Dallas Ho

Lunch

It's 6:30 in our terrible Holiday Inn, Memphis. I am downstairs getting coffee after our Keurig kind of exploded when we started it up. Just one of the many things that went wrong with this room, like no hot water and a thermostat that wouldn't work despite three guys coming up to our room to 'fix it.' Oh, well, at least we don't have to stay here another night. 

Brief Stop At Quality Auto

Yesterday day's drive was uneventful, even really good. We stopped in Jackson, about two hours out of Nashville to have our brakes checked. We could not have found a better, nicer place. They checked our brakes, said they were safe but we would need new rotors and pads soon. They did not charge us for pulling off the wheels and looking at the brakes and recommended places to get barbecue in Memphis. We left smiling, ready to visit Memphis. 

We arrived around 1:00, took our bags upstairs, freshened up and coincidentally, the most famous Memphis barbecue place was literally next door, to Charlie Vergos's Rendevous. We walked in, and picked a seat at the bar in one of the many rooms, every stitch of walls covered with memorabilia from its opening in 1948. I ordered a barbecue sandwich, Evie a Greek salad, and we sat there, watching an older black gentleman, wash the glasses in the 20-foot-long bar. Yep, they had a dishwashing machine inside the oval bar. The waiters were all black and efficient and looked like they had been serving for quite a while. We took photos of each of the rooms, then were on our way to Beale Street, a ten-minute walk away. We just wanted to get a feel for the area and checked out various restaurants and bars to see which we might want to go to at night. We met a guy and patron outside a restaurant and they were fun to talk with and we took their photo because they were both so nice 

Come Into Our Restaurant

Beale Street At Night

We walked back to our room and relaxed as workers came up to fix our heating and hot water three times. Each time they left they said to watch the heat go down. Well, it didn't nor did the hot water come on. We tried to relax, took cold or lukewarm showers, and were on our way back to Beale Street by 5:45. We picked B, B, Kings for dinner, and because they had music starting at 4:30. Surprisingly, they charged us ten bucks a piece just to come in despite the fact we were having dinner. We sat at the bar, had a great waitress/bartender and, unfortunately, the band was loud and brassy, band we did not much like their music, all recommendations from the patrons. The food was decent. I had a blackened catfish and shrimp over rice and Evie had a hot chicken sandwich with fries. 

Home Of The Blues

We stayed till the band stopped then walked down a moderately busy Beale Street to the bar I wanted to visit, The Rum Boogie Cafe. It was a great choice as the Eric Hughes Band, four of them, played most blues and some of their own songs like our favorite "Did You Have To Take The Dog, Too? 

Eric Hughes Singing The Blues

The Band

A Buffalo Bills Fan

We first sat at the bar but it was hard to see the band so we then found a table in the front row and enjoyed their music until 8:45. We also had a great conversation with the black guitarist who stopped at our table to thank us for smiling as he played. He even turned out to be a Buffalo Bills fan. We were home by 9:15, happy to have found a great band, and were ready for an early bedtime.