Ribs

Okay, so, this is going to be one of my favourite posts of this blog.

And just to whet your appetite here is a gratuitously placed photograph of a rack of ribs:

I'm salivating

Memphis is one of my favourite cities in the United States.  I came here 4 years ago on tour and absolutely fell in love with the place, largely due to one place in an alleyway off of Union Avenue, but it is an amazing city despite that one establishment.

It is a city overlooking the Mississippi river, full of history, from the ancient Egyptian pyramid on the banks of the Wolfe river, to the cotton industry, to Elvis and Graceland, to BB King and the Delta Blues, to the American Civil Rights movement... It is a city full of amazing eateries (one of the city's nicknames is 'The BBQ Capital of the World' for a reason), from BBQ, to fried chicken, to soul food, to fish... Whether you're here for music, for food, for history, or just to put on your blue suede shoes and go Walking in Memphis, it is a city you could spend a day or a week or just never leave (as someone told me earlier today)

After all that gushing over the city it may sound odd to say that I wasn't sure about coming back necessarily on this trip.  That is, until I got a stern talking to from my beloved housemate.

Housemate Advice:
Sam: "I really want to go back to Memphis for the ribs but I am not sure I am going to be able to fit it in"
Chris: 'Dude, you've been talking about the ribs for 4 years.  You've got the chance to go back... If you don't you're a dickhead'

Good advice Chris... Good advice...

So, all around the US thus far when I've been explaining where I'm going and what I'm doing this is basically how the conversation has gone.  Just bear in mind that it would lose something at each point along the journey.

The Anatomy of a trip:
Countless People Across America: "So,  you're currently in *insert city/town here*, where to after this?"
Sam: 'So, from here I go down to San Diego, my Dad is at a conference down there so I am tagging along and seeing the city, we are staying on Coronado Island'
CPAA: "It is nice down there"
Sam: 'Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.  Then we head back up to Los Angeles to go to a basketball game, then we are heading to Vegas'
CPAA: "Oh, that'll be fun"
Sam: 'Yeah, hopefully I can pay for my trip.... ' (Sidebar... Yeah, that didn't happen) '.... Then my Dad heads home and I head up to Indianapolis'
CPAA: "Indianapolis? Why?"
Sam: 'I am going to a Pacers game, and a Colts game'
CPAA: "Right, then where?"
Sam: 'Then to Nashville for another football game, and then to Memphis for ribs'
CPAA: "And Elvis's house?"
Sam: 'No... Just for ribs'
CPAA: *Look at me with a weird look on their faces*
Sam: 'I've already been a few years ago.  My housemate told me I had to go back otherwise I was a dickhead, so I am going back just for the ribs... '
*Conversation goes on*

Sorry to have described the entire trip to this point, but that conversation has happened verbatim at least 15-20 times already.

And without meaning to kill the flow of this post to this point, I left the last post with me sitting on a bus, so lets get back to the travelling...

Wednesday (continued)

So, the bus had left Nashville, the driver had said a little prayer, the Mexican looking guy in the Cleveland Browns jacket sitting next to me had dozed off to sleep, and I was getting involved in my current book for reading "History's Worst Disasters and the Stories Behind Them"... I read, I slept, we stopped in Jackson, TN, I didn't leave the bus, we left again and a few hours later we arrived in Memphis, Tennessee... Although, much to my surprise and disappointment the Greyhound Station was near the airport, which was about a 15-20 minute drive to downtown Memphis...

I've found that whenever getting a cab and they ask you how long you're in a city and then give you a card so that they can cash in on your being a traveller so that they can take you back again.  (I would later find out in exiting Memphis that the first cabbie ripped me off)

In my last post I also commented about buying candy when in Nashville.  This is where it is revealed... It was my intention to just have it for breakfast, but given the crowded nature of the bus station and later the bus, it was easier just to wait... So, breakfast of champions, fudge!

