Day 19/20: Nashville, TN to Memphis, TN (x2)

Outline: Nashville, TN to Memphis, TN and environs


OK, so this is going to be another one of those "no-pictures" posts, because I forgot my camera in the car and can't be bothered to dig it out. Shame, too, because this post is mostly a story about food.

I left Nashville around noon because I spent a huge amount of time coordinating my arrival in Memphis as well as what I'd actually try to see while there. I decided that the first order of business would be to sample some famous Memphis barbecue, and that to facilitate this, breakfast would just be a snack-size bag of chips in the car. There was nothing much interesting about the drive from Nashville to Memphis. There were a ton of cops (average 1-2 police cars/mile) within a 20-30 mile radius of either city, because there was an Amber Alert about a kidnapping earlier that day; other than that, completely uneventful.

The first stop in Memphis was Tom's Bar-B-Q. I picked this place from a crowded field because every one of its reviews on Yelp was 5 stars. The strategy: two meat combo plate, beef brisket and beef ribs. The plan was foiled by a shortage of beef ribs, so I made a decision that's often very risky at BBQ restaurants: I went for the chicken, which oftentimes can be dry or flavorless. Really good move here, though. The brisket was good - nicely shredded and not dried out, with tasty sauce. The corn on the cob was just average, and the cole slaw was very good. The chicken, though, took it to the next level. I'm pretty sure it's the best BBQ chicken I've yet had - flavorful and tender all the way through. Needless to say, I was pretty well satisfied by lunch.

After lunch, I booked it across town to check out the last tour of the day at the Gibson guitar factory in downtown, where I was informed that I should just come tomorrow, as the 4p tour is sort of boring since all the workers have taken off by that point. At least they're upfront about it. This left me with a couple hours to kill before my cousin got off work, so I wandered down to Tom Lee park by the riverfront. It's a nice park, and you can see across the Mississippi River into Arkansas. After a bit of relaxation, the eating continued with some onion rings and a soda at Huey's in downtown. Good onion rings. Giant, too. After this, my cousin informed me that she was off work, and invited me up to see the view of the city from her 29th-floor office (really a much more exciting story with a picture, no?), and then we headed out for home.

After saying hello to the grandparents and dithering around for a while (read: starting laundry and watching TV), it was time for actual dinner (note: third meal in 5 hours). We went out to a Chinese restaurant. Too much food was ordered. Most of it was eaten.

My phone decided to have a hissy fit overnight and drain its battery, so I never got my alarm in the morning. I woke up at 10:30 and was treated to a massive breakfast by my grandmother. It would have been rude to decline, of course, so I didn't get out the door till noon.

First stop was the Gibson factory. This time I actually made it onto the tour, which was pretty interesting - they take you through all the steps in the construction of a semi-hollow electric guitar. Unfortunately, they don't allow photographs. After this, I went to the National Civil Rights Museum, at the Lorraine Motel - the site of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. Unfortunately, they also don't allow pictures, but I was able to spend 3 hours and not even notice it. It's a very, very well done exhibit.

After the NCRM, it was time for another snack. This time, I went to Miss Polly's Soul Food Cafe, on Beale St - again on the power of an online recommendation, I picked up the combination fried dill pickle/green tomato basket. I don't even like pickles, and these were fantastic. The tomatoes were even better. I guess things really are better fried. Snacktime past, I went over to the house of my other set of cousins in Memphis, where we basically killed time playing video games until dinner - this time, Italian. After dinner, we came home, and I stayed up revising a paper till 2 or 3 in the morning. Hurrah.

Tomorrow: Germantown, TN to New Orleans, LA