Mardi Gras Superbowl Weekend - Feb 5th

MEMPHIS: Bb-q, Blues, and Beale Street

Over the weekend, the roommate and I headed to Memphis to satisfy our desire for a Food Network styled BBQ weekend, Elvis sightings, and visit a friend of mine from college!

FRIDAY
Our adventure started mid-afternoon on Friday when we headed to Memphis via I-55 for a six hour drive with a Mary Higgins Clark Book on CD and our work lap tops. Seven hours later (thanks to road construction on I-12)we arrived in Memphis starving and ready for RIBS!

The roommate and I joined my friend from college for dinner a late dinner (10 p.m.~ish) at Rendezvous'(http://www.hogsfly.com/)in downtown Memphis to kick off our weekend of BBQ! Aside from being a Food Network and Travel Channel favorite, this place was highly recommended by two co-workers that went to the University of Memphis. Rendezvous' is located in an alley behind the Holiday Inn on 2nd Street. We almost missed it, except for the luring scent of ribs wafting down the street. As you can see in the slide show above, this restaurant is located in a dark alley, in the basement of the building. Sketchy sounding, but oh so good!

Their ribs are prepared with a dry rub, which was my first experience with meat prepared this way. Photos of our meals are featured in the slide show: I got the ribs and BBQ chicken combo; the roommate got chicken and brisquette; and my college friend got a full rack of ribs. None of us had ever eaten dry rubbed ribs before and were surprised that the meat did not just fall of the bones as it would with a wet rub. All of our entrees were served with cole slaw and beans. The beans were delish, but I passed on the cole slaw because I am not a fan of this side. (Not just theirs, I passed on cole slaw every where we ate over the weekend.) Rendezvous' BBQ sauce also has a different, almost vinegary flavor to it, which I really liked and definitely complimented the seasonings on the ribs. The BBQed chicken was great too, however I was obviously there for the ribs!
- Definitely would go here again!

After dinner, we wandered down to Beale Street to listen to some live music and walk off our meal. Our first stop was Bum Boogie Cafe, where there was firey blues band on stage! After watching their set and members of the audience down stares shake and shimmy to their tunes from the upstairs balcony, we headed up the street to Club 251 to take in another band that was more of the rock genre.

SATURDAY
The roommate and I were up earlier than my college buddy, so the two of us pulled out our Frommer's Memphis travel guide and went on the downtown Memphis walking tour that was laid out in the book. On our walking tour we saw the Mississippi River, the Orpheum Theater, a statue of Elvis, Gibson Guitar Factory, and where the Grizzlies play before lunch.

The three of us went to lunch at Corky's (http://www.corkysmemphis.com/), which was another recommendation of both the Food Network, Travel Channel, and a co-worker. Google maps told us that the drive to Corky's from downtown would be about fifteen minutes, however, we hit almost every red light on the way in the rain, which made the trip seem that much longer. Upon arrival, the parking lot was packed and so was the waiting area. Immediately we knew it was worth the drive!

At Corky's, we sampled the ale, rolls, onion loaf, beans, pulled pork, and ribs! Corky's Ale was a definite thumbs up. The rolls were a mild sour dough rolled in butter and garlic powder. For an appetizer, we split half of an onion loaf, which is essentially a stack of their onion rings served with a secret sauce (my guess is that is was their BBQ sauce and mayo). We each got our own pulled pork sandwich that melted in our mouthes and was THE most delicious pulled pork sandwich that I've ever had! The three of us split a rack of their wet ribs and the meat just fell off the bones, leaving incredibly clean rib bones!
-Absoluetely going to Corky's again!!

Saturday Afternoon, the roommate and I headed over to the Peabody Hotel to see the ducks climb out of the fountain and March back to the elevator, but it was too crowded to see anything. The two of us decided to try again on Sunday.

After a failed attempt to see the ducks, we went to the Fly Saucer Drink Emporium to watch the second half of the Saints Game. This bar came HIGHLY recommended by a geologist that I work with, largely because it has one hundred beers on tap. I give the place a thumbs up for the decor and the fact that they had Magic Hat #9 on tap, which I have never seen outside of the East Coast - a definite treat!