Chocolate peanut butter, cookies & cream, chocolate and chocolate-vanilla swirl - Breakfast of champions

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Now, given that this post will be in large part about gluttony... Like, actual gluttony... With food and not sports... I am going to take this opportunity to write out the following prepared statement:

Mum, I am eating properly.  Fudge may not be a traditional breakfast but it did the job.
It's true, eating several meals consisting of BBQ ribs, fried chicken and waffles may not be the cleanest meals going around, but I am only going to be this gluttonous during my time in Memphis (or, I'm going to try to keep it to Memphis), so trust me when I say, I'm eating full meals, I'm not just eating candy, all is well.

................................................................................................................................................................

I sat in my room for a couple of hours and watched the basketball, but when it came time for dinner, there was only one place I was heading, and that was Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous.

I am in a hotel on Union Avenue, directly across the road from Autozone Park, the home of the Memphis Redbirds, the AAA affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.  This is roughly a 5 minute walk/saunter to the alleyway where the best ribs in Memphis are served.

A line I've always thought to be true in some ways is to never meet your heroes because they may not be as you expect... The same can be said for childhood television shows (although, I've watched countless hours of Fireman Sam, Tugs, Thomas the Tank Engine, Where's Wally, Hey Arnold, Rugrats and other assorted shows I watched as a child, and they've not been ruined by rewatching them)... The concern I had was that the ribs here would not be as good as I remembered them or mythologized over the past 4 years...

Look down the Rendezvous alleyway off Union Avenue for this sign

Happy to be back!

Interior of the fine establishment

More interior

And again...

I'm just going to to quote the menu rather than use my own words:

"You're about to settle in over a slab of Rendezvous ribs - about as far as a pig can go in this world.  And we picked out the good ones for you.  We charcoaled yours in a seasoned pit - oh so slow.  And boldly basted. And secretly seasoned. If you're looking for the meaning of life, this is something to chew on."

"Not since Adam has a rib been this famous"

I once bought a t-shirt in a little town called Intercourse, Pennsylvania, it read: "Intercourse, everything I thought it would be"... I could quite happily wear a t-shirt reading "Rendezvous, everything I remembered it was"... (I'm sure there's a meeting up pun I could make here but frankly I'm not sure I want to try)

On the actual meal... I would absolutely recommend this place to anyone, anywhere, for any purpose... These are the best ribs in the world... Yes, I've not travelled the entire world, but of the places I have been these are the best ribs I've ever had...

Settling in for the main event

The pork ribs are slow cooked for hours, basted and then applied with their famous dry rub (which I've secured a jar of to take home with me)... The meat just falls off the bone, it has this crispiness on the top where the seasoning is but it isn't at all tough... It isn't completely smothered in BBQ sauce like so many other racks of ribs that I have had, so you can actually taste the meat, the smokey flavour is brilliant... Absolutely worth coming to Memphis just for these ribs... Words cannot express the amazingness of these ribs...

WOULD RECOMMEND!

Clean as much off the bone as possible!

I got to chatting to a bloke from New York who was in town for a day and had to stop off for the ribs, aside from the ribs we chatted about the mountains of snow that have been dumped on Buffalo, NY recently and how bad the New York Knicks currently are playing... Guy was nice enough to take a photograph after I'd finished my rack as well... (Full disclosure, the picture above is a sham, it was the NY guy's ribs... I finished mine so quickly they cleared my plate... Though, never let the truth get in the way of a good photograph... Pretend you didn't read that last sentence!)

Take home dry rub

I walked home in a contented daze, the flavours still with me and that sense of satisfaction that exists after a wonderful meal.  I almost didn't want to have the after dinner mint so I could leave these flavours in my mouth a little longer.

I got back to the hotel, watched some basketball on the TV and went to bed... Worth coming to Memphis just for that!

Thursday

There was a breakfast provided with my room.  This was due between 6 and 9 AM.  So, being the last minute, get as much sleep as possible kind of guy that I am, I got to the office at 8:58 AM... Unfortunately they'd packed up the entire thing, and there wasn't anything left to give me anyway, so I went without the free meal.  Just to make it seem like I didn't go just for the breakfast I picked up a brochure for a Memphis bus tour.

