Bright Light City Gonna Set My Soul...

Oh, how to describe my recent trip to Memphis to meet some of my bloggy pals? It was a fantastic time. I would love to include pictures with my narrative, but blogger is not being cooperative. I downloaded some, but they are lost in space. I'll try again later, or maybe they'll just pop up. We'll see. Anyways...

Friday we drove all day. My friend Caroline went with me to offer moral support and conversation on the long way down and back. Caroline is quiet and unassuming and calls me on my shit when I'm being a spaz. The drive wasn't bad, just long. There's just not a lot to see on the Blue Grass Parkway. Ironically when we arrived, Traci was in the car in front of us, and Karen pulled up in a taxi right behind. We met up with Cindy, who'd arrived earlier, and all went to Bahama Breeze. It was wild to see these women that I felt like I knew, but really didn't know at all. We had a great dinner and went back to the hotel. Susan had arrived while we were out, but Caroline and I were so tired we just said hello and made plans to meet in the lobby the next morning.

Saturday, Karen, Susan, Caroline and I hit Graceland with a vengeance. After a breakfast at the secret I-Hop, we ran around like tourists snapping pictures, getting temporary tattoos and giggling like we were in high school. Caroline and I hit the car museum, while Susan and Karen admired the airplanes. We dashed back to the hotel, freshened up and met up with Susan and Traci to head to downtown Memphis. We had lunch and the waiter was a hoot. He called me "love" and was gracious enough to snap pictures with 5 different cameras. We started a trends and 2 other tables whipped out digitals and hit him up for some snaps.

We had reserved a carriage ride through the city and once we piled into the seats, I bailed. Too tight a squeeze, and 20-30 feet into the ride my butt was asleep. I jumped out and tooled around the air conditioned Peabody hotel while the rest of the ladies toured Memphis. I am sure Chester the carriage pony was appreciative, and I had a great time. I shopped and talked Pencil Pointer puzzles with a Russian storekeeper who was whizzing through one in his native language (v. v. cool, btw), watched a very young wedding party in very expensive attire swig Bud out of the bottle, and watched the Peabody Ducks do their evening parade to their private penthouse. All in all, my hour alone was really fun.

After the carriage ride, we shopped a little more, and the ladies all chipped in and bought Ruby a gift, which was really sweet. If blogger wasn't being a bitch, I would proudly share a picture of her ducky t-shirt and puffy "Quack, Quack" Little Golden Book. Soon, soon. Thanks again, pals.

We walked to Beale St. and ended up BB King's Blues Club. We listened to music, Karen and Susan were Ikettes, drank a blue cocktail called "Lucille" and finally ate BBQ. Cindy split to shop without 3 boys clinging and pleading for mercy, and the rest of us hung out and rested our dogs. After a while, Susan, Caroline and I walked the length of Beale St looking at the bars and shops. I was amazed to see children running around, but the most shocking sight was seeing a pregnant woman chugging an industrial sized beer. Nice. We looked into the grimy windows of Coyote Ugly and saw the bartenders dancing stripper-style on the long bar, and a skinny Elvis impersonator that was kind enough to let Susan snap his picture. Around 11:00 we caught a cab and headed back to the hotel. I sat up front because I get carsick and chatted with our driver, Gregory. On the way out of the taxi, he handed me his card saying, "Here's my card. Give me a call if you're ever back in Memphis or you get a divorce." Wow, I haven't been hit on in forever. Thanks, Gregory, for capping off a great day.

The next morning Caroline and I dropped Susan off at the airport and headed home. I was exhausted, but would do it again in a heartbeat. I met some wonderful women who gave me a little bit of hope during this bleak time of waiting for Ruby. What a bunch of great broads. We have to do this again.