Serendipity has always been a part of life for me, perhaps because I’m usually open to surprises and new paths in life. Last weekend was lots of fun and held a few surprises as well. Mrs. Indianadem and I had not been away for several years and welcomed the excuse to get out of town to take a break from work, so the meetup was timed perfectly for us.
We all had a wonderful time getting together with other Bootribbers in the midst of this vibrant city. I’m not at all surprised that we have common dreams for our society, but I was amazed to discover that one of the others there (I’ll let you guess which one) helps to create the software our company has been using for almost ten years and no, it’s not software you would commonly find on most computers.
It was a delight to meet and hang out with everyone! Thanks to blueneck and Brenda for coordinating and Booman for making it possible.
At Huey’s near Beale Street:
blueneck
Brenda
ejmw
a friend of BT
Mrs. Indianadem
On the waterfront at Barbequefest:
Main Street Memphis
MLK Memorial
Mass transit that works
Only $1 to ride
Somewhat more pricey at $45 / half hour
After sweltering in the sun at the barbequefest on the riverfront, ejmw and his friend left us for home. The rest of us spent a few hours Saturday afternoon discussing our favorite subjects (and eating and drinking as well) in the nice cool bar at our hotel, then went our separate ways. Mrs. Indianadem and I stayed around to see the old Peabody Hotel and hang out on Beale Street, which was so crowded we could barely move. Lots of great blues sounds were everywhere there.
We left Memphis Sunday morning, crossed the Mississippi into Arkansas and headed north along the river. Our first stop was at New Madrid, MO, site of one of the greatest earthquakes ever. Much of the little town had a distinctly temporary ambiance.
On shaky ground
Next, we stopped into a truck stop for a snack and were delighted to see this on a van in the parking lot. This is near the birthplace of a certain radio blatherer sometimes known as pigboy, so the message was doubly delicious!
Our last serendipitous stop was Cape Girardeau. I wanted to see a river town with some history, as some of my ancestors had a riverboat, the Kate Sarchet. We arrived around 6:00 and had not a clue where we were going to spend the night, so we pulled up in front of a little B & B we had seen near the river and called to see if they would take guests on short notice. The man said yes, if we could wait until he cleaned the room and it wasn’t long before our conversation turned to political matters. To our great surprise, we had booked a room with the Cape Girardeau County Democratic Chairman!
He steered us to a great place on the waterfront for dinner. Barbecue is their specialty, but the seafood is good too.
There is a Corps Of Engineers flood wall there for miles along the river. The high watermark is from the 1993 flood. It’s just even with the railroad crossing sign on the left side of the flood wall door.
The door is definitely heavy-duty.
We wound up the rest of the trip visiting friends and family. We’re grateful to have had the opportunity to meet with other people who feel the way we do. It gives me hope and a new shot of energy to keep on fighting. I think we are making a difference. We have to.
Great diary and pics ya got there Indianadem! Reading about these meet ups always makes me a wee bit envious. But maybe the midwest crowd will be able to pull something together. You make Memphis look a lot more attractive than just driving through the “Home of Elvis and and Ancient Greeks” (apologies to David Byrne there). Only time I’ve been through was on the way/back from NOLA several years ago.
I think what you say about the “recharging effect” of the meet up is probably what I’d enjoy the most, though rubbernecking touristy stuff, good food and drinks certainly wouldn’t be such an awful thing either. 🙂
Thanks for sharing. Now you and ejmw have sent me off on the green envy trail this week with your diaries.
There was definitely no downside to our weekend. I have been duly recharged.
I was stationed at NAS Memphis in the 60’s, so it was a lot of fun going back and seeing the changes after all those years. I’m fascinated by the trolley system downtown. I wish more cities would look at doing them or at least some kind of enjoyable mass transit. I guess it also helps the atmosphere there that everyone seems so friendly on the street. We were greeted by many, many strangers with a good morning and sometimes conversation as we rode the trolley or walked by on the sidewalks.
Well it certainly looks like you two had a blast after the meetup too! Cape Girardeau looks like a pretty cool place to spend a couple of days. We split off from I-55 just south of there so that we could head east on 57, maybe next time I’m out that way I’ll head up the extra few miles and check it out 🙂
How was the Peabody? Did you get to see the ducks?
Oh, and was the flame-spray-painter guy down on Beale street when you were there?
Sadly, the ducks had gone for the night by the time we got there. Mrs. dem won’t let me forget it! We didn’t see the flame-painter guy, but there were some guys doing incredible tumbling acrobatics in the street just down from BB King’s. Sorry I wasn’t able to get a pic of that!
I suppose not seeing the ducks gives you an excuse to go back to Memphis some other time 🙂
The tumbling guys definitely weren’t there when we went through. Oh well. I just feel lucky to have had 2 nights in a row of incredible local food and music.
Oh, those ducks are a sight to be seen, with the music and the red carpet to the elevator…
I am in deep trouble with Mrs. dem for missing them – it’s all she talks about ;o)
More great pictures IndianaDem! And I can picture your trip up 55 almost to the mile, having done it a few times. I’m not very fond of the trip until you get way north of Blytheville AK.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Cape Girardeau because I have family there. It’s a perfect example of a small town with a business district destroyed by Walmart. Up until Walmart built “out by the highway” the downtown was vibrant and full of shops. Then Walmart opened and it slowly became like a ghost town. In the last few years it’s started to turn a little bit, there were some decent restaurants down there and a wine bar.