I walked back to my room, got out the phone and gave the bus company a call... They ran hop on-hop off and also about 7 tours specific to an area of the city or attraction.  I enquired about the 3 hour city tour and was told that one ran at 10 AM and I could get on that if I wanted... I gave them my name (deliberately mispronouncing my surname to avoid any issue) and waited for the offered hotel pick up... I really should have just walked, because the bus depot was literally 250m down Union Avenue from my hotel... It would have been quicker and I'd have waited less time... Anyway, neither here nor there... The pick up was done by a Tarago style van, I got to the depot, paid my money and went out to the parking lot ready for the tour... Except they didn't use a bus because the tour was only with 5 people, so we just crammed back into the van... Not really what I had expected at all.  Our tour driver was a black woman named Tamilda or something like that, I struggled to pronounce it for large parts of the day so I just stopped trying... She had all these really Southern sounding sayings and words going for her all day

Tamilda's fixin' to show off Memphis:
-"I'm fixin' to take a right onto Union Avenue"
-"I was fixin' to tell y'all to go to Rendezvous for the best ribs, but if you down't feel like ribs, say you wawnted chicken, you go to Gus"
-"I'm fixin' to take a right onto Danny Thomas Place, now, Danny Thomas's name wasn't originally Danny Thomas, it was Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz, but that wasn't a good stage name, so he had a pair of brothers, one named Danny, the other Thomas, put them together and you get Danny Thomas"

We kicked off down the Avenue at Sun Studios, where famous names such as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis recorded.  I didn't take a tour, but it was cool to be there... I felt guilty for walking in, taking a few pictures, and leaving, so I bought some water and then left... It worked fine on my conscious...

Sun Studios

Looking into the sun at Sun Studios

Record wall inside

Plaque at the studio

While waiting for Tamilda to return I was watching the world go by, Sun Studios is directly across the road from an open Domino's Pizza, and I couldn't help but notice the delivery driver was doing deliveries, I have to ask, who is ordering pizza from Domino's at 10:30 AM on a Thursday? I'm not saying it isn't a good thing, pizza is a wonderful thing, but ordering it at 10:30 from Domino's? Gotta love this country...

Seriously, who is ordering pizza at 10:30 AM?

Tamilda returned after dropping off two tour goers over the other side of town at the Lorraine Motel, and we were shown a park nearby with a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest who was the founder of the KKK (why there was a statue of the guy I'll never know, especially in Memphis where the Civil Rights Museum is), though we were introduced to the statue by being asked if we knew how Forrest Gump was named.  The photograph is below, it is not something that I would usually do, but the story behind how they placed his statue interested me; they had him facing South away from the North in a measure of Civil War symbolism... This was interesting to me, but I felt super guilty jumping out of the car and taking the photograph given that our tour driver was of African American descent and explicitly said that she didn't like talking about it but would because it was history... Then we went on to Millionaire's Row with these old cotton owner mansions.

'Think on your feet to avoid causing offence' Moment of the Day: *on Millionaire Row being shown houses*
Tamilda: "That house there has a very lawge building in the yard round back, can anyone guess what it was for?"
Sam: 'Servant's quarters?'
Sam's Inner Monologue: *Oh shit, did you just say servant's quarters to a black woman directly after you saw a statue of the founder of the Klan? Shit, I hope for our sake she doesn't take that the wrong way... Shit, no one has said anything... Say something... This silence is awful...*
Sam: 'Outhouse?'
Tamilda: (politely laughing) "No, not outhouse, any other guesses anyone?... No?... Those big buildings in the backyard are actually the former owner's daughter's dollhouse"
Sam: 'Really? Wow, that's astounding'
Sam's Inner Monologue: *Nice save*

I didn't mean it in the way my inner monologue thought it could have been construed, and thankfully it wasn't taken that way!  Once she drove up the street and the dollhouses came into view the outhouse suggestion seemed very stupid.

Nathan Bedford Forrest

We then drove around to St. Jude's Research Hospital.  We went past the Memphis Pyramid, which used to be the sporting arena in Memphis, I had no idea of that, it would be pretty cool to see sports in a Pyramid... Now the Pyramid is owned by Bass Pro Shops and is being turned into a massive man cave (due to open next month... Bad timing)... They wanted to turn it into a casino at one point in time but I guess the Luxor in Las Vegas cornered the market for Egypt themed gambling houses...

