Off to Memphis - August 2, 2008

So off to Memphis it is on Northwest Airlines Flight Number 1922 at 7:45am. I had checked in the night before so all I had to do is check my bag in, pass security, and head to the gate from where the plane would depart. No troubles with any of that but I did have quite a bit of time before boarding would even begin, so I grabbed a coffee and sat at a perfect spot to people watch. It's so much fun to people watch at the airport.

The flight was pretty smooth. It arrived in Memphis at around 1pm. The Memphis terminal smelled of BBQ. Took a cab to my hotel. I was slightly early so waited about 30 minutes for my room to be ready then checked in, dropped my bag, and settled into the room.

Later, Robin and her friend Mariah picked me up from my hotel. We headed to Beale St. and had lunch at Alfred's. Walking on Beale St. was great experience minus the weather. It was maybe about 100 degrees which is not a big deal since I am used to the heat in Phoenix, the difference is Memphis' extreme humidity. Traveling in a long sleeve not a good idea. Good thing my flight wear top was the only long sleeve item I took, the rest that I packed for the trip was short sleeve. Also, it would take me until Monday, August 4th to figure out how much product to put in my hair. -note to self: do not visit Memphis during summer

So Beale St.... Not sure at what time it starts, but at a certain time several blocks of Beale St. are blocked off. There are bars, restaurants, shops, etc. and you can walk up and down with your drinks ala Vegas. The majority of the restaurants are BBQ and southern food, sweet tea, BBQ ribs, fried fish, etc. Good luck to vegetarians in Memphis. There is a variety of music at the many bars, blues, rock, karaoke... Of course your souvenir and novelty shops. Beale St. is one of the places you have got to visit when you go to Memphis, TN, USA.

After lunch we drove by the Mississippi River and headed to The Pyramid Arena to take pictures of it. The Pyramid Arena in Memphis was constructed and used for a short period by their NBA team who, based on what most locals said, did not like it and had a different arena constructed, the FEDEX Forum. So it now stands empty and unused with talks of it being converted into a Bass Pro Shop. Sad really that it's empty, but even sadder that it may end up being a Bass Pro Shop. How about converting into a casino, Luxor II, or maybe a museum of art or something more on those lines.

After this they dropped me off at my hotel, I was going to take a nap and then later we were going to meet for dinner. Instead I slept the rest of the evening/night. The flight and the weather did me in.

Photo albums of my Memphis Trip are on my Myspace, Facebook, and Livespace sites.