One time we were there with some of my cousins from the east coast — where they have small rivers I guess. She emphatically declared that they should tear down that flood wall because it was an eyesore (and truth be told it IS damn ugly). She just couldn’t believe that the river would regularly flood high enough to warrant that wall and that Cape would be under water without it.
If you ever get back to southern MO and want to stay in a quaint little river town, go about an hour north of there to Ste. Genevieve. It was built by the French and the town has managed to preserve some of the old French homes from the early 1800’s and open them to the public. During the flood of ’93 the entire town (and people from as far as St. Louis) worked night and day sandbagging so that the colonial buildings wouldn’t be destroyed by the river.
Glad you had a good trip!
Hi Mary – sorry you couldn’t join us for this one. Hopefully next time. Funny you should mention St. Genevieve. A friend of ours, Scott Kerr, who has an art gallery in Webster Groves, did a book on the depression artists of St. Genevieve. Its on our list of places to see someday.
In Dem., my son said to tell you both hi and thanks for looking out for me. He was like you both. He did not want me standing there by myself….he said anything could happen. I was also suprised that he said he would have spent the day with us, if he didn’t have the party going on, that day and night. I think he would have enjoyed doing this with us.
I am glad you got to see some of Mo. I enjoy driving interstate 55 to see the bluffs going into St. Louis.
I am sorry that Mrs. Dem. missed the ducks. Yes, that is yet another excuse to come back…:o) I will go with her to see that one…The Peabody is an expensive and old hotel with lots of history. The ducks have their own suit on the top deck and are treated like kings/queens there. They are such fun to watch….I have only seen them on tv, but I am sure we would have a blast seeing them in person.
Thank you both and to all the rest that were there to be with me and discuss politics and enjoy the w/e. When and if we do this again, lets do it when it is a lot cooler….please. The weather has stayed the same and gotten hotter. I am spoiled by the AC we have all around us.
I am so glad y ou got home without incident (untoward). IN case no knows the radio talking head that comes from Cape..we are talking about rush limobutthole….:o) I think it was great you found the B&B and to talk to a democrat! Now just how lucky can one get!!!??? ;O)
Blythville, Arkansas, used to be a SAC (USAF). It was very restricted at that base. I almost got hired there when I moved this direction.
Thanks again for being who you are and helping me feel comfortable. Hugs to you and the Mrs…..Hope to see ya again….ya’ll come back now, ya hear…;o)
BTW, right up the road a bit, there is some history too. Right before you get to Riply, TN, which is the tomato capital around here…fields of tomatoes are grown for market, there is Frog Jump….home of Tina Turner. Alex Haleys home is around that area too, near Brownsville, Tn. We still grow lots of cotton around these parts, but less that in the past few years. The fields of cotton look like it has snowed when it is all bloomed out in its glory…I do not think I have seen the Magnolia tress so lovely, as they are this year. The blooms are huge and very plentiful. Maybe this is the year for things to look good.
The end of this month and the first of next we will be having our strawberry festivals. YUM!!!!
Anyhow…hugs to all and hope to see more the next time around.
Please tell your son hi for us. I wish he could have stuck around longer, but he is doing important things with his life right now. He seems like a great guy and we wish lots of good things for him (and her too)…;o)
Yes, a little cooler would have been nice. It was only 48 when I got out of bed here this morning, but it looks as if this weekend will be close to 90 for us.
We’re looking forward to coming back your way someday. Lots of hugs back to ya from both of us!
Hey Indianadem! I really enjoyed meeting ya’ll and I’m glad that ya’ll were able to spend a few days afterward enjoying yourselves.
I stayed in Memphis and visited with my friend there before returning home the next afternoon. I always enjoy visiting Memphis. I get up there once or twice a year and I’m really glad I got to share this visit with you and Mrs. and everyone else!
I wish we were just a bit closer, so we could get down more often. We really had a great time. The best of luck with your new project. I expect big things! :o)
Great pics and wonderful stories. So glad you all were able to get together. Wish I were able to make it to all of the meetups and mingle with “my people.” I know The SoCal meetup was fabulous and meeting my blog-family was just too wonderful. Can’t wait to do it again.
Thanks Booman for providing the meeting place where we congregate and are inspired to actually meet each other in person.
Hugs All,
Shirl
I so enjoyed your travelog of Memphis and parts north through Missouri. Like Maryb, that is old family country for me.
I grew up accustomed to earthquakes, such as the historic New Madrid earthquake. You were driving along a great fault line through part of your journey.
My brother teaches in Cape Girardeau, which is a lovely town, in spite of Walmart. I thinnk the large mall on the edge of town did in the downtown area as much as Walmart did. Cape does have a good regional state college there, which helps keep the town vital.
And don’t decry the floodwall – it is pretty important. Some rivertowns, including where my parents live now, a short distance up the Ohio from the Mississippi, have put murals on the floodwalls. This is perhaps not an ideal solution, but it does improve that bare concrete.
Ste. Genevieve is a little jewel. Be sure to peek in the Catholic church there, it is very old, and quite lovely. They have a lovely Spring Tour that opens many of the gardens of the French historic homes. A short distance across the river is Kaskaskia, Illinois, once capitol of that state. The lovely home of Gov. Pierre Menard is worth seeing, too.