Memphis/Bass Pro Shops Pyramid

We stopped briefly at the Memphis Welcome Center (I think that's what it was called anyway), where we saw the 'road to nowhere', which is a highway that was stopped from being completed by a petition which ended up in court because it was meant to go over the Zoo, this was fought and defeated and the road goes nowhere.  We saw the "Dolly Parton Bridge", which isn't actually named that but it is called that by Memphians because of the two large bumps.  We saw statues of 'the two Kings', B.B. King, and Elvis.  Both statues were alarmed, and we were warned... Thankfully I remember this before I went to touch either of them... The Elvis statue used to sit on the street, but it kept on being defaced by Elvis fans and souveneir hunters who would break off the tassels on his shirt to take home as mementos.

B.B. King

Elvis Presley

"Road to nowhere"

The "Dolly Parton" Bridge

We then headed down to the Orphium Theater, and over to the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated.  I visited the Lorraine later in the day, so I will talk about it then rather than at this point.

We then headed to Beale Street where the others in our tour party left us for lunch, and that left me to share the van with Tamilda... Though, she was having lunch as well, so I had 20 minutes on Beale Street... I walked into a few stores and made an interesting discovery... Anyone who is a fan of Chappelle's Show, and in particular The Time Haters sketch (this is the abbridged version which actually cuts out the line I was talking about) then you'll understand that enslaved African Americans worked for the minimalist of wages... Grits... However, as the photograph below will show, grits are actually worth at least $7.98 + tax, so, they were getting at least $7.98 according to this... This may be the poorest taste joke I've made on this blog, but it is meant to be a joke, so, yeah, no angry messages please...

Grits!

After this I jumped in the van with Tamilda and we headed off for Graceland, before getting half way there, her forgetting that she had to pick up the two women she had previously dropped at the Lorraine Motel, us turning around, going back downtown and getting to the Motel, the women not being there, and us going back out to Graceland... This added at least a half hour to the drive... Graceland being about a 10-15 minute drive from downtown... During this drive, because it was just the two of us in the car we made some small talk... She asked me where my wife was, why I didn't have a wife, where I was going in the US, and my personal favourite quote was the one below...

'Y'all don't have that' Quote of the Day:
Tamilda: 'I was talking to someone from Australia a while ago, and dey said that y'all don't have Thanksgiving, is that true?'
Sam: "That's right, we don't celebrate Thanksgiving, it is an American holiday.  People in Australia have only just come to terms with Halloween making its way into our country"
Tamilda: 'Oh, okay.  So, do y'all have the 4th of July down there?'
Sam: "We have it as a date, sure, but not as a holiday"

As hard as it is to believe, I can't believe Australia hasn't taken on Thanksgiving to celebrate the Pilgrims coming to America and dining with the Indians and all that that holiday represents... Even more unfathomable is why we don't celebrate American Independence in Australia... I mean, I figured during the John Howard years we'd have gotten something like that, maybe not the day off, but like, tax free hotdog imports or something equally American... More holiday days is always a good thing... Come on Australia, get behind them!

We did a drive by of Graceland (because stopping wasn't included in the tour), saw the Heartbrak Hotel, saw the mansion from the road, saw the shops... Interesting fact of this portion of the tour: Elvis didn't name Graceland, it was already named that when he bought it.

Tamilda had to pick up some other people from a hotel nearby... This was a bust, just like the Lorraine Motel pick up earlier, I sat in the car for about 10 minutes while she waited in the foyer of the hotel... Kind of felt like something I'd have done when I was a kid, except this time I had a smart phone...  Eventually we got on our way and the tour came to an end... I was planning on going up to Gus's Fried Chicken on Tamilda's word, so she dropped me off at my hotel, I dumped my jacket (something I forgot to mention earlier... It was a Beautiful day in Memphis, note the capital B... A sunny day with a warm 12 degrees... Compared to the last week this qualified as a heatwave), and then she drove me to the restaurant, dropped me off and my day by myself kicked off.

