Day 2 Walking in Memphis
April 27. 2013
Considering our excitement and the fact that it was our first night camping we slept pretty well. We were however, woken much earlier than we wanted by a screaming baby. Once the baby calmed down we proceeded to over-sleep. During breakfast we searched for different cave tours. Our requirements were: 1) that it was earlier enough that we could get some miles under our belts before stopping again, 2) relatively short, 3) relatively cheap, 4) super cool. We found one such tour that was billed as "good for the very young and the elderly" because it did not require taxing hiking in the caves. The Frozen Niagara Tour explores the "wet" part of the cave (which is the cooler part because all the "drip" formations require the work of our friend H2O). More on the Frozen Niagara later.
Second on the breakfast agenda was the "mystery fruit". The short backstory of the mystery fruit is that Liz brought a bag of fruit. Mostly apples, oranges, the like, but it also included a oblate/disk-shaped orange fruit that we could just not identify. The presence of this mystery made breakfast an intriguing prospect. We placed the fruit in the center of our picnic table and eyed it warily, taking of spoonfuls of peanut butter to steel ourselves before cutting into the strange flesh. Finally the anticipation was too much. Liz opened her pocket knife and made an incision. Check that. She made a gash. The first cut into the fruit was clumsy, but only because we did not know what kind of pit, if any, there would be. Turns out there was a big flat pit that thwarted Liz's initial attempt. Knowing the cut was doomed she cut her losses (nudge, nudge) and half ripped, half cut out a wedge. Then I tore at the fruit and procured my own piece. We bite into the fruit, sweet nectar pouring over our hands. Our teeth stripped the soft sweet fruit from the leathery flesh. Immediately we thought of the fruit and of how silly we were for not having guessed its identity earlier. It’s a PAPAYA! Of course. And a delicious one at that. We continued happily hacking away at the papaya as we packed up camp, getting traces of juice on almost everything.
As we packed up one of us spied a bight blue robin's egg right next to one of the picnic benches. It was a miracle no one had stepped in it while traversing the space between the tent and the car. The egg was so small and fragile, so perfect. We tried to tiptoe around it, but unfortunately it got stepped on and smushed. Luckily I was able to snap a picture of the egg before its demise.
With camp packed we headed up to the visitors center amidst a fine mist of rain that was more refreshing that burdensome. Besides we were going on an underground tour; rain wouldn't bother us there. We check in for our tour and then wander the visitor center. The information there is a mix of human history and geology. We head outside to a pavilion where our tour group will meet. A green school bus pulls up and out pops Ranger Joe Brown, our guide. He is basically an adorable southern gentleman who makes terribly corny jokes as we ride out to the cave entrance.
We enter the cave through a door built into the side of an escarpment, walk down some ramps, and are greeted by some beautiful cave popcorn. Cave popcorn is not actual popcorn. It is a dripstone feature that looks like popcorn. The ceiling of the cave is low and it seems you can feel the weight of the earth above you pressing down on your head. We walk about 50 feet and Ranger Joe tells everyone to stop and put away their phones, cameras, flashlights, etc. Then he turns out the lights in the cave. Boy is it dark. I cannot imagine how you could ever find your way out if your light failed. When the lights are turned back on Ranger Joe Points out another guest in the cave: the cave crickets. They cover the ceiling and are only about a foot from our heads. I think they look more like spiders than crickets and they may actually be spiders. The walk through the cave has many spectacular sites. There is a waterfall and pool, lots of stalactites and stalagmites, water pouring through the ceiling, and then there is the Drapery Room.
You walk down about 50 steps into a small circular hollow. The walls are all dripstone and are fairy pretty, but more of the same. Then you look up. The ceiling of the Drapery Room is how it got its name. It is covered in undulating drapes of limestone still dripping and being formed by the groundwater. Packed down there with 20 other people and only cell phone cameras we could not capture the true beauty of the formation, but that didn’t keep us from trying.
Back at the visitor center we say goodbye to Mammoth Caves and start trying to find the highway. On our way out we pass by an old cemetery and a church on the park grounds. Liz and I love cemeteries, especially old ones like this so we stop to check it out despite the now pouring rain. We fond the grave of Floyd Collins, who is famous because he died after getting stuck in the caves. Then back on the road headed for Nashville.
