Languish Memphis Meet 12/8/25

[Eddie Teach]

Good;  then every mention of Sherman is one more arrow in the heart of the South, and its stupid assed romanticism of a morally bankrupt society.

What are you talking about, without Sherman that romanticism would be harder to maintain.

[CountDeMoney]

Good;  then every mention of Sherman is one more arrow in the heart of the South, and its stupid assed romanticism of a morally bankrupt society.

What are you talking about, without Sherman that romanticism would be harder to maintain.

Should've split his column once more, and sent another one west, straight through to Austin.

[alfred russel]

For the interested parties, I'm going to go overboard with AARs, in excruciating detail.

A culinary AAR (if you are wondering why I ate baked beans and slaw at every meal, let me explain that I was trying not to substitute from standard meals):

Saturday:   
                     Lunch:
I flew in to Memphis Saturday morning and picked up Lettow. We drove to Shiloh and found some random hole in the wall barbeque place to eat.

I got a pork plate, with pulled pork, fries, baked beans (I think), and slaw (I think) with Texas toast.  Price: $8.65.

Review: I was starving. The food was decent, not great. The pulled pork was pulled pork; it really needed sauce and couldn't stand on its own. That I can't remember for certain my sides probably speaks to their quality, however, this place definitely was what I was hoping when we pulled in (as it was a total shot in the dark). A solid B (an A if you consider the circumstances).

By the time we got back and I dropped off Lettow and got to my hotel, it was 8:30. I told myself I was skipping dinner for a food orgy the next day, but really I was just wiped out.

Sunday:
   Lunch:
Took Scips recommendation and went to Gus's. I got fried chicken (breast and wing) with sides of slaw and baked beans with white bread. Price: $6.66 (seriously).

Review: I am considering declaring it the best fried chicken I have ever had, and it probably was, however, that may be overselling it a bit because because I think fried chicken has an upper ceiling that is reasonably easily approachable. The baked beans were good, but I agree with Lettow that the sides came up short with the slaw, which was basically mediocre.  Overall assessment: this place was awesome. Definitely going back if I end up in Memphis again.

   Dinner:
I took Lettow's recommendation and went to Corky's. They have several locations, and I know that barbecue places can vary a lot based on the smokers they use, so I tried to go to the original. I ordered a rib dinner with a dry rub (the Memphis specialty). Sides were baked beans and slaw, with a roll. Price $17.52.

Review: I've never had ribs with a dry rub, so it is hard to compare it to anything. I liked it. It was especially good that they were much less messy than normal ribs. I'll order them again if I have a chance. However, there seemed to be comparatively little meat on the ribs compared to other ribs I have eaten. The rib meat to dry rub ratio was lower than I expected. Sometimes I thought I was eating as much dry rub as rib meat. I avoided using any BBQ sauce just because I didn't want to obscure the meat any more. The sides were really good; the best of the meals I had. That goes for the baked beans, slaw, and bread.

Overall Assessment of Food on Trip
I'd give it an A. Hopefully I end up in Memphis again. However, this was a seriously self-abusive amount of barbecue and fried chicken in 2 days, and I ended up in some pain Sunday evening. This was very concerning to me as you never want to have such issues when flying, but things held together.

[Caliga]

AR... why were you in Memphis?

[alfred russel]

Memphis detailed AAR:

Skipping Saturday which was obviously with Lettow and sort of already covered, highlights of Memphis in less than a day (and with much of it spent eating):

--I walked around Lee Park, which is along the Mississippi. I love walking along the Mississippi, with the barges going back and forth, downtown Memphis in the background, Arkansas across the river, and a couple of solid bridges in the view. I assumed that this was named for Bobby Lee, as Memphis also features parks named for N B Forrest and Jeff Davis, but it turns out I was wrong: it was named for a black guy that risked his life to save people from a sinking boat. There was even an obelisk erected to him in 1954, declaring him "a worth Negro." So that was a pleasant surprise.

--Beale Street: I walked the full length to Forrest Park and back. Sunday early afternoon is probably not the best time to visit, but it seemed rather touristy. Forrest Park has the grave and giant statue to N B Forrest, former slaver turned Confederate general turned first grandmaster of the KKK. Wanted to visit to see the way it is documented. He has a rather impressive statue, but is looking onto Union Avenue, and has an American flag behind him. Also is peering directly into an Office Depot megastore parking lot.