Gus's

Now, I know the song I linked earlier was 'Walking in Memphis', but I could quite easily have edited it to 'Rolling out of Memphis', because the amount of food I ate by quantity was probably needlessly much, but the type of foods I was eating was also probably not the best for me... But, I had factored that in when I planned the trip that Memphis was going to be a food stop.

The fried chicken here was amazing, I'm having trouble comparing it to anything at home because the only fried chicken I have in Australia is generally of the Kentucky Fried variety, which isn't really something I'd hold up as a beacon for fried chicken in this world... Good, yes, but they call it the dirty bird for a reason!  Gus's was better than the Colonel, which is a massive statement, but it wasn't greasey for one, and it was tastey as anything as a second point.  I'm pretty sure it made it into the Lonely Planet guide to Memphis (though, I read this for free when I was rummaging through Mum's travel guides, and I didn't take it with me, so I am relying on memory several weeks old here).

Chicken happy

Deep fried fun

 After Gus's I made the walk a few blocks South towards the Lorraine Motel where I had been a little earlier in the morning.  I decided to actually go into the National Civil Rights Museum rather than just mill around outside, though, there is a very interesting story to milling around outside.  A woman by the name of Jacqueline Smith is living on the street at the corner of Butler and Mulberry Streets near the Motel in protest of the museum,  you can actually go and talk to her if you choose to (I didn't); she was the last tenant of the Lorraine Motel.  The basic jist of why she is there is that she doesn't believe that spending money in the thousands and millions on the Civil Rights Museum is what Dr. King would have wanted given his life was about helping others.  It is an interesting argument for certain.

Protesting for 26 years and 298 days at the time of my visit

Quote from Dr. King's 'Mountaintop' speech the day before his assassination

Lorraine Motel

Wreath outside room 306 where he was shot

Lorraine Motel, the line on the ground represents the line of the shot fired

I found the National Civil Rights Museum to be a very sobering experience.  The first room is devoted entirely to slavery, and gave numerous examples of the barbarism that living in slavery entailed, such as the conditions and treatment during the initial crossing from Afirca and some of the laws in various states and territories to limit the growth and understanding of the African slaves. Some of these included slavery being inherited from your mother (so, in effect white slave owners could make more slaves by raping their female slaves and having them bear the child), it being illegal to teach slaves to read and write (a breach was a fine of $250 in 1833 Alabama); and returning escaped slaves to the South.

Opening exhibit on slavery

From this exhibit we were shown a video for about 10 minutes which gave a running history of the history of slavery all the way to after the Civil War, and the period of restoration where the American Government sent the army to protect the newly freed slaves and provide some level of integration into the society... Unfortunately this protection ceased sometime after 1875 (in 1875 the US Government had outlawed racial segregation), when the racial segregation laws were repealed by the US Supreme Court and former Confederate States began passing racial segregation laws which became known as "Jim Crow Laws"... It was a system of separate but equal, but over time it became less equal (though, to be fair, it never really was based on what we know from history)... In the 1890s Mississippi passed laws in an attempt to stop black people from voting, including adding a poll tax, 'grandfather clauses' (meaning that if your grandfather was ineligible to vote so to were you... This ruled out descendants of slaves) and other measures to reduce black voter turnout.

Jim Crow Laws and the differences due to segregation

The Montgomery Bus Boycott

Sit-ins

After the Jim Crow Law area there was a section on education, and how it was eventually found to be unconstitutional to have segregated schools.  This included exhibits on the Little Rock students and showed many videos of white people protesting outside of schools stating that they would not integrate... You look at images like that now and wonder what they were thinking but of course their mindset was a product of their era and upbringing; the wonder I have is what we'll be watching in 50 years looking back at today and shaking our heads and wondering why...

There was an exhibit on Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which occurred after Ms Parks was arrested due to refusing to stand up and move to the back of the bus at the request of the driver.  Moving on there was a diner with a mock sit-in going on, and a bunch of 'menus' which gave reasons as to why you would not be served if you were black.

