Bob and I had been talking about making a trip down to Memphis for the past couple of years and never acted upon it until a couple of weeks ago. Along with two other couples, we headed down south for a weekend of drinking, eating, drinking and eating (oh and a couple of sightseeing things as well).

When we arrived Friday afternoon, we checked into the Hampton Inn on Beale Street. Okay, my opinion, a great hotel to stay at for its location. I mean, you walk outside, turn right and there’s Beale Street. You’re also close to the Fedex Forum and Autozone Park. How perfect is that? I will definitely be staying there again the next time I’m down there.

Once we settled in, we headed out to Silky O’Sullivan’s for some dinner and drinks, especially the drinks:

That is the Diver, a bucket of ice and alcoholic goodness. Of course, it would have been suicide for one person to drink all of that so they shared…two buckets. I’m glad that what we learned in kindergarten stuck with us for 25 years (okay, I know, Sarah, not for you. Stop making me feel so old).

After leaving Silky’s, we explored Beale Street.

Beale Street is surprisingly short and yes, it’s full of bars. And beers. They made it so convenient for you to get one:

Once we sufficiently wandered up and down the street, we ended up at Coyote Ugly.

Did not live up to the expectations. What do you mean the movie isn’t indicative of real life? Sure, the ladies danced on the bar and had body shots available, but that was about it. But I can now say I’ve been to Coyote Ugly and no, I did not dance on the bar.

Saturday we took a tour of the “Birthplace of Rock-n-Roll” aka Sun Studio.

This was where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and more made some of their biggest hits of the career. We went through the history of the place and toured the recording studio.

Yep, Elvis spit on that microphone.

That day we also found a fabulous barbecue place: Corky’s.

We all feasted on ribs that just fell off the bone. Memphis is known for it’s dry rub barbecue and so that had to be ordered. We were fortunate to have our rack of ribs split dry/wet for a taste comparison. I do have to say, I think the dry rub won me over.

Graceland wasn’t on the agenda, but we did see it:

Okay, so we passed by it on the way to some shopping and got a quick glimpse at it. It may have to be something that needs to be checked out the next time we’re in town.

Later on in the evening, after taking a nap (Amanda and I took naps while the guys lounged in the hottub and pool), we checked out A. Schwab’s on Beale Street.

Established in 1876, it’s a dry goods store that has the most random things in it. Apparently it had enough things to entertain us for a while:

After taking a trip back in time, we stopped by the Blues City Cafe where they have the BEST tamales that Bob has ever tasted. It’s not much to look at but this is all you need to know:

More drinking! We ended the evening at the Flying Saucer. I have to say, it’s probably my favorite place because there was such great people watching! We sat along the open window and watched the parade of cars drive by and women in such incredible outfits. “What Not to Wear” should do an episode in Memphis, right on the street. We even saw riot cops!

Sunday was Duck Day! We got to see the famous Peabody Ducks hustle down the red carpet and into their fountain. It was pretty adorable and hilarious, it’s a must see when you’re down here.

We also popped over to Mud Island and saw the Mississippi River scaled down.

It’s a detailed model of the river flow all the way down to the Gulf.

A perfect day to top off a fun weekend and a great group of friends. Thanks for letting the Sherrons tag along! You guys are such great traveling buddies, I hope there are more trips like this in the future!

And what’s a trip without more photos?

This was the best way to kick of the Labor Day weekend, a night at the ballpark with friends. Can you believe this was only our second game that we went to? How sad is that?

Our seats were down on the third base line, compliments of the Marcantels. I actually witnessed Cardinal fans booing, yes booing. Of course, it was not at anyone on our team, it was solely directed at Brandon Phillips. The crowd even encouraged people to throw back any foul balls he had hit. One person did not and he/she was booed, another did and was cheered but then immediately ejected from the stadium. Not really fair, is it? In the end, all that really mattered was that we won! Yay, a winning game!

Afterwards, we stuck around for the fireworks display, a first for me at Busch Stadium. I do have to say, it was neat-o. They turned off the lights and had a fireworks display with the Arch in the background. I love me some fireworks!

Thank you Krissy and Kenny for a wonderful evening!

Here are some more pictures from the evening.

Appetizer: Baked Lump Crabcakes with Red Pepper Chipotle Lime Sauce. Lovely little crab cakes with a Mexican flair.

Entree: Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad. A super-easy and delicious taco salad. Super-easy because I just bought a rotisserie chicken to use. Now, the recipe makes quite a bit of dressing and it does pack some heat. I didn’t use too much of the dressing, just enough to coat.

Dessert: Dairy Queen Blizzards. There was consensus that we needed a DQ run and man, it was worth it.

