![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.zurekbrau.com\/blogs\/richsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/Guitar-at-desk-in-Gibsons.jpg\" "\\"Guitar")
<\/a>Last full day in Memphis.\u00a0 Rich says I’m leaving out a lot of details that he thinks I should include.\u00a0 I think it’s fine or it would be a novel.\u00a0 I don’t time for a novel!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rick is taking over my house!\u00a0 So I called Rick late last night since we had been out wondering around town again.\u00a0 Sascha is doing fine without me.\u00a0 Good to know. But not to break her routine of sleeping under\u00a0my side of the bed, he moved in there for the week.\u00a0 She appreciated that since she just couldn’t figure out where to be. Now he tells me that he has moved his guitars into my room.\u00a0 He moved his computer and the PS3 into the living room.\u00a0 Wait,\u00a0 this is only for a week, right?<\/p>\n
Some of us woke up a little later today.\u00a0\u00a0Couldn’t be those later nights out listening to blues and have a libation or two.\u00a0 We walked down to The Street for breakfast at Miss Sally’s Soul Food.\u00a0 Rich was thinking about chicken and waffles, but opted for a BBQ special omelette.\u00a0 That’s right,\u00a0 BBQ pork right inside the folded eggs with gravy on top.\u00a0 I got the Down South, which was sausage in the omelette.\u00a0 It was good.<\/p>\n
After breakfast, we ambled over to the\u00a0 Gibson Guitar Museum again.\u00a0 This time, we went on the factory tour where they show how a guitar is made from start to finish.\u00a0 The tour takes you right on the factory floor in between the stations.\u00a0 It’s a small factory there of only about 65 workers who make the most beautiful things.\u00a0 It was fun to watch the paint booth painting up guitars.\u00a0 The details are incredible. We saw a lavendar guitar made up for Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters.\u00a0 Too bad you couldn’t take one home with you as a souvenir.<\/p>\n
We continued our amble back up to the Peabody Hotel.\u00a0\u00a0 This is a large and rather fancy hotel across the street from our rather modest hotel.\u00a0 As a tradition dating back 79 years, they have a group of ducks that they bring down in the morning and put to bed every evening.\u00a0 The ducks remain in the lobby fountain all day enjoying the guests.\u00a0 We had missed the parade until now.\u00a0 We were determined to watch the 5:00 ceremony to take them back\u00a0 up to their penthouse suite.\u00a0 That’s right, the Peabody ducks living in a special dwelling on the penthouse.\u00a0 In the 1930s, a trainer for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus trained a set of ducks to get on an elevator, come to the lobby and then return by elevator to their penthouse suite.\u00a0 This is the parade that you see everyday at 11:00 and 5:00.\u00a0 We talked to the Duck Master for a few minutes and got all the details we need for the parade.<\/p>\n
After a rest at our hotel for a little while, it was time to go back out to The Street for our new 3:00 habit.\u00a0 We returned to Silky’s Oyster Bar for oysters on the half shell and beer accompanied by some blues music from Bill and Lawrence.\u00a0 Yep, the duo now recognized us from the day before and had to stop by our table to chat.\u00a0 We are getting well known on Beale Street.\u00a0 So yesterday was my first day trying the oysters.\u00a0 This time, we got a full dozen and took our time eating them.\u00a0 The larger ones don’t really taste like anything.\u00a0 However, the small ones taste like you are sitting by the ocean.\u00a0 It was wonderful.\u00a0 I just don’t know how I’m going to keep up my new 3:00 habit back home.<\/p>\n
Now it was about 4:15.\u00a0 We had plenty of time to walk back to the Peabody and get a place to watch the duck parade.\u00a0 We actually arrived a little early and decided to look in the shops of the hotel lobby.\u00a0 Rich went into Lansky’s.\u00a0 Now, Mr. Lansky had the privilege to dress Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis.\u00a0 That ought to tell you something to start with.\u00a0 So he finds this beautiful bowling shirt with embroidiered landmarks of Memphis.\u00a0 It was nice and 100% silk.\u00a0 Then the shock set in when he revealed the price tag.\u00a0 Nope, he just couldn’t justify $140 for a shirt that he couldn’t think of one place to wear it.<\/p>\n