There was a Greyhound bus made to look as though it had been torched as a part of the Freedom Riders, they rode interstate buses into the segregated South and eventually they got caught by Klansmen and beaten, their bus was torched.

Torched Freedom Rider Greyhound

There were several exhibits which further illustrated the reluctance of the Southern states to integrate and gave stories of events such as the jailing of Dr. King for a march in the South followed by several local ministers giving scathing stories to local media, and events which caused President Kennedy to sit up and take notice on the issue of racial segregation.

Dr. King wrote a letter from prison

JFK on an old school TV set

The museum had many more exhibits, shortly after the last photo above there was an exhibit dedicated to the March for Jobs where many black leaders stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in DC and spoke, this was the site of the 'I have a dream' speech.  There was an exhibit on the changing voting habits of America in the 1960s, the violence which the world saw when peaceful protesters were beset upon by police with high powered hoses and dogs, the election of Barack Obama, the re-engagement of African Americans with their culture, the Black Power movement, and eventually to the reason that Dr. King was in Memphis the day he was assassinated.

Black Power movement

There was a sanitation strike in the city of Memphis after two black sanitation workers were killed in their truck when trying to take shelter from the rain.  The conditions they were working under were very unsafe; old equipment, lower pay, summary dismissal for being 1 minute late... The Memphis city government dug their heels in and refused to acknowledge the strike, and many protests and things of that nature ensued.

Representation of the protests in Memphis

This is why Martin Luther King Jr. was in Memphis.  It was here he gave the 'Mountaintop' speech, which in the view of hindsight seems almost prophetic...

"Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! 

And so I'm happy, tonight.  I'm not worried about anything.  I'm not fearing any man.  Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!"

This speech was given on April 3, 1968. 

The next part of the museum was one of the most sombre places in the museum, the preserved rooms where Dr. King stayed during his finals days.

View from the balcony

Inside Room 306

Inside room 306

This was easily one of the most sombre places I've been in America.  I would be lying if I said I knew much about the Civil Rights Movement before I visited the Museum (aside from the odd movie and MLK Jr/Muhammad Ali quote), and based on the colour of my skin (even though I am not an American) I am not sure how guilty I should feel... But feeling guilty or not, understanding the past and the plight of a people so oppressed for centuries was eye opening... Like, you know it happened, you know the oppression and racism occurred, but when it is laid bare for you in one place with everything that had happened chronologically, you can't help but be moved by it all

After this the museum came to an end and we entered a gift shop, and despite it being the end of the day the other side of the museum was still open.  This detailed the assassination from within the building that the assassination is thought to have been committed from.  This was interesting, but I had taken in so much already, I kind of skimmed over what was there.

I walked back to Beale Street, then back to my hotel a few blocks from Beale St, had a rack from my favourite restaurant, and then headed off to bed, but got caught watching a film, so I went to bed waaaaay late. 

Celebrity Watch: Whilst entering Rendezvous for my second night in a row I held the door open for Brad Stevens, the coach of the Boston Celtics... By the time I worked out who it was he was long gone...

Beale Street

Friday

Given how late I went to bed it makes sense that I would wake up really late... So, I got up late, showered, got myself together and went for a walk up Union Avenue towards the river.  Contrary to the song, I did not see the ghost of Elvis on Union Avenue, but that may be because he is hanging out by Sun and not by the Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange.

When I came to Memphis last time I saw a few things, but one of the reasons I came back to the US and went to cities I'd already been, aside from for ribs, was to see things I didn't see last time.  I'd previous seen Graceland, I wasn't that interested in Sun Studios when compared to the Lorraine Motel which I had seen on Thursday, and given I had basketball tickets for the evening I stayed close and went to the Cotton Museum.