--Visited the site of the MLK assassination. There is a museum there but didn't have time to enter. There were surprisingly few people around. I found a spot in the shade and watched people visit the site for several minutes. It was kind of cool to see the diversity of people at the site paying tribute. There were some Europeans, an interracial couple, several black people a couple of which seemed somewhat emotional, and a few white people. I thought that was really cool.

--The bridges: I love bridges. Unfortunately neither of the bridges across the Mississippi accommodates pedestrians, so I was reduced to driving across them and looking at them from the shore. I also was hoping to find a good lookout spot to see Memphis from Arkansas, but didn't find one. [note that this meant in the less than two days I entered Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Alabama].

--Graceland: This is the sort of place I would pay money not to enter. However, I stopped by just to see the scene. This may be the worst tourist trap in the country (though I didn't enter, so I can't say for certain it sucked). The parking lot charged $10 for parking, the cost for admission was between $32 and $70, depending on what you wanted to see. I refused to pay that much for parking when the surrounding area was empty, and just parked in a residential area next to the park. I was worried this was illegal because I was the only one doing it, but apparently it wasn't. Are people that visit Graceland just stupid? I wandered through the gift shops, peered into the car museum, could see the planes obstructed by a fence, and could see the mansion from a distance. The experience confirmed I never want to visit Graceland, but it wasn't as tacky as I expected and gave off positive Elvis vibes. I didn't spot any over the top Elvis fans. The audience skewed older though—I wonder how much longer it is going to stay a major tourist attraction. The guy died ~30 years ago.

[alfred russel]

AR... why were you in Memphis?

Basically to cover the things I've now hit in the AAR. 

[Eddie Teach]

I refused to pay that much for parking when the surrounding area was empty, and just parked in a residential area next to the park. I was worried this was illegal because I was the only one doing it, but apparently it wasn't.

You run the risk of the owners of the property having your car towed if you do so. Probably not a good idea if you're actually going into the park.

[Lettow77]

 Gus's is indeed excellent chicken- I think it has rough equal, but is not surpassed, in the city. Its prices are hard to beat too- but for the sides, it is an absolutely wonderful gem.

Forrest Park's flag changes now and again. It has been a Confederate flag in the past, but this angers a lot of people. He sometimes receives vandalism- I used to show up to clean it. It has been two summers now, but time was, every summer on his birthday I would show up with a broom to sweep the park.

Graceland has people from across the world coming to see it- having made such a long journey, they have little choice but to get ripped off. And yeah, I don't think much of it either.

"Seriously self-abusive amount of barbecue and fried chicken?" It is daily life here. 

[alfred russel]

You run the risk of the owners of the property having your car towed if you do so. Probably not a good idea if you're actually going into the park.

I was parking in the street and there weren't any signs indicating parking restrictions. I think I was okay no matter what. But maybe not--it can't be so simple as everyone just pays $10 because there is a sign saying that is the parking lot, right?

Lettow, it was interesting to see the graffiti around Graceland with all the other countries represented, but for how much longer? If the Tupac estate was looking for some revenue, I wonder if they could surpass Graceland as a tourist draw.

[alfred russel]

Also Lettow, as a damnyankee that won't see eye to eye with you on the ACW, I can't begrudge you cleaning up a guy's vandalized grave. It wasn't vandalized when I saw it, and the park was in good order.

[Ideologue]

--Lettow knows a lot about the civil war. Like, a real lot.

Good;  then every mention of Sherman is one more arrow in the heart of the South, and its stupid assed romanticism of a morally bankrupt society.

Even some liberals are like that.  The other day, I off-handedly mentioned (in context, I didn't randomly bring it up) that the CSA was an enemy of all humankind, evil in the same way that Nazis were evil, and that any person involved in the material support of its treason, which is to say every person within it that was not engaged in its overthrow (qualifying that, perhaps, with "free person," was a legitimate target of war.  I got some pushback from a bisexual lady Democrat.

The point is, this gutlessness is the worst thing about the modern left.

[lustindarkness]

I missed this earlier, had Navy stuff to do this weekend. I would have recommended The Cozy Corner Restaurant, pulled pork sandwich with a side of BBQ spaghetti. 

[Admiral Yi]

No blues Fredo?

[alfred russel]

No blues Fredo?

No, not enough time. There was some live music being played on Beale, but that really doesn't count I guess.

[Ed Anger]

One more Memphis recommendation, just for shits and giggles:

Dyer's
http://www.dyersonbeale.com/

You'll only eat there once.