It rains and it rains and then it rains some more. We stop in Nashville for lunch and supplies and as soon as we leave Target it just downpours. So we sit in the car and eat our canned fish and crackers, deafened by the rain on the car roof. Liz takes this time to text her first friend, Joe, who is the whole reason we took the southern route to LA. He did an Americorps program in the southern region and especially loved Tennessee. He gives us the name and number of someone he did the program with who is now a group leader in Memphis. Her name is Ana. We give her a call and she invites us to stay with them (for free!) and hang out after they are done with their project for the day.
When we arrive in Memphis we drop the car in a parking garage (called parking is fun! No joke) and start to wander around the city. We walk alongside the mighty Mississippi, which is lined with dozens of port-a-pottys. I think that had something to do with the construction going on and that there had been a concert/festival earlier that day. We wander through Confederate Park. There are lots of carriages in Memphis and all the drives have dogs with them.
Random things we saw on the walk:
A man on a bike finishes a brown-bagged tall boy and tosses it from the elevated park to the trolley tracks ~30 feet below. We continue walking; working our way from the river deeper into the city.
In another mini park we watch as a squirrel struggles to drag a giant turkey drumstick up a tree. It is clearly too heavy for him, but makes for a funny sight.
We obviously eat BBQ for dinner. I am so happy that Liz is no longer a vegetarian because it would be cruel to make her watch me gorge myself on BBQ. The place we choose is called Rendezvous. It's on a half street/half alley that is filled with people waiting for a table. There is also a loud speaker that shouts the name of the next party into the alley. Crude and efficient. The design of this restaurant is actually ingenious. In addition to the pedestrian-only waiting space outside, the whole first floor of the restaurant is filled with tables and chairs and a small bar that serves a limited selection of beer and wine. Liz and I grab a beverage while we wait. It is loud inside and even the loudspeaker is downed out by the din. Somehow we hear our table and get seated. We basically order a large platter with beef brisket, pork ribs, and pull pork to share, an appetizer of BBQ nachos and some more wine. We also get sides of baked beans and coleslaw. It is so much food and it is so good. Finger-licking good. It was Liz's birthday, so obviously I treated her to dinner.
After dinner we wandered famed Beale Street and grabbed a giant beer. Beale Street is strange. The street is lined with bars, but they pump their music out into the street and there are beer vendors on the sidewalks. So between those two things you never have to actually go into a bar (except to use a bathroom). The road is closed to traffic and there must be some sort of moratorium on open container laws because people are just drinking everywhere.
Random observations from Beale Street:
-There was some sort of sorority/fraternity formal going on so lots of young'n'beautiful people were out and dressed to impress.
-Some guy did about 20 back flips and twits down the center of the street to raise money for muscular dystrophy research.
-We passed Coyote Ugly (HELL NO H2O!)
-In addition to the music being pumped out of the bars, there were bands just playing on the street. Lots of blues and rock.
-Every sign was neon and made for a sort of fuzzy warm glow around everything.
Rain threatened and it sprinkled for about 30 seconds, but it turned out to be a beautiful evening. My beer was too big for me so I made Liz finish it. Then we drove to meet Ana, Joe's friend.
The Americorps group is based out a of a Museum/park (T.O. something). It is about 10 minutes outside the city but may as well be in another world. From the bright lights and busy sidewalks of Beale Street we are abruptly met by industrial factories (including a Valero refining station) and wooded areas. No houses, no businesses, no street lights.
Ana is out to greet us with a big smile and open arms. We drop our stuff off and then she introduces us to the rest of the group. In fifteen minutes all the ladies of the group are ready to head out for our ladies night at Purple Haze. We pile into an eleven passenger van and travel back into the city while Ke$ha. Ana parallel parks the gigantic van with the greatest of ease. We don't know exactly where the club is so as we are crossing a street Ana asks someone, "Do you know where I can find Purple Haze?", he looks shocked and kind of offended, but then we spot the club and bound away. He definitely thought we meant weed and not a club. The Americorps peoples had been working at a film festival for the day and got free passes to the club/after party. Since the guys were not going out, Liz and I inherited their passes. Basically we danced to top 40 and 90's hits and celebrated Liz's birthday with Kentucky Bourbon (of course).
We return to the museum and pass out after a thoroughly fun day.
*Memphis was probably my favorite stop on the way out. There was so much to do and so many fun new people to hang out with. Also, the food was out of this world. I would eat BBQ everyday if I had the choice.
I should also mention that the entire time we were headed to, in, and leaving Memphis we were constantly singing "Walking in Memphis" by Marc Cohn. That song still plagues me today, but is attached to the pleasant memories of my time in Memphis.