For those of you expecting a Graceland segment I don't want to disappoint you.  So, for those of you who haven't ready my private journal from 2010, here is what I had to write about Graceland:

Woke up at 8:50, needing to be at the bus by 9:20 I had a quick shower, forgot to shave, and got there in time, though missing breakfast.  We went to Graceland.  It was awe inspiring, and a little bit sombre at the same time.  The amount of Elvis memorabilia in the surrounding area was ridiculous though.  We had a burger in a diner there, and a shake in a shake place, which was the thickest most filling shake I’ve ever had in my life.  The prices were pretty bad as well.  We then went to the outside of the National Civil Rights Museum, which is located at the Lorraine Hotel, where Martin Luther King Jr. Was assassinated.  It was also a little sombre.  From there we drove past Sun Studios, past a AAA ballgame, and then back to the hotel.  I clogged the toilet after the ribs, its lucky that Dean is a plumber.   And now I’m writing this.

This is actually pretty much my entire day in Memphis the last time... Fairly eventful... (Note: I didn't go inside the Lorraine Motel last time, which is why I went this time)

Anyway, that is your Graceland segment of this blog finished with... I hope you enjoyed it and won't boycott the remainder due to questionable plumbing stories...

Memphis used to be a hub in the Cotton Industry, the Memphis Cotton Exchange used to be a hive of activity with the buildings along Front Street full of cotton traders and vendors. The Museum at the Cotton Exchange was really interesting in learning about the history of the city, the history of the plant in America and the plant itself.  The old Exchange room is a part of the museum now and had a video and a huge number of artifacts.

Exchange Board

Cotton Exchange Room

Cotton bale

Boll Weevil exhibit

The exhibits included the introduction of cotton to the South, reasons as to why the industry expanded, why the labour was so intensive (the beetle above was a pest that came up from Mexico and decimated cotton plantations, the cotton had to be harvested by hand as soon as it opened and kept clear of weeds consistently otherwise the bugs would thrive), and different events that popped up in the shadow of the cotton industry such as a gala ball every year.

I took the walking tour as well, which showed various spots on Cotton Row (the area of Front Street where the cotton industry used to be based) as well as walked down to the river.  Cotton Row is interesting because it is illegal to change the facade of all the buildings, they are all in different styles but the heritage is being preserved.  Cotton used to be sorted in the rooms on the top of the building, the 3rd floor, they always had sunlight rooms that were North facing to sort the cotton... Don't ask me why, that is just what the Mp3 told me... It also asked me to pretend that my name was John Leary and I was a cotton merchant... I like the whole historical role play idea as a way to immerse yourself in the story and the era and all that, but when a city bus comes roaring by it kind of kills the moment...

Walking Tour route

Cotton lingo

Cotton exchange building

'Cotton Row' on Front Street

View out towards the Mississippi

When at the river stop on the walking tour the guide gave an interesting story about the Civil War, and the battle that took place there between Union and Confederate naval forces which was won by the Union.  The city of Memphis was held by the Union and used as a hospital and administrative city, which largely spared it from any destruction and helped it become the largest growing city in the South after the war.

It was also the site of one of the worst maritime disasters in history, the sinking of the SS Sultana.  The story goes that the ship had the capacity for several hundred passengers; it left from New Orleans in April 1865, stopping in Vicksburg for repairs, at which point the ship was inundated by Union soldiers who were trying to return home to Ohio as they had just been released from Confederate prison camps.  Anyway, just after they passed Memphis the boilers of the Sultana exploded, taking the lives of around 1,800 people of the 2,400 on board... It is the worst maritime disaster in US history and is largely forgotten due to the events prior to its sinking, being the assassination of President Lincoln.

After the walking tour ended I went back into the museum and read a bit about the plant, noting that you can get an amazing amount of stuff from a bale of cotton... I can't remember the exact stats, but it is pretty amazing how much you can get from a bale of cotton.  It is also pretty amazing the kind of items that have cotton in them, for example, American currency has cotton in it... Built the economy in early days so why not put it in paper!  One stat I do have is how many $100 bills can be made with 1 bale of cotton (which to be fair, is about 500 pounds)... 313,600 bills can be made from a bale of cotton... That's walking around money!

From the Cotton Museum I walked down Main Street to Beale Street in search of lunch... I went into Miss Polly's Soul City Cafe for some Soul Food... This was chicken and waffles... Which I didn't know was soul food, but go figure... When in the South I guess... Chicken and a buttered waffle with a side of mac & cheese... Very American...

