I am Memphis' newest fan.

We had a good trip. The conference was fine, J.'s meeting was fine, but Memphis was cool. Or maybe we were just starved for city-type activities? Regardless, we enjoyed it more than we expected.

We were downtown for most of our stay. We used the trolley for transportation down Main Street. For O., the trolley was a Big Deal, and he loved riding on it.



We walked on Beale Street and enjoyed being in a mixer of music.


We saw the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated. O. ate at his first Hard Rock Cafe (so-so food, but the memorabilia was worth it--the Blues Brothers suits, hats, and sunglasses were my favorite).


J. and O. also visited the Memphis Fire Museum, and O. went ape over the fire trucks, which he could climb all over.

We could have stayed at least another day or two. The Children's Museum and the Mud Island River Park looked interesting with O. in mind. We drove by Graceland, but didn't have time to tour it. I would have liked the Civil Rights Museum and Sun Studios.

O. has been talking about the trip off and on ever since. Sometimes he tells the story of riding the elevator in the hotel ("Door open. Push the button. Up, up, up, ding, ding! Door open again. Down, down, down, ding, ding! Lobby!") And sometimes he speaks mournfully to all of the things he say "Bye-bye fire trucks. Bye-bye elemater. Bye-bye trolley train."

Mid-tunnel update

Two trips down, four to go. We have the two hardest and longest trips done, at least. The next one is the second and last of the family trips, and it is followed by a quick turnaround and out-the-door for J., who has a work trip this weekend.

I was able to do a small amount of gardening this weekend. My order from Wayside Gardens finally came in. This order was the refund for the maple tree fiasco. We didn't want to risk another maple tree order through the mail again, and instead ordered a barberry, a couple of hostas (one bareroot, yikes), and a couple of packets scilla and allium bulbs. I planted the hostas under the giant bonsai tree (item #4). The barberry replaces the thuja that croaked this summer. We're still very short for rain (I can't remember the last time it rained, in fact, but it was at least two weeks ago). I need to finish fertilizing everything and we'll have leaves to rake soon. There's whispers of adding a screen door to the front entrance during Thanksgiving break. Other than that, my immediate house plans only include trying to keep it moderately clean.