22 of 52: britney finally comes to memphis.

Even though Britney has stayed at my house many times in the last 3 years on her way to and from Knoxville, she's never really gotten a chance to see Memphis. She stayed at Dylan's a few years ago and at least went to Earnestine and Hazel's, but she's never been to Graceland, to Sun Studios, to my favourite bbq haunts, or generally to any of the many awesome places around the city.

Never, that is, until this weekend.

Finally, after months of trying to figure out a weekend for her to come visit, it finally worked out [and only a month before she moves to Knoxville! talk about a close call]. She was free. I was free. Neither of us had prior commitments or trips planned. And so, finally, Britney came to Memphis.

We didn't make any concrete plans, since we weren't sure what the weather would do. It's been raining on-and-off pretty much every day for the last two weeks, but it's been weirdly intermittent, so it's difficult to plan anything outdoors since you never know what's going to happen. So because of all that, we just decided to play it by ear and see where we ended up.

We started with lunch at the Bar-B-Q Shop in Midtown so Britney could try a sandwich on Texas toast. Lunch was lovely, and we stuffed ourselves silly.

From there we found ourselves in Sweet Noshings at Overton Square. We have been going through bags of their popcorn like nobody's business in our house and I needed to restock, and I knew Britney would enjoy sampling their offerings. I picked up a bag of Memphis Mix and a bag of BCR [bacon cheddar ranch] for us, and Bee got a mixed bag to take back to Little Rock. side note: in addition to all the other goodies, Sweet Noshings also serves ice cream now!

[and the selection changes every day!]

Following that we took a little tour of Rhodes so I could show Bee where I spent my crazy undergraduate days. We took a stroll around campus, and I got to brush off my tour guide skills -- I even walked backward for about 100 meters. I'm pretty sure we also got mistaken for college students / recent graduates, which made both of us feel pretty good about ourselves.

[the paul barret jr library. it was a giant hole in the ground during my days at rhodes, but it sure is pretty to look at now]

We had some time to kill before I needed to take my bridesmaid dress for alteration, so of course we stopped at Muddy's for a cupcake. We split a Strawberry Fields Forever cupcake, and it was delicious. I generally go with chocolate cupcakes, and the strawberry icing was a nice change.

Once we dropped off my dress, we decided to head downtown to wander around Beale St for a bit. I love Beale during the day, before it gets overtaken by college kids and tourists and bachelor / bachelorette parties. During the day it's low-key and chilled out, and you also don't have to pay covers at any of the places. Beale is a great part of Memphis, and I enjoy being able to share the nice parts of it with non-Memphians.

[beale st by day]

First we went to Silky's and had a few drinks at the bar in the courtyard. There was a band playing, so we listened to them and chatted for a bit. And then we wandered over to Alfred's and had a drink up on their patio. Since it wasn't crowded, we got a table up against the rail and enjoyed looking out over the street and observing the happenings.

[the view from the patio at alfred's]

We were beginning to feel a bit peckish, so we walked our way over to Gus's for some fried chicken. You can never go wrong with Gus's, and we loved it. I also tried fried green tomatoes for the first time, and they were pretty good. But nothing can beat that fried chicken. Nothing. [also, my entire dinner cost $7. that's amazing]

[one of my many happy places in memphis]

And when we walked out of Gus', we spotted a beautiful horizon down by the river. With the crazy clouds and the sun going down, it was an absolutely gorgeous sight, so we crossed over the railroad tracks and walked over to Vance Park to take some pictures overlooking the bluffs. [and the pictures don't even do it justice]

[sunset down by the river]

[view of the new bridge at sunset]

Our last stop for the day was Slider Inn. Jane, Regina, and Dillard went there after listening to Will Hoge at the Moon River Festival, so we joined them for a drink before heading home. It was a long but fun day, and even though we didn't see Graceland or Sun Studios or any of the other main stops, I think we did pretty well.

And today we joined a group at Local on the Square for a fabulous farewell brunch for Regina. She just accepted a job at Pfeiffer University in North Carolina and is leaving at the beginning of July, so Meg and Jane organized a brunch on Local's patio for her. It was good fun, and the food was awesome, and it was a nice way to wrap up Bee's visit to town.

Now let's just hope it doesn't take her so long to come back again.

other highlights included: a relaxing weekend at home; dinner at Slider Inn; hung out on the Island for a few days and enjoyed walking along the Mighty Mississippi; got in a few long runs; Regina's farewell brunch; summer plans coming together.

[wandered around rhodes and wound up in fisher garden. 10 years ago i walked across that stage and received my undergraduate degree]

[got to take a few strolls along my favourite water body when i stayed down on the island]

[bee and i decided to straighten my hair to see how long it is. i think this might be the longest i've ever had it]

Here's wishing you and yours a wonderful week ahead.
xx