32 of 52: niece week 2014.

My nieces - my cousin's daughters - came to Memphis for their yearly visit this week, so I took it upon myself to show them as much of Memphis as I could before my brother arrived home on Saturday night. We made a few tentative lists before they arrived so as to maximize our time, and then each day one of them would choose the following day's activities and meals.

[hello, family meal at gus's. it's good to be back]

In just a few short days we managed to visit the following places:

• Gus's Fried Chicken
• Blue Plate Cafe
• Stax Museum of American Soul Music
• The Arcade Restaurant
• Sun Studio
• Central BBQ
• Huey's

[oh, you know. biker night on beale st. no big deal]

[exterior of the stax museum, the birthplace of american soul music]

[collage of our day at the stax museum]

We also participated in two of Backbeat's tours - the Walking Ghost Tour and the Extended Mojo Tour - and we ran the Bardog Breakaway 5K for St Jude on Sunday, so I think we made the most of our days.

[the gayoso building downtown, home of one of memphis' newest - and most vicious - ghosts] 

[outside grawemeyer's, home of memphis' haunted piano]

[our day on the extended mojo tour included a lot of memphis history, both music and otherwise] 

[the million dollar quartet: elvis jamming with jerry lee lewis, carl perkins, and johnny cash. what i wouldn't give to have been a fly on that wall]

[the dj booth from where dewey phillips first broadcast 'that's alright mama' and then interviewed elvis for the first time] 

[pretending to be the musical host of the tour. i was pretty awesome]

[with my girls after our 5k on sunday]

And on Saturday, they surprised my brother at the airport. We timed their visit so that it would coincide with the Brother's trip home, and we managed to keep it a secret from him for the last 2 months, so he had no idea. They made a sign for him, borrowed a sombrero from my room, and accompanied my mother and me to the airport.

[mother and me at the aerotropolis]

[hiding from the brother]

[complete and total surprise]

other highlights included: sleeping in my own bed again; saw the Walsh siblings and Dillard at the race on Sunday; Brother Bear came home; started updating my resume.

[pretty sunrise on my friday morning walk with my mother]

Probably my greatest accomplishment from the week was introducing the girls to the awesome-ness that is The Mighty Ducks. 9-year-old me was ecstatic.
xx