polk salad annie...

saturday the fam & i drove to memphis. we like memphis. we went there two years ago & enjoyed ourselves- zach being 16 was a hindrance to our fun, but we worked through those issues. last year we went to new orleans over easter weekend & then left the next day for l.a. the fam loves any place that has good music & good food. i was thrilled that zach is 18 now- so he's less of a liability.

saturday night we went to issac hayes. because even if he is a scientologist, he knows his music & food. as usual my mom was the whitest person in the room- which always makes me smile, because she's completely unaware. highlight: our waitress trying to get my 6'5" 165 lbs. pixies t-shirt wearing lil' bro to dance to "too much booty in the pants."

sunday we started at the gibson guitar factory. we've done the blues museum & even graceland. so this seemed to be the next logical step. the tour was actually interesting. highlight: z attempting to explain fret logistics to my mum


we had lunch at the king palace cafe. after 8pm its 21 & up, so it has to be our lunch destination, unless we leave z outside. which is somewhat tempting but seems rather cruel. i love gumbo. i love gumbo. i love gumbo. highlight: their prize-winning gumbo



sunday afternoon, zach's girlfriend andrea drove up. we went to bb kings for dinner. our timing was perfect. we landed a table by the corner of the stage. we ate (gumbo for me) and watched the band set up. the guitarist looked like a frat boy. short. white. wearing a properly worn and frayed polo. and properly frayed and worn jeans. and birks. annie, z and i were all concerned. we had come to bb's to hear blues not a wannabe hootie. but he sounded like an old black man and had a creepy bass player so we were cool. highlight: the beale street flippers (ever see The Firm?) flipping indoors and over andrea


monday we ventured to the memphis zoo. when z and i were little we lived in new orleans and had a zoo pass. i love the zoo. mom likes the lions, elephants and other big african animals. z likes anything odd, but has an especially soft place in his heart for the howler monkies. annie was highly entertained by the waterfowl exhibit. and dad as usal loves the exotic birds. i liked the pandas and the new polar bears. highlight: the nocturnal exhibit complete with bat cave.

monday night we ate at the blue fin. kinda south beach meets japan... good sushi and fish and creme brulee. highlight: my hick accent. i asked the waiter if he had a "light japanese beer." he says "we have several japanese beers." "ok. do you have a light one" waiter wears confused "do you have a mental handicapp that i cannt visibly perceive look" finally he interprets my hick and says "oh... a light beer." please remember that i was in memphis not minnesota.

we ended our evening at dad's favorite haunt, the rum boogie cafe. dad wears his t-shirt from here all the time that says "eat. drink. boogie. repeat." i love kimo! the billy gibson band was playing and we stayed all the way through the second set. i like that all four of us can sit and listen and be happy. annie fits in pretty well too. highlight: the guitar player's huge tatoo. it covered his entire forearm. it was a jesus fish with wwjd in the middle.