7-5-09 Sunday (Nailed on Beale Street)

First, I mentioned that we rented a movie from Redbox. “Haunting of Molly Hartley” to be more precise. We thought it was pretty damn lame. I’ve later discovered that most reviews also thought it lame.

It wasn’t the acting that was bad. It really wasn’t even the plot so much. It was the absence of special effects, horror, gore, or whatever to make it scary. It lacked suspense too. If you decide you might want to see it, do yourself a favor and jab a toothpick in your eye. That ought to snap you out of it.

We went to Mud Island today. It was actually a perfect day for it. The weather was overcast and I suppose many were hung over so for a holiday weekend, this place was pretty empty. It’s a public park, but I’m not sure who owns it. It’s free to get to. There’s a small fee to ride the monorail or tour the museum. The Mississippi River Museum was presented very well. The Monorail gave some great views. The park has a Mississippi river miniature that spans the park. We walked along this model and then took a paddle boat out for a cruise.

Above: On the monorail to Mud Island (we walked back).

Above: We later took a trolley. Photographed from in the monorail above.

Above: The Mississippi River model complete with water.

Above: We brought a picnic lunch with us. Salads. Really.

Above: Another shot of the river model and part of the museum building.

Above/Below: These concrete floor tiles were all buckled. Strange.

Above: More info on the River model.

Above: Mud Island in miniature.

Above: Graceland. The RV park is somewhere around there.

Above: In the background is the real Mississippi River.

Above: $2.00 each for a paddle boat ride.

Above/Below: Downtown Memphis.

Above: Quack!

Above: Video – “Swan Cam”.

We took the trolley just for the hell of it. Once we got to an interesting section, we hopped off and walked the 10 blocks or so back to the Jeep over at Mud River parking. Lots of walking today!

Above/Below: We hopped off here at the old Lorraine Motel, the location of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr‘s assassination and is now home to the National Civil Rights Museum. It was late in the day to tour this facility so we just looked around the exterior.

Above: It’s a clump of hair OR hopefully part of a weave or something. It’s nasty. It was on the sidewalk. I wondered if I should have stomped on it to be sure it was dead.

Above: An unbelievable amount of buildings are empty or have been changed into loft condos/apartments.

Above/Below: We stopped into a Walgreens for beverages and to pee. I took a couple of photos of there enormous wall of Elvis shit. There, I said it. Shit.

Above: Click on the photo to open another page and enlarge the photo. Go ahead, check out the crap.

Above: In front of the Fire Museum. It was closed today.

Above: In front of a building sat many variations of panels like these. They were used to conceal generators for the county building. We took a closer look and it turns out they are parts of street signs. Look close.

We came home, walked the dog, decided to eat out. Drove to a Friday’s downtown, saw a sign in the window that their location did not accept coupons, we turned around, said screw ‘em and ate at Alfred’s instead. The food was OK. I had buffalo style chicken tenders and Jim had barbeque. The best part was the Memphis Jazz Orchestra, a 17 piece big band which is featured every Sunday night. We then walked the famous Beale Street. It rained briefly which made my photos of the lights look awesome!

Above: Cool car, giant nail.