Memphis Trip - August 5th & 6th

So the last 2 days of my Memphis Trip were the volunteer days. The night before I met the the other 34 volunteers(had drinks with some at Stax) and Bullseye, who would make an appearance at Target House later.

August 5th:

So after breakfast we all went to St Jude and saw the preparations that were already taking place at the Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion, where the festival, themed Pajama Jam, would take place the next day. We were to take a tour of St Jude and afterwards help with the setting up of the event. We had a couple of hours before the tour guides would arrive. During this time we had the chance to go to the St Jude store, where all the proceeds go right back to the hospital, and the garden around the Danny and Rose Marie Thomas Memorial Garden, which is right behind the pavilion. After a quick visit to the store and the garden, there was a lot of time, so some of us started with the preparations, and soon after all volunteers were putting something together before we even took the tour.

Once the tour guides arrived, we were split into 3 groups. We were allowed to take photos inside only making sure we weren't taking pictures of children unless permission was obtained by the parent or guardian. I chose to not take photos inside the hospital. The hospital is HUGE!

After the St Jude tour we went back to the pavilion to continue with the setup and to sign up for the station each of us wanted to help out during the event. I chose the craft section.

We then headed to Target House. We met the house mama, who took us on a tour of Target House. Dinner with parents and their children followed. We helped with the remaining setup of a craft table. It was an informal dinner gathering where we got to know some of the parents and children. Some of the children at Target House would be going to the Pajama Jam the next day.

A silly string fight was to follow. It would be a free for all fight including the children and volunteers who wanted to participate. It was so much fun!

Back to the hotel after this. Several others were going to meet up to go to Beale. I had been there already each day i had been there, so this time I opted to go to sleep early as the next day would be an early and busy long day with the Pajama Jam and then flying back to Phoenix.


August 6th:

After an early breakfast we all headed to the ALSAC Pavilion at St Jude to rap up the last of the setup before the festival was to start. We took group photos and the festival started. The craft section consisted of 3 crafts, door hangers, rainmakers, and dream catchers. I helped with the rainmakers. I spent quite a bit of time in the rainmaker section, after which I was replaced so I could go have lunch. I really really wanted to go to the Guitar Hero section. So after lunch instead of coming back to the rainmaker section I went to the Guitar Hero station and helped children play and i myself played against one kid who beat me at all but the last game. I was so enthralled in this station that I didn't notice the festival had ended and everyone was tearing down the event while that one kid and I played Guitar Hero. Eventually they told us that it was time to stop since the event was over and they were putting away the games and what not.

I did a quick stop and shop as the St Jude store. We were then driven back to the hotel, from which we would then be driven to the airport come our flight time. Everyone had different flight schedules depending on where they were flying back to. My flight was scheduled until around 7pm, so Robin and I went to the Peabody and an early dinner at PaPa Pia's.

Our flight back was smooth except for the last 20 minutes or so where we experienced turbulence. It was probably the most turbulence I have experienced on a flight.

Now:

Now I am working on a small presentation for work on the trip :)









... Updated 02/14/2010, added link to PaPa Pia's http://www.papapias.com

Memphis, Little Rock, and Billy Bob! - August 3, 2008

What a Day!...

So on Sunday, August 3, 2008 I wake up and get ready with no set plans for the day, except to meet a few other co-workers from other locations in the world for dinner at around 7pm. So I figured I would just let the day play out as it may until the evening... I thought maybe I would take a cab to Beale St as several tours depart from that area. Some city tour companies did hotel pick up. Or maybe I would have the front desk arrange it for me.

First things first though, I needed come coffee, but I didn't want to make the one in the hotel room. So, as soon as I was ready I went to the lobby area to see about getting some coffee and continental breakfast. The coffee was mediocre but it would do. The continental breakfast was non-traditional in that aside from the normal continental fare, there were biscuits, eggs, sausage and gravy... Must be a southern thing, I thought. I opted for a biscuit with jam.