The first (hopefully annual) LouFest took place a few weeks back in Forest Park. Two stages, free water, great local food, and bands from near and far came together to make for an awesome weekend. The whole event was so St. Louis (unrelated, yet awesome link) that the only way to describe the bands I liked is through tortured local similes.

Day One

Local boys So Many Dynamos are like The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. Tight, dense and intricate, the Dynamos’ music moves forward with irresistible propulsion, much like the narrative that tells the story of the Lambert family. It is rare to have a non-opinion of either the band or the novel. One either loves or hates them.

New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus are The Royale. I had heard about them for a while and I was pretty sure that I would enjoy them, and when I finally got around to checking them out I was not disappointed. In fact, since then, I’ve probably listened to their most recent album The Monitor. I evangelize Titus Andronicus to everyone much in the same way that I evangelize The Royale’s fish tacos. Also: lots of beards.

Lucero is like the 2004 World Series. Awesome on paper, initially intriguing, but ultimately a let down and over far too soon due to the singer’s (alcohol related?) illness.

The Airborne Toxic Event are Pi. The undisputed champion of Day One, if you didn’t like what they had to offer, you have bad taste. Like the incomparable Bucktown deep dish pizza, The Airborn Toxic Event combines many sonic elements into one appealing product. Highly recommended.

Built To Spill reminds me of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. Been around forever, a little bit worse for the wear, but still chugging along. Their set showed signs of rust, but “Carry The Zero” is as strong a single as was played all day.

Broken Social Scene was just like Six Flags. Huge, intense and trying really, really hard to entertain, these earnest Canadians closed the first day with a large, long set. I wouldn’t consider myself a fan, but I definitely understand the appeal there. There were definitely highlights, most notably “7/4” and their latest single “Forced to Love,” but by the end of their set I was ready to go.

Day Two

Carolina Chocolate Drops are similar to the Fabulous Fox Theatre. Like an especially well-preserved relic from a bygone era, this North Carolina string trio play old-time fiddle and banjo music rooted in the Piedmont region. Their intricate finger-picking skills are rarely seen in this day and age, but their cover of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style” gave it all a modern twist.

Cory Chisel was the personification of the Way Out Club. Smoky and ragged with a white v-neck t-shirt, Cory Chisel gave a raw and soulful set of Americana folk-rock. Maybe a little out of his element on a sunny Sunday afternoon, you could smell the PBR seeping out of his pores from where we were sitting. Still, a good performance.

Jeff Tweedy is the St. Louis Cardinals. People came from all around to see the Wilco frontman play solo. He was indubitably the main attraction, and his star power almost certainly helped get the festival off the ground. His set (unlike the 2010 Cardinals) did not disappoint. Tweedy reworked classic Wilco songs for solo guitar and commanded the attention of the audience like few other solo artists could. Mayor Slay declared Sunday “Jeff Tweedy Day,” and the day was most certainly his.

She & Him closed out the festival with a set deserving of a comparison to Crown Candy Kitchen. Zooey Deschanel’s voice is as sweet as the famous malts at the north side landmark and M. Ward’s raspy baritone is as rugged as the neighborhood. Together, they made great music and put a fitting bow on a great concert.

Now, we spent most of our time lounging on blankets and sitting in lawn chairs, so I didn’t get many shots of the band. If that’s what you are looking for, local concert photographer Todd Owyoung was there and he has great shots from both days. The rest of our photos are here.

The Moonlight Ramble is a late-night bike ride through the city (and county) of St. Louis that serves as a fundraiser to help build a hostel in the old Mullanphy Emigrant Home. The past two rides had us starting downtown and heading to Forest Park and back. This year was a little bit different.

Starting at the Muny, we rode through the park before emerging by Barnes on Clayton Road. We cut over on Sarah to Manchester and rode down Manchester / Choteau to Jefferson. Making a left on Jefferson, we crossed over the Jefferson viaduct before heading back west on Market street. At the end of Market, we got onto Forest Park Parkway and we took that all the way to downtown Clayton before turning around and returning to the park.

Some notes about the ride:

1. The girls claim that it was hillier than the previous years, although we did not have to deal with Art Hill, or the climb back up Market Street. In all fairness, the western portions of the parkway are surprisingly hilly.
2. The route avoided the eastbound intersection of Forest Park Parkway and Market, a windy, hilly, narrow, pot-holed stretch that had bad accidents the two rides prior.
3. Riding into Clayton at night is pretty neat.
4. Jen is pretty sure that she ran over a frog. She’s getting the jibblies just reading this sentence.

It was a good ride, but it was quite muggy. Late hours and high humidity don’t make for good pictures, but Jen did take some nice artistic shots. Our customary visit to Uncle Bill’s followed. With the late start, the long ride and an overly chatty waitress, we ended up hitting the hay around 5:30 AM, but it was well worth it.