Weekend Trip to Memphis
Maybe it was the trip to northern Wisconsin we took last weekend. Maybe it was my co-worker who travels quite frequently. Maybe it was the weather -- beginning to finally look like spring after a long, cold winter. For whatever reason, I decided to take a trip to Memphis with my wife this weekend. It turned out to be a pretty good decision.
We left Friday morning to decent travel weather. Our first big stop was going to be lunch at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, MO -- "Home of the Throwed Rolls." However, just as we pulled in the parking lot, we saw the last half dozen people from a bus get in line at the entrance. Great timing! However, religious and dietary considerations made eating at Lambert's a poor choice this particular day, so we passed. More about Lambert's later.
We got to our hotel in Memphis only to find ... a line waiting to check in. We stumbled into a family reunion at the hotel. Not the greatest of starts to a trip, but ...
The weather took a turn for the worse as a heavy thunderstorm moved into the area. We were out looking for a place to eat and settled upon Phat Pat's Southern Quisine. Although the service had a minor glitch or two, the blackened fish fillet meal with sides was very good.
After dinner, my wife noticed a women's clothing store nearby. She recently lost some weight and had been talking about needing some new clothes. Ut oh. Seemingly several hours later ...
Saturday morning after breakfast (people who know me well know that I chose a hotel with free breakfast!) we headed to an interesting tourist site we had never visited: the Pink Palace Museum. I was amazed at what an interesting place this was. Fossils, animals, the history of Memphis ...
Afterwards, it was time to try a barbeque place we had never been to but had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: Tom's Bar-B-Q and Deli.
My beef sandwich platter and my wife's baby ribs platter: outstanding! Friendly service, excellent food, large portions, cheap prices. What more can you ask? This is clearly among the best barbeque joints in Memphis.
After gorging ourselves on primo barbeque, we headed to ... another women's clothing store! Actually, it was part of the same chain as the store we went to the night before. They were holding a dress for my wife since the original store did not have it in the size she needed. Of course, Mrs. lightning also saw some other things she liked, and ... cha-ching!
So ... it was FINALLY time to hit a poker room -- Harrah's Horseshoe Tunica. The poker room was crowded as Saturday was the last day of a car giveaway promotion. To make the trip special, I got to meet up with old friend and blogger Memphis MOJO and meet blogger jusdealem.
We left Friday morning to decent travel weather. Our first big stop was going to be lunch at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston, MO -- "Home of the Throwed Rolls." However, just as we pulled in the parking lot, we saw the last half dozen people from a bus get in line at the entrance. Great timing! However, religious and dietary considerations made eating at Lambert's a poor choice this particular day, so we passed. More about Lambert's later.
We got to our hotel in Memphis only to find ... a line waiting to check in. We stumbled into a family reunion at the hotel. Not the greatest of starts to a trip, but ...
The weather took a turn for the worse as a heavy thunderstorm moved into the area. We were out looking for a place to eat and settled upon Phat Pat's Southern Quisine. Although the service had a minor glitch or two, the blackened fish fillet meal with sides was very good.
After dinner, my wife noticed a women's clothing store nearby. She recently lost some weight and had been talking about needing some new clothes. Ut oh. Seemingly several hours later ...
Saturday morning after breakfast (people who know me well know that I chose a hotel with free breakfast!) we headed to an interesting tourist site we had never visited: the Pink Palace Museum. I was amazed at what an interesting place this was. Fossils, animals, the history of Memphis ...
After gorging ourselves on primo barbeque, we headed to ... another women's clothing store! Actually, it was part of the same chain as the store we went to the night before. They were holding a dress for my wife since the original store did not have it in the size she needed. Of course, Mrs. lightning also saw some other things she liked, and ... cha-ching!
So ... it was FINALLY time to hit a poker room -- Harrah's Horseshoe Tunica. The poker room was crowded as Saturday was the last day of a car giveaway promotion. To make the trip special, I got to meet up with old friend and blogger Memphis MOJO and meet blogger jusdealem.
Oh yeah -- jusdealem is the cutie on the left!
I played some $1-3 NL, but alas I was card dead almost the entire time. I ended up dropping part of a buy-in as my play mode was fold ... fold ... fold ... To make matters worse, I went to my old friend, the Willy Wonka slot machine, but Mr. Wonka disappointed. Such is life.
A drive back to Memphis and a late dinner ended the eventful day. Shopping trips and a poor poker session -- it's only money, right?
We decided to just get on the road Sunday morning, anxious to get back home to life's regular drudgery. We attempted to stop at Lambert's on the way back, but a 1 1/2 hour wait for a table made for an easy decision to eat somewhere else.
Next weekend: ???
posted by lightning36 at 10:57 PM
9 Comments:
Good to see you and Mrs. Lightning again!
You were obviously standing on a box in the picture. After the cards and spending your mini-vacation in a dress shop, you had to have been beat down to the point they wouldn't have let you on the rides at Disneyland.
Quick question: How many hours spent holding her purse?
P.S. When are going to replace the graphics/noise? You know that it is a mining tool? It is capturing data with every guest visit and sends info to notacelebrity.co.uk.
[Grump out] Glad you had a nice mini. You both deserved it after this winter. Finally supposed to hit the 60's today. That'll be the first time since November.
P.P.S. I've eaten at Lambert's. Got right in. If you ever get over to Reelfoot lake, there are two family style restaurants that have great all-you-can-eat Southern foods -- Fried Chicken...Country Ham...lip smackin
I do love me some throwed rolls and old Uncle Norm's pass arounds. We used to hit Lambert's in Sikeston every other year or so on my family's vacations to Mississippi and Louisiana to visit relatives.
Yum ... love BBQ! Interesting that you tried a place from triple D. Skip watches that show so I have seen many episodes. I always figured Guy Fieri's "off the hook," "shut the door," etc. moanings over the food was a bunch of BS. Glad that the place turned out to be excellent!
@ Ken P: You were much nicer in your comments than I expected. I was thinking that you would revoke my man card.
@ JT88Keys: The pass arounds are the greatest. Not owrth wqaiting 90 minutes, though imo.
@ Cranky: We try to go to a Triple D place or two on all our trips. We had a second one planned but just wanted to get on the road. Our experience with Triple D places has been pretty good so far. At worst, a place has been average.
You have a man card? I'd have sworn Josie neutered it.
Light - that's good to hear. Maybe we'll have to scope out some places he's covered in New England.
Happy to hear that you had fun.
@ Ken- I remember eating at a cafe on Reelfoot several times. I believe it was called the "Blue Bird Cafe," but it's been a lot of years. Their country ham and red eye gravy was as good as it gets in my opinion :)
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