge screen playing clips from the storm with the added fans to have wind was a bit… off putting after the storm we’d been through. Pretty sad at how much damage was done, but also how everything was handled.

Dinner was at the gumbo shop and then we wandered a bit before heading home to get stuff ready for this morning. We were able to sleep in a bit (8:30), have a easy breakfast and then headed up toward Memphis by 10am. We made a new friend with the woman that helped bring our bags to the car. She talked a bit about her experience in Katrina and because of it, her family photos, deed to her house, etc are kept in her car. As much as I loved the city, I couldn’t live in fear like that.

We had a short drive today – only 6hours. The drive was fine until we were about 2 hours from Memphis. We hit a massive lightning storm with rain so hard that we couldn’t see more than 30 feet in front of us. We crawled along I-55 at 35-40mph for a bit before it let up. I pretty much just white-knuckled through and Cait sat perfectly still staring out ahead. Needless to say, we skipped ‘Eye of the Tiger’ on the playlist.

We hit Memphis around 5:15. It’s the same hotel that I’ve stayed at the previous two times I’ve been here. I absolutely love it. It’s right downtown, easy access to Beale, and major highways and I *know* the area. We grabbed dinner and drinks at the Kooky Kanuck and then wandered Beale for a bit before coming back to our hotel so Cait could pack her purchases (I’ve got to drop her at the airport at 5:30am). We were relaxing when suddenly we hear something outside. We weren’t sure what it was, so I jokingly commented that, with our luck, it was a tornado siren. Joke is on me, because the dark clouds rolled in with thunder/lightning and surprise (!!) it was a tornado siren. It only lasted maybe 20 minutes and the hotel staff said they weren’t concerned – we’d get a call to our room if we needed to hit the basement (plus side, we have a basement). Weather is supposed to be fine for tomorrow, but I can assure you that I’m pretty tired of this weather crap. Like, legit… I’m done.

memphis

Not sure what tomorrow holds, but I know it includes getting some more sleep once Cait is safely delivered to the airport. I’m exhaused.

“Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.” – Swami Sivananda

On By HanneIn TravelLeave a comment

It’s funny how there is always something – something that sparks extra excitement within us. It’s like my heart-rate jumps, I sit up a little taller, I focus a little harder. It almost sounds like I’m in love. And to some extent, I am.

The prospect of another road trip. I know there is always another trip ahead of me, but usually I don’t know when. Without specific dates, I can plug them into a hotel finder or search local events. But now with the dates locked in for Mark Harmon’s charity event in OKC, I have dates. And it’s like something has been lifted off of me. I have that goal, and I want nothing more than to go barreling head-first toward it.

It’s not just the actual trip – it’s the planning, the reading, the maps… I feel like an addict of sorts, checking and rechecking distances and drive times. I know I can comfortably hit 6-700 miles in a day, up as high as 900 if I’ll have a break the following day. I know how much time I need for bathroom breaks and fuel purchases and that I need to add an extra hour for roads I’ve never driven so that I can pull off to take photos.

For the roads I’ve already driven, I have favorite coffee shops and diners, dotted along the route. Favorite bars and restaurants in the cities I know so well.

There are gift-shops and postcards. Tourist information centers and truck stops. The new people you meet. This year will be nearly 7,000 miles of both familiar and unfamiliar territory.

IMG_3363Of all the places I’ll be returning to one this trip, Memphis, TN is my favorite. While I would never live there (own a vacation home, yes), Memphis is a place that I consider to be my ‘Soul-City’. A place where you find yourself letting out a deep sigh, dropping all the negative baggage and breathing in renewed energy. Some places, when I arrive, I spend the first evening in my hotel room, with a bottle of wine after a hot shower. Memphis is one of those places where I can’t get my car unloaded fast enough, as all I want to do is stand in the middle of Beale and watch the excitement move around me.

It’s simply mesmerizing.

So I still have a good four months to go – I foresee several more trips to AAA, numbers of miles and drive times mesmerized and outfits analyzed. But it’s good. These are all things that make me feel alive. I feel more inspired for the gym. I want to read more. I want to write more. I just want more out of life when I have a goal within reach.

It feels good to feel alive again.