A Monday Afternoon in Memphis: Checking the Sights

So every now and again, business, if you follow, takes me out of town on a trip and I've got to leave Dolly-girl at home minding the Ps and Rs--that's Ping and Ryman, a couple of strays me and her took in and who don't earn their keep except by sleeping all day and all night too. Or most of the night. Anyhoo, I had to head over to another river city, this one where Mr. E. A. Presley used to set his brake. Yep, Blues City, Memphis, Tennessee. I had to go investigate some suspicious fire activity.


I don't pay much attention to arrangements when it comes to travel. Thelma takes care of that, and she's good at it. She booked me on the morning Clipper to M-town, yep, the city on the bluffs. The Clipper set down on the river and a car was waiting to take me to The Peabody. Thelma told me "It's the place to stay, at least that's what Madeline at the travel agent's told me when I was talking to her on the blower." Could be. Last time I was in River City, me and Dolly-girl were in harder times and the only stars you could see at our hotel were the ones in the sky through the crack in the roof, follow? This place is different than that one.


I was walking out the door at D'Mestiere Investigations when Thelma handed me my satchel. "I left you a note in there--gives you all the arrangements. Watch those Fire Crackers..." I opened the note when I got to my room. "Drown a couple in the lobby at 5," was all it said. A mystery. No one has to tell me to drown two more than once. I headed for the lobby so as I wouldn't miss whoever it was that I was supposed to be eyeballing. Trouble, I suspected. Blues City's seen its share. There was a crowd, so I was keeping an eye peeled. Something would show. It did.

So that was the ticket. Marching ducks. Go figure. And there was the trouble. One duck wasn't playing along. There's always one, isn't there? That's what Dolly-girl says, at least. After the ducks walked, I figured I'd take a jaunt myself. See what I could see. First thing you gotta like is a town with a newspaper called The Commercial Appeal.





It's also a town where people are said to take BBQ very seriously. I spotted this chicken leg bone on the street. Maybe people are right. People take music serious too, me and Dolly-girl found out the last time we were here. Big Jerry and his band were pretty serious, alright.













Lots happened in M-city that had to do with music. Stax was here. So was WDIA, the first all-Black radio station in the country. Wait, WDIA is still here... Sun Studios is here too. Lots of history there.















You don't have to look far to see the old days--there's a Cotton Museum, the fantastic National Civil Rights Museum

And, of course, Graceland











And lots of towns are bringing back streetcars. Blues City never lost them.

Well, enough about sightseeing, I gotta get done with my caper here so I can catch that Clipper, watch the river disappear below me, and head on back to see that welcome home through the wave...

Tuesday Noon in Memphis: Poutine at the Kooky Canuck

I'm not a great believer in fate or the supernatural, but given all the energy associated with Memphis--Blues meets BBQ meets Elvis--it seems a little hard to believe that I would end up staying at a hotel with marching ducks, across the street from a restaurant called The Kooky Canuck without some sort of paranormal intervention. So, at lunch time, I inspected the menu to see if there was anything Canadian about the place at all. I was rewarded in maple leaves!




I walked in and saw immediately that the decor was designed to make Tennesseans believe they were in Canada. Note the birch sticks, wood paneling, and animal heads on the wall. Not all of them were real, but still, the feeling was of the north, and I don't mean the north end of the famous Highway 61, the Blues Highway. It was noon and the joint was filling up with hungry Memphisarians.




I slid into a seat at the bar, picked up a menu, and saw I was north of the border, at least in one regard. Yes, there it was on the menu, poutine, complete with the correct phonetic pronunciation guide! Meghan asked me what mine would be. "Poutine [pronunced just the way Richard taught me--"pooh-tin"]. She looked at me, smiled, placed the order, and came back. "You Canadian?" "Nope, just go there a lot and have friends there." "You pronounce it like a Canadian--like my boss." Ah ha, there was something to this Kooky Canuck! A half curd premium for the pronunciation.



The poutine arrived some minutes later, served by restauranteur Shawn Dansko, formerly of Montréal, now of Memphis. It was piping hot and served on a hard plastic platter--not waxed paper or cardboard, but still, not china. Half a curd premium for presentation.The plate held one of the most generous servings I've seen. The fries were crisp, but not burned, allowing them to hold up to the gravy long into the meal. There were plenty of curds, nicely heated so they were warm-to-hot, but not gooey. The gravy was brown and salty, just the way I like it. Shawn stayed to chat for a while. He's a traditionalist--I asked him about his views on non-standard ingredients like goat cheese and you could guess his answer. I asked about whether he adds anything, like sausage, to his poutine. He answered that he was still in the process of winning Memphis over to poutine. He pointed out that Southerners are inclined to try poutine--they like gravy on anything--but when you tell them it's brown gravy instead of chicken gravy, they become cautious and conservative.

Shawn and the Kooky Canuck have a great product at a reasonable price. I'll give the poutine itself a solid 4.5 out of 5 curds. Add in the two half-curd premiums and the decor, and you will be rewarded with a 5+ curd performance! I have confidence that Shawn and the Kooky Canuck will win Memphis over in the end. He has a great opportunity as the KC is not far from the ball park where the Memphis Redbirds play. Ever try those corn chip-and-chez-whiz concoctions that are so popular? One poutine, please!

Waddling 'Round Memphis

This week finds me in Memphis, Tennessee. After several hours in a couple different Greyhound-Bus-like flights, I needed to stretch my legs and Waddle Towards Fitness. Turns out I'm not the only one waddling around here. I'm staying at the Peabody Hotel, home of the marching ducks.