That evening, the three of us debated about what and where to eat for dinner, afraid that after eating at Corky's, we would be disappointed by any other BBQ eaten that weekend. However, we took a gamble and stuck with our BBQ theme for the weekend, which we were quite thankful of when sitting in Marlowe's (http://www.marlowesmemphis.com/) with our ribs in front of us an hour later.

Marlowe's was lip smacking good! I am so glad my friend convinced the roommate and I to carry on with the BBQ theme because the ribs at Marlowe's are not to be missed! The service was also very good and personal! Apparently they have a pink Cadillac limo to take guests to and from the restaurant, however we were staying outside of its travel radius and were unable to catch a ride! Since I was still full from lunch, I was unable to finish my ribs at dinner, however I had a great doggie bag for Monday night's dinner. I am quite pleased to say that they were still fantastic even after microwaving them at home. Once again, the meat pretty much fell off of the bones!
-Delicious and MUST go back!

SUNDAY
We started the day off by heading over to The Peabody early to make sure that we got a good spot on the second floor balcony to see the ducks march out of the elevator and into the fountain. (See the video below.)

Peabody Hotel Ducks' Introduction


Peabody Hotel Ducks Entering Fountain



After the ducks, the three of us had made lunch at BB King's (http://www.bbkingclubs.com/index.php?page=memhome) on Beale our final BBQ meal of the weekend! There we each ordered a pulled pork sandwich and split a rack of ribs. The meal was really good, but nothing compared to Corky's pulled pork sandwich! Their ribs were good, however, we ordered a half rack of ribs in which half of the ribs were supposed to be wet and the other half wet, however we were unable to tell which were wet and which were dry. They were good, but I would still recommend the other three places over this one.

After lunch, the roommate and I parted ways with my friend from home and headed to Graceland (http://www.elvis.com/). Elvis' home was definitely work the trip and I am glad that we went during the off season because the place is definitely set up to handle a much larger visitor capacity than we encountered. His home, ground, and cars, were rather fantastic to see, especially have growing up with parents that played Elvis records for my brother and I was children and watched Elvis' movies as a child with my family.

Olde Time Grocery: Po-Boys

Ever since the roommate and I began telling people about the Po-Boy festival, people have been recommending places for us to satisfy our po-boy craving. The place that everyone in Lafayette recommends is Olde Time Grocery.

This po-boy shop is located on Saint Mary's, around the corner from ULL and a favorite with the students. So, I waited until ULL was on their break for Christmas before heading over there to investigate the rumors that they make the best po-boy ever.

Despite the local University being closed for break, the place was still packed when I went with several co-workers the Friday before Christmas. I ordered their signature sandwich: the shrimp. The po-boy was definitely delicious, but Delancie's on Magazine in New Orleans still makes my favorite shrimp po-boy! Olde Time's sauce was great and so was the shrimp, however the bread was the texture of a bakery loaf of French Bread, than the po-boy French bread with a crunchy crust that I have been accustomed to with my po-boys.

Good po-boys and I will definitely go again!

24 deg F in the BOOT

Over the past week, Louisiana has been affected by the deep freeze that has been affecting much of the rest of the nation. Yesterday, the temperature was 24 deg F when I woke up to do my laundry. On my way to the laundry room, I discovered that the ponds in my complex were frozen over.



While I was here in 2008 and 2009 for two back to back years of one day snow events that have apparently not happened in over ten years, I did not see ice or frozen ponds until this weekend.



As much as I enjoy cold weather, it would be better with snow (minus the shoveling)!

2nd Saturday Art Walk

On the second Saturday of every month, the art studios and museum (ACA) in downtown Lafayette open their doors between 6-8pm for a lot of art and some wine - two of my favorite things! This past Saturday was my third Art Walk in the 16 months that I have been here. What does that say about someone who minored in art history and has only attended three out of sixteen of these since she's been here? That they are hit or miss. This Saturday was definitely a hit! Several of the art galleries had gorgeous landscapes. Also, the Acadiana Center for the Arts has an awesome photography display! My favorite photos on display at ACA this month were taken by an individual just after Katrina in 2005 of the various billboards that had been destroyed by the storm and then graffitied by people.

