Memphis Weekend Recap

I don't even know where to start with this weekend.  It was completely jam packed and SO. MUCH. FUN!  I am still not sure how we packed so much into just 3 days.  I guess we'll start from the beginning and go from there.

My weekend actually started on Thursday night.  We had a graduation/going off to college get-together at our house for a family friend's daughter. Eric grilled burgers, we sat by the pool, and we even had LIVE music.  We know a guy who plays around town and he graciously agreed to come play for a couple of hours.  It made for a great night!  Because of said get-together I decided last week that I would be taking Friday off. Call it a hunch, but I figured that things would wind down waaaaay past my bedtime and I was right.  I think we had everything put up and everyone on their way by midnight, so yeah 5:30AM was NOT happening.

                                      Eric and I                                                       Lotsa Burgers.....they were all gone by the end of the night

However 6:30AM did happen.  There was no sleeping in for this gal because I had to give my car a bath and get her oil changed so we could hit the road for Memphis!  We road tripped it up to see my parents this past weekend and had a blast!  We pulled into town around 3pm and while Dad and Eric headed out to hit some golf balls, Mom and I decided to take advantage of tax-free shopping weekend. We found a few things that we could not live without and then came home to get dinner ready....our only non-bbq meal of the weekend...seriously...tomorrow there will be a full Memphis BBQ roundup, so don't miss it!

These were the three places we sampled indulged in.

Saturday morning the boys headed out early to golf again, so Mom and I took a nice long walk around their neighborhood and then hit up a local antique mall warehouse. It was seriously one of the biggest antique places I have ever seen.  To describe it as overwhelming is an understatement.  We spent nearly 2 hours in it and only made it halfway through, but we still found some really cool stuff there!  I got some old books and some old-timey spectacles.  My Mom has had a stack of books with some spectacles on them in their house for years and I have always loved how it looks, so now I have a set of my own!   Luckily when we were about antiqued out the boys called and said they were ready for lunch, so we checked out and headed home.

Lunch on Saturday was Memphis BBQ Round 1:  Corky's Barbecue.  We opted for the Collierville location instead of the Memphis location because we were hungry and knew the latter would be packed. As usual, Corky's did not disappoint. We got a taste of everything: ribs, pulled pork shoulder, sausage, beans, slaw, and rolls. Oh those rolls.  They're some of my favorites in the whole wide world.

After lunch we headed down to Beale Street to get our fill of blues and some beer.  We stopped at a few places including B.B. Kings, Beale Street Tap Room, A. Schwab, and Jerry Lee Lewis's Club on Beale. We made a pit stop at the Peabody on our way to dinner and ended up getting to see the Peabody Ducks go back to their "penthouse" on the roof.  If you go to Memphis it's worth stopping to see.  Every morning the Duckmaster marches the ducks from the roof to the fountain in the middle of the hotel where they swim/sleep/play all day long.  Every evening he rounds them up marches them to elevator and takes them back to the roof.  It's hilarious to watch!  Make sure you get there early though because the lobby gets packed quickly.You can read all about the Ducks and the history of the Peabody Hotel HERE.

After the Ducks we walked across the street to our dinner destination.  A little restaurant the basement of a building whose entrance is in a back alley called the Rendezvous.  It is one of the more famous BBQ places in Memphis and has tons of history behind it. Once again we had ribs, pulled pork shoulder, sausage, beans, and slaw, but his time we also had brisket and chicken.  I think we had every meat they serve except for the lamb....we're not exactly lamb fans.  Dinner was so so good and since we were completely full we ended up heading back the to burbs.  We took Eric by our old house and my old high school so he could see where I spent my pre-teen and teenage years and we all crashed when we got back home.

Part of the Memphis Skyline looking at the Mississippi River from the top of the Peabody and Eric and I on Beale Street...such a fun day!

1. The Peabody sign from the top of the Peabody

2. The Peabody Ducks just swimming the day away in the fountain

3. Mom and Dad at the Peabody Fountain

4. B.B. Kings

5. Mom and I at the Peabody Fountain

6. The Peabody Ducks in their Penthouse

7.  Only in Memphis....Smokehouse BBQ Potato Chip flavored chocolate bar

Sunday the boys went golfing again so Mom and I ran some errands to pick up some Memphis staples that I can't get in Alabama.  I do realize that I have gone 10 years without these items, but now that I can get them I need them in my kitchen at all times.  We decided to have BBQ one last time before we headed home and picked up some from the Germantown Commissary which is one of my absolute favorites.  I am sure it's partially nostalgic since that's where we always got BBQ from when we lived there the 1st time, but their food is just so darn good! I love it!

Our assortment of BBQ sauces and rubs and our collection of Pancho's Cheese Dips and Salsa.

We packed up the car and headed home after lunch and pulled into town around 7pm Sunday night.  The puppy dogs were so happy to see us and we were glad to see them too. We finished off our weekend with leftover BBQ (what else?) and a family walk around the neighborhood.

I guess you could say this past weekend capped off our summer fun because today is the official start of football season. For the next 6 months one or both of us will have practice or a game every afternoon.  While I am excited about new seasons and I adore the football/basketball atmosphere, I am going to miss the ability to pick up and leave for the weekend on a whim.  We have certainly taken advantage of that this year.  I guess when you know you only have a certain window of time to do things like that you learn to take advantage of it and that we did.  We definitely went out with a bang this year!