Memphis

February 2nd

We are nearing the end of our two night stay in Memphis.  Once again, an amazing campground.  This one, Tom Sawyer's RV park in West Memphis, is located right on the banks of the Mississippi River.  It is still cold, it freezes at night, but the days are sunny and warm. Yesterday afternoon, all four of us went to watch the ducks go upstairs at the Peabody hotel.  We had drinks in the lobby first, and just near 5 pm the duckmaster leads them out of the fountain and into the elevator to go up to their suite.  Those of you who have not seen this either here or Little Rock or Orlando probably think this sounds insane.  But it is quite the spectacle, the duckmaster in his red jacket and the ducks coming out of the fountain in the lobby, shaking themselves off, and heading for the elevator on a red carpet.  I'll bet there were 100 people watching, at least.   Then Hal and I went to hear music on Beale Street.  It is a great spot for blues.  Last night, there was some sort of big contest and there were incredible crowds everywhere.  We went to our favorite place, Rum Boogie, and it was packed and 7/8 of them smoked - inside.  It was really bad.  I worry most for the health of the servers and bartenders.  When we left, and it was early in spite of the great music groups, we just stunk of cigarette smoke.  We left our coats in the back of the truck and as many other of our clothes as we could.  This morning, I got up early and did laundry, it was really bad. 

After a relaxing morning of laundry and rum smoothies by Julius, we went to the Rendevous for ribs, cole slaw and beans.  OMG, so good.  Then back to Beale Street to listen to a little street music, now we're back in the park with the barges going by on the river.  They move all night long.  I will miss them tomorrow when we leave.  Next stop:  Natchez.  We'll drive mostly on the freeways but also a little on the Natchez Trace, then head into Natchez for the Super Bowl game.  Wish we had a bigger TV, maybe we'll find a cozy sports bar.