Unfortunately, the turnout this month was really low due to the unusually low temperatures. However, anyone that stayed home from the cold Saturday night, missed out on some great art!

Caroling in Jackson Square

The Sunday before Christmas, I joined some friends in New Orleans for some caroling in Jackson Square. My fellow seconded friend, his puppy, and I joined a local friend and her family, that annually attend this event in Jackson Square. Before caroling in front of Saint Louis Cathedral,we warmed our bellies with a cup of seafood gumbo from Felix's in the Quarter!

Definitely fun and festive! Our friend's family was totally prepared, so the fellow Californian, puppy, and I caroled like pros at this event: our friend's grandfather had sturdy holly red candles in plastic cups (wind protection) for our entire party, which were a definite upgrade from the candles that come with the song books that are handed out as you enter the square. (The group that puts on the event provided everyone with song books and candles.)

The caroling lasted about an hour and was led by a group of about a dozen locals, including a priest from Saint Louis Cathedral.

Despite having a blast this event I have two observations:
1) some songs were unnecessarily song twice, back to back
2) Who sings Good King Wenceslas?!?!?
Definitely the worst carol EVER! Not to mention, it sounded awful because no one knew the tune and it was totally obvious! I recommend deleting it from next year's program.



Location of Jackson Square:

Celebration in the Oaks at City Park

The roommate and I decided to check out this event after the Disney exhibit at NOMA Sunday evening. Not knowing what to expect and seeing a wide variety of ages attending the event, we figured it had to be great for the young to very old. However, we should have taken the fact that the museum curator that is our age had no idea that Celebration in the Oaks was even occurring in the museum's backyard as a red flag. However, the roommate and I have yet to learn this lesson.

Before leaving the museum, we found a security guard that was able to give us directions to the festival from the Museum that were WRONG and led us to the Christian Brothers School in City Park, instead of the festival. After some driving around the park in an incredibly thick and eery fog, we found the festival by the tennis courts on the complete opposite side of the park from where the security guard told us to go.

After finding the location of the festival, our next obstacle was finding the entrance to the holiday event. By now, we probably should have just given up and gone home, but we were determined. Eventually, we found the entrance between the tennis courts. Unlike what our NOMA security guard told us, there was a complete lack of signage as to where the event was and how to enter it.

The festival takes place in the Storyville section of City Park, which is a permanent amusement park for children and ironically named after the city's "experiment" with legalized prostitution - great name for a children's park! Not that we were planning to ride any of the rides because we were there for the light show, but they were all for children.

After moving through the childrens' park, the festival flowed into the botanic gardens. Seeing the botanic gardens was definitely worth the ticket price to get in because neither of us had previously been there. The two highlights of the light display were definitely the model train and Cajun Night Before Christmas displays.

The model train display was definitely a lot more impressive than the model train set that my brother and I played with in the basement as children and the model train shows that we went to. (Yes, this is what children that live in a city where it snows six months out of the year do!)

The Cajun Night Before Christmas display was a set of multiple light displays that were set to an audio recording of the story. So, to answer a previous blog of mine: Yes, the Cajun Night Before Christmas is an actual Louisianan Christmas classic!

Other than the two mentioned displays, the light show was not anything spectacular, just lights hung on bushes. However, we may have missed something at the laser light show. When we got to the designated area, there was a laser but no show. If you were there and saw something different, let me know!

The carolers were also festive and so were the trees that were decorated by school children. In fact, I think this event would have been magical if I had children with me. Then again, I am neither asking for my own nor to borrow anyone else's for an encore of this event any time soon. This is simply a suggestion that if you have children, then you should attend this event. Considering none of my friends have children, I can't recommend this to anyone that I'm friends with. JUST KIDDING, the red head has two little ones, but he's probably not allowed to come to New Orleans without supervision! HA!

http://celebrationintheoaks.com/

Excerpt of a Cajun Night Before Christmas:


Location of City Park: