Jake was headed to CO last weekend for business so we arose bright and early at 2:30 last Monday morning to get him to the airport in Charlotte and get me back in time to go to work. I drove back to Charlotte on Thursday night after work to pick him up to head to Memphis. We made it to Knoxville where we stayed overnight and then headed out bright and early the next morning. It was kind of a killer since we didn't get to sleep until 1 and got up at 6 to get on the road. Yuck.
By the way, Tennessee is a freaking long state. We drove from the northeast to the southwest corner...seems like the longest way through the state possible. I even got to drive through Nashville. That really made me thrilled. Luckily we were only on the edge of rush hour at 8:30 on a Friday morning because Jake had a work phone call to make. I don't think it went as smoothly as it could have for him because I was "silent screaming" swear words and wildly pointing at signs that we contradicting one another through downtown.
We got there just in time for lunch and lounging in the pool with some brewskis. It was great to catch up with Molly and my folks. Chad had to work so he was stuck being productive while the rest of us were being lazy. We caught up with him and headed out to the famed Rendezvous for some delicious ribs. It was like a Gates Brothers BBQ restaurant on steroids. Lots of yelling and running around, hurrying and BBQ smoke...oh, and deliciousness.
Saturday was super busy. The boys headed to play golf and the girls headed out for some shopping. I was glad that we drove and didn't fly because I got to pick up a few things that wouldn't have fit in a suitcase at all. It was great to shop with my mom and sister. Not that Jake isn't helpful, but it's helpful to get opinions from people that are both brashly honest, patient, and not married to you! We got overly involved and were starving like crazy when we finally ate at 3:30.
Molly lives downtown and has some really cool bars/restaurants nearby that were fantastic. The Blue Monkey and The Saucer were super, and if anyone is ever in Memphis near Beale but doesn't want the Beale insanity, they are where to go. We did make it down to Beale. It was nuts at 6:30 at night. Unfortunately it is impossible to describe but totally hysterical. There was a bum trying to charge Molly to park on a public street, crazy people dancing in the street, impromptu gymnastics performed in the middle of the street, a bar with goats, and the police setting up the mobile command center from which they will coordinate the policeman on horses pushing everyone off of Beale at 3 a.m. Yeah, we stayed for about 30 minutes. Not really my scene.
Molly tells me that people try to sell you all sorts of stuff. They pick flowers out of in front of the buildings and try to sell them, sell parking spots that are on public streets, newspapers, collect for music or wacky mid-street gymnastics..anything short of the air. Molly is hysterical about it. She about beat Jake up for offering to give one guy some money to leave us alone...it was awesomely funny.
Sunday we ate some more BBQ and got ready to head home. Molly was super about everything. There were a lot of folks in her tiny apartment, she fixed breakfast every morning (biscuits, eggs, ham, fruit), came up with stuff to do, and drug our butts all over Memphis showing us the sights. We had a great time.
Driving home was LONG. We drove to Knoxville again (stayed in the same hotel) and then got up and headed home the "scenic way". We drove through the Smokey Mountains National Park, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and all the other mountain stuff. I about threw up 100 times as the road is wildly curvy. I don't know how people live out there. It is gorgeous, but so far away from everything. What would you do if you forgot milk at the store? It's at least 30 minutes to the store..yuck. It was amazingly not "hilly billy" looking. The houses out there are actually really nice. Pigeon Forge was Branson on crack, but Gatlinburg was more like a CO ski town.. We finally made it home tonight and I am excited to go to sleep.
Nothing like a little vacation to totally wear you out!
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