CUBA LIBRE CHRONICLES
22 Dec
2015 - Tuesday - MKE to Memphis
Three
days before Christmas and what could be better than to start a boat adventure
with a road trip? In my mind? Not
much! I personally have never been a slave
to holiday convention, my Dad being a fireman for the city of Milwaukee for 25
years, so we celebrated whichever holiday whenever he was not working. Missing
a holiday by a day or two or three was no big deal in our family. In some families, however, it is a very big deal. I learned that lesson many, many years ago
when I convinced Kristine to accompany me to Thailand for a three week vacation
that just happened to fall over Thanksgiving.
She had spent every Thanksgiving of her life celebrating with her family
or with the Brother and Sister-in-law at their magnificent Thanksgiving Dinner
Extravaganza. Tradition or not, she
agreed to go with me and we spent that particular Thanksgiving dining in a
famous outdoor restaurant abutting the Golden Triangle in Chang Mai, Thailand
near the border with Myanmar, nee Burma. As in many South East Asia
restaurants, the day’s fresh ingredients were on display in large woks as one
passed into the dining area proper.
Kristine’s eyes relayed her horror as large insects and big bugs were
the main course in several of those huge wok pans. Her First Thanksgiving Dinner away from family
was going south fast. Rushing her past
the last few display woks we ultimately tasted and savored several spectacular
dishes but she never got up the courage to sample the deep fried larvae. When Kris relayed the day’s events to her
rellies, her brother and sister-in-law did not speak to me for months
afterwards. Not only had I absconded
with her to violate their life-long tradition but I forced her to eat bugs on a
hallowed holiday!
Times
have changed since the close-knit family of her youth has been severely
depleted by age and today, leaving before
Christmas Holiday was her first choice.
And so, after packing Oreo off to my son’s house, loading the Mini Cooper
well beyond any reasonable load limit, we pointed the car south towards
Memphis, our first stop. Situated on the
eastern bank of the Mississippi River, the city has several claims to fame
other than Graceland. Thanks to our good friend Chuck’s Memphis cousins, we
were admonished to not miss three of them.
 |
| Logo of distinction needs explanation |
First,
the Peabody Hotel, an elegant old dowager with a rooftop attraction and a 360
degree view of the heart of the city.
The roof top attraction was the gilded glass enclosure (aka “duck palace”)
for a small flock of ducks who march through the hotel lobby every day at five
o’clock to the patio. Following a
uniformed bellhop, they start on the roof, trail him onto the elevator, exit on
the first floor, waddle resolutely behind him through the packed bar and lobby amid
the stares and camera flashes of a standing room only crowd of tourists to
their early evening spa. To say pampered
would be a gross understatement.
 |
| Off to the roof |
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| We should all have a "duck palace" |
The
second “do not miss” entailed my favorite event… food intake. The Rendezvous is an old time Memphis BBQ legend. One can find good BBQ throughout the southern
half of our country (and some places north of the Mason –Dixon line) but one
should NEVER pass up the opportunity to experience a “legend.” Picture taken just prior to letting out my
belt one more notch.
 |
| Rendezvous deserved the "legend" sobriquet |
 |
| Cover up |
The New Orleans Latin
Quarter immediately came to mind. As luck would have it, we were able to
discover a couple of cold draft beers, two warm barstools and a hot country band
on stage.
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| Selfie aim distorted by beer intake volume |
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| Beale Street after closing |
Not a bad way to spend the first night of one’s sea passage, even if it
was “only” 60 degrees this late December night!. We Yankees are easy to please.
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