Since I slept through the evening instead of going out to dinner with Mariah and Robin, I decided to text Robin to see what their plans were. She called me back and said that she was driving Mariah back to Sherwood, Arkansas where she lives. Count me in for the drive. Sherwood is right around the corner from Little Rock, Arkansas, so we would drop Mariah at her house and then do a brief drive into Little Rock and then head back to Memphis.

The drive to Sherwood was awesome!!! It must be because all I see in Phoenix is desert that I loved all the lush green on the highway. I'm sure to the locals green and lush is just meh, the norm. I took another pic of The Pyramid Arena from the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge. While driving to Sherwood there was a truck towing part of a plane. The houses in Sherwood are so pretty with their red bricks. The drive itself was about 2 hours.

After dropping Mariah off at her house in Sherwood, Robin drove to Little Rock, Arkansas. I took a picture of a HUGE Pentecostal Church. It looked neat... :) Once in Little Rock, we drove by the William J Clinton Presidential Library. I would have loved to go inside, but we had to get back to Memphis as we wanted to go to the Civil Rights Museum. We did however stop for a coffee at Andina Cafe loacated in the River Market District right down the street from the library. We then started heading back to Memphis, but Robin was hungry so she stopped by a Wendy's to get 2 baked potatoes. I got a kids meal and it came with a glow bird from the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth. :)

On the drive back from Little Rock to Memphis I saw a sign from TEXACO. Must be one of the last ones.

Once back in Memphis we headed to the Civil Rights Museum. Took some photos of the outside and then checked that we had slightly less than 2 hours before it closed, so we decided we would go back the next day when we would have more time to take the time to go through the museum.

It was still fairly early so we drove around for a bit then right before 5pm we headed to the river where the riverboats were. We got there just in time as rain started to fall. The sightseeing cruise was to depart at 5pm. So we got our tickets and got in the riverboat slightly wet from the rain. The cruise ended at 6:30pm, perfect timing to go meet my co-workers for dinner. Robin decided not to go nor meet them since she had som homework to finish and turn in so she dropped me off at the location we were to meet at. There I met Cheryl our trip coordinator and organizer, Amy from Seoul, Korea and Naomi from Minneapolis, MN.

We headed down to Beale St. and had dinner at Blues City Cafe. As we were headed out there were 2 other co-workers, Shawna and Tony from MN, having dinner there too, super coincidence. So we all headed out after dinner down Beale St stopped at shops, bars, etc. We stopped at the Beale Street Tap Room where Billy Bob Thornton was playing the drums with a local band.

After this Amy, Naomi, Cheryl, and I had a night cap at The Peabody. I slept really good this night.

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.

Why did he go to Memphis?

If you read my May's stuff post, then you know that I was selected to go on an "all expense" paid trip to Memphis. The paid part was the flight, hotel, meals, transportation from August 4th - 6th, however since I chose to fly in 2 days early on Saturday, August 2nd I had to make my own accommodation arrangements for those 2 nights. I chose to go early so I could get in some touring in Memphis, since the other days were already planned with events. I'm glad I did.

Now I didn't elaborate then how I got chosen or what the trip was for, so I'll do it now.

The trip itself was to tour Target House, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and participate in a couple volunteer events. One was a meet and greet at Target House and the other was a festival for the the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. More specifics on those on later posts.

In order to be considered to be selected, I wrote brief essay like answers to 3 questions. What volunteer events had I participated in the past 12 months, what my passion for volunteering is, and why I wanted to participate in this volunteer trip. (Haven't decided yet if I want to post what I submitted) I don't know how many other co-workers submitted for consideration, but I was ecstatic when I found out I was one of the four from our location to participate.

In all it was 35 volunteers, including the event coordinator, that came from various locations. The majority were from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. I was one of the four from Tempe, Arizona, USA. There was also a co-worker from Seoul, Korea and another from Shanghai, China and a few others from other US cities/states.

So if you did not know why I went to Memphis, now you know. :)