I headed out on my walk and discovered three things about Memphis. People like music, people like food, and people like booze.
I walked along the street checking out the sights. Everywhere I looked I was tempted.











Steaks, catfish, even a place that advertised that they were "Lent Central" specializing in fish!












I could hear Dr. Rachel Graves, MD, in my ear as I walked by Pig and Miss Polly's. Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease, the sign proclaimed! And, everything is open late! What's a fella to do?











I just patted my emergency Lipator supply and kept right on walking. Wolfpack West reports 2+ tempting miles. Oh, by the way, don't believe that story on poutine over at the other blog...

Waddling Through Peninsula Park--March 7, 2010

Sunday, March 7, 2010. "FAT MAN WALKING!" I yell to Nancy as I leave the house, only to see Mark and David's beautiful cherry trees across the street
I head out with the Arbor Lodge New Seasons Market in my sights. I could head to our usual New Seasons, but that's only 2 miles there and back and it just doesn't clear the bar for Wolfpackin'.






Down Ainsworth I go. Past our Alberta Park where the softball teams are out for the first practice of the year--or the first one I've seen and heard. DOINK! Nothing like the sound of an aluminum bat to get the juices flowing. NOT! Photinia is leafing out. I don't like it, but it's prolific!




Down past Peninsula Park, one of the most beautiful in the city in my book. The roses are starting to leaf out and the plaque to the left lists all the rose varieties in the garden. The garden maintenance is all done by volunteer rose nuts.





I arrive at Ainsworth and Interstate where the light rail runs. A lot of art was installed as part of Oregon's wonderful program that requires 1% of a public project cost be devoted to art. There's a small greenspace here with three metal tree totems. On the inside of the totems are poems about the totems written by neighborhood middle school students.






On I waddle, passing the Interstate Bowling lanes, scene of a recent roll-a-thon covered in that other blog. I'm not sure Jack and Dolly-girl, Slim and Tootsie, and Nunzio and Nita would have gone there if they'd seen it in the light!

Shopping done at New Seasons, I headed back across Rosa Parks Boulevard, across Interstate--"The Five" as Nancy calls it.








Rosa Parks was too hectic so I cut through the park again and saw these beautiful camellias. Headed for home, retracing my footsteps, groceries in my back pack, and Oscars on the TV tonight. As Donny would say, "Mark it 4.4 miles, Dude!"

A Beautiful Afternoon in Portland: Waddling Towards Fitness

In an attempt to lose weight and exercise more, I introduce Waddling Towards Fitness, a new, but not my only, blog.

I'll keep exercise out of Looking at Life and Jack D'Mestiere...wouldn't want to lose my loyal followers!

Waddling in the Neighborhood: The afternoon of March 6, 2010

Not much to report on this one other than that I did it. Late in the day, I pried my lard ass out of a chair and headed out into a beautiful spring day. 70 degrees, parks full of people, gardens being worked, and Wolfpack West adds another 4.3 miles to the tally.

Waddling Around Portland: March 5, 2010

After a number of days on the road, including a working weekend in Fairbanks, I decided to take the day off Friday. It wasn't a hard decision. I had an appointment with Dr.Rachel Graves, MD at 9:40 AM so I wouldn't have headed into work until after then anyway. Add to the sawbones appointment a chance to meet up with Beluga Slim and Marc, another retired buddy from the FS for the Lucky Lab barleywine festival and it moved into no brainer territory. Well, I guess you would have to stretch your mind a bit to figure out how to make drinking beer for the afternoon fit with Waddling Towards Fitness.





Here's how. The day dawned bright and beautiful. A great spring day--hard to make it into late winter. See Ronna's blog for pictures of plants coming up through snow. It was in the 60s in Stumptown. So, I decided to waddle down to Dr. Rachel Graves, MD's office where I fully expected her to tell me to eat less, exercise more, drink less, and exercise more, and eat less...you get the picture. I wasn't disappointed, although Dr. Rachel Graves, MD has a very nice patient-side manner and you don't feel beat up after she tells you to eat less, exercise more, drink less, etc. I just look at her and say to myself, "Jeeze Louise, I need to lose one whole Dr. Rachel Graves, MD equivalent to be back where I was when I was 18.



That did it. I had every intention of taking the bus to meet Beluga Slim, but with the words of Dr. Rachel Graves, MD ringing in my ear, not to mention the fact that, in an attempt to impress her with my dedication to WTF, I promised that I would walk to the Lucky Lab up at 19th NW and Quimby, not exactly a short stroll.

So, I set off on shank's mare and along the way I saw the Broadway bridge, a real beauty and the longest rail-type bascule bridge in the world; Union Station, another; the back side of the main Post Office; Jack and Dolly-Girl's favorite cab company, Radio Cab; and some of Portland Fire Bureau's finest, including one who waved to me. I think it was Engine 3
























At my destination, I was rewarded with a great table, a cold IPA, and a front-row seat for the 25 barleywines that Beluga Slim and Marc would soon be quaffing. I stuck with IPA and only a couple at that with Dr. Rachel Graves, MD tsking in my head.












We left there, still a foot, and headed for Bailey's for a finale. Then on to the bus and home. Throw in about a mile and a half from the bus to get Nancy some wine to home, and Wolfpack West can report a staggering 8.9 miles! And Wolfpack West was staggering...