So we get our place at the end of the ropes where the red carpet is rolled out.\u00a0 The ducks are excited and bobbing their heads up and down.\u00a0 The Duck Master does his introduction and presents an honorary certificate to someone.\u00a0 Then the steps are put into the water and the ducks walk up and out of the fountain.\u00a0 They proceed to waddle up the red carpet to the bank of elevators, where a door has been left open for their use.\u00a0 The nightly duck\u00a0parade ceremony is completed for public viewing.<\/p>\n
Did I mention that Kix Brooks was in town?\u00a0 His tour bus was parked outside of the lobby entrance when we came in for the duck parade.\u00a0 I didn’t see him personally, but there were a lot of cowboys with silver-tipped boots walking around the lobby and bar area talking in funny accents.<\/p>\n
Now it was time for dinner.\u00a0 We returned to The Street for our last evening out.\u00a0 We went to the King’s Palace Cafe for a little seafood.\u00a0 When you looked at pictures of Beale Street from the 20s and 30s, this building and name are there. We started off with gator bites. These were bite-sized pieces of alligator that had been deep fried.\u00a0 Quite tasty, though a little chewier than I had thought they might be.\u00a0 We finished up dinner with some bread pudding.\u00a0 The bourbon sauce covering the dessert was wonderful.\u00a0 It wasn’t a bad last meal for us in Memphis.<\/p>\n
Since it was too early to hit Mr. Handy’s Blues Hall, we returned to The Flying Saucer where I had seen a drink I just had to try.\u00a0 We walked in to find the place packed.\u00a0 Our luck, Memphis was playing a home basketball game that night.\u00a0 Everyone was hitting the Saucer before walking over to the Forum for the game.\u00a0 We found seats at an island and waited for the server to come by.\u00a0 Turns out the guy next to us was in a talkative mood.\u00a0\u00a0This stranger\u00a0mentioned a coconut beer and Rich ordered that.\u00a0 Me, I ordered a Black Velvet.\u00a0 I have a new favorite drink.\u00a0 A Black Velvet is half champagne and half Guiness.\u00a0 It was wonderful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We continued to have a conversation with the Stranger next to us, who had a lot of information.\u00a0 There are plates all over the ceiling celebrating each individual who drank beers by the 200s.\u00a0 The stranger had a 5-plate, which indicated 1,000 beers.\u00a0 When he found out that Rich liked hoppy beers, he recommended the Yazoo Hop Project.\u00a0 It was the perfect choice for Rich.\u00a0 So the basketball game started and we got into that for a while.\u00a0 Then it was 8:00 and time to go.\u00a0 We never got the stranger’s name.<\/p>\n
Back out on Beale Street, we made our way through the crowd of basketball fans still streaming down to the Forum.\u00a0 We ducked into Mr. Handy’s Blues Hall and Juke Joint right before the band was starting up.\u00a0 This time, we were able to find a table right off.\u00a0 We settled in to listen to Chris McDaniel and the Bluesmasters.\u00a0 After the first set, Chris came by the table to ask how we were.\u00a0 He noticed us from the other night and was checking in since we had returned.\u00a0 We told him our plans and how much we enjoyed the band and the music they played.\u00a0 He thanked us for our support and hoped we enjoyed tonight as well.\u00a0 It was great.\u00a0 A little bit of blues and little bit of soul.\u00a0 We had a great time.<\/p>\n
Then we stumbled our way back to the hotel.\u00a0 Definitely going to miss walking around Memphis, seeing the sights, all the Southern hospitality, and hearing the great blues.\u00a0 It is so nice walking Beale Street and getting into places without a cover charge.\u00a0 When can we come back?<\/p>\n<\/a>