There were some pretty funny lines on the walls

First ribs, then chicken, now soul food!

Delicious or disgusting, you can be the judge

I bought a post-card on Beale Street, wrote to my grandmother because I'm good like that, then returned to my hotel to get ready for the basketball.

It was the Memphis Grizzlies against the Boston Celtics, who whilst I do follow and support have changed a lot since the last time I attended a game... To give you some idea of the turnover, since 2010 only one starter remains...

Boston Celtics V Miami Heat, 2010
Starting 5: Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Shaquille O'Neal

Boston Celtics V Memphis Grizzlies, 2014
Starting 5: Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, Kelly Olynyk

Fair ol' turnover there... But a stomach virus had torn through the Memphis team over the prior week, so there was worry from the Memphis fans (particularly one bloke I chatted to on Beale St earlier in the day, who also talked to me about how to cook chicken and his son cooking in Australia) about whether the Grizz would have the players to win the game.  This fear would prove unfounded... As an aside, I really don't mind Memphis as a team, I half adopted them when discussing the playoffs with my cousin Ned one year... Unfortunately after nailing my colours to the mast the Grizz were knocked out of the playoffs...

As I was staying about a 5 minute walk away from the arena I was closer than some of the car parks being offered to drivers, and made it to the arena quickly... Upon entering the arena I was happy I'd spent the money on a decent seat... Given that this was the Celtics and I actually give a shit about them I had seats on the bottom deck in the middle... Best seats I had all trip to this point...

At the Grindhouse

Grizz & Cs

Great seats!

Happy for some brilliant seats at the FedEx Forum

The announcer for the Grizzlies seemed like a guy who was just Memphis... Not because of any particular way he sounded or held himself, it was the fact that like so many people who'd served me food, he was not a small man... Wonderful announcing voice though!

So Memphis!

The other amazing thing about the Grindhouse was that they had their own houseband and they were playing songs that I either knew, liked, or had some novelty value for me... See below:

I am sure Chris will appreciate that...

Anyway, the teams then made their way out on to the court for warm ups, the teams got introduced after the national anthem, and when the Grizzlies players got introduced I just about shat myself... Fireworks inside when I was expecting just a lights show... Yeah, not good for business...

National Anthem

Celtics introduced

Grizz introductions

Grizzlies starters

Fireworks which took me by surprise

As the game started I quickly worked out that the kid next to me (I say kid but he's be between 5-8 years younger than me I expect) was like I am at the football, except not quite at sweary and wearing colours...

Basketball Memphis Sam's Lines for the night:
"Yes sir" (when a basket was scored for Memphis)
"That's down" (when a basket was scored for Memphis)
"His shot is so ugly" (when Rondo took a jumpshot for the Celtics)

The kid was passionate, and I made the mistake of clapping some early Boston baskets which I think just served to ignite him further... He was loud all game...

Boston held on early, but the game was never really close... Boston shot terribly, and the Grizzlies shot well by comparison... Kelly Olynyk was probably the best for Boston, while Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph dominated inside for the Grizzlies, and Jon Leuer (of whom I still know nothing about) put in a great performance for Memphis... Rather than give a game summary on what was a whalloping, here are some of my favourite photos from the game. 

Ready for the tip

Opening tip off

And we are off

Rondo and Stevens

Just like in Indiana there was a children's dance crew which the Memphis announcers claimed as the youngest in the NBA... Just like the longest home run story from the other day... Someone is lying...

All about timing...

Vince Carter

Nice drive and layup

Streamers come from the ceiling after the win!

The game became a washout but it was enjoyable regardless...

Final, Memphis 117, Boston 100


I went back to the hotel after the game, debated heavily about whether to go ribs again, and decided with the help of that old housemate prodding to go ribs again...

I adore Memphis... I would happily come back here again for longer just for the food...

Thank you for reading my Memphis... And as a reward for that, I will leave you with one lasting image of my final night in Memphis... Not so much ribs, more buns...

Roll on Atlanta