Homeward Bound

As we journey east, one of the stops we have looked forward to is Memphis. Home to Jessica and Ben. We can always count on a warm welcome, fantastic food, great music, our grandkitties Roland and Pete, and two of our favorite people. Ben awarded Penny his parking space so she felt loved, and we were impressed by their newly renovated kitchen, fit for foodies. We made great use of their washer and dryer, had steaks and salad for dinner, and hit the hay early—not sure if age or all the travel is catching up with us, but we were beat! Ben and Jess have weathered the pandemic, both changing jobs in the process. Jess completed the medical coding course and passed the test first try (natch), works for the Memphis Zoo as an event planner and for a social media company called City Tasting Box, which is a curated collection of local food artisans and celebrates the tenacity, resilience and diversity of the Memphis food scene. Which Bob and I can certainly attest to! Ben is the warehouse supervisor of the Wiseacre Brewing Company, a craft beer company based in Memphis with some terrific beers, and very creative pizzas and snacks. Bob loved the Tiny Bomb Pilsner, and I was a big fan of the Gotta Get Up to Get Down Coffee Milk Stout. Bob, of course, went looking for a car wash and Jessica joined us.

Next day, Bob and I made our usual request to get some Gus’ Fried Chicken. This is the only chicken that I will eat the skin and look around for more. I’m told that Gus’ has gone national, so if there is one near you give it a try. You won’t be sorry. After Gus’, they took us to the Railgarten to hear some music. The Railgarten is a 1.5-acre outdoor live music venue with food and drinks and some excellent music offerings. Ben grew up in Memphis and everyone knows him, so it’s a little like traveling with the band. And the music was fantastic. The main show was George Porter Jr. and his band. Never heard of George Porter Jr.? Neither had I. But let me fill you in. George Porter is a bassist and lead singer of The Meters, and is considered one of the founders of Funk. Porter has performed and recorded with Paul McCartney, Dr. John, Robbie Robertson, Robert Palmer, Patti Labelle, Jimmy Buffett, David Byrne, and others too numerous to list, but all musicians whose names you have heard. Porter has said that the best moment in his musical career was when he and The Meters opened for the Rolling Stones in Paris in 1976. The crowd, who had never heard of the Meters, started to boo them and called for the Stones. Keith Richards and Mick Jagger came out on the stage, told the audience to shut up and listen to the music! And who knows music better than Mick and Keef! Besides Ben and Jess, of course. Porter was mesmerizing, and I have added his music to my playlist for sure. Only in Memphis can you walk into a neighborhood venue and see a guy with that kind of cred! But I was also impressed by the opening band. Interestingly, Memphissippi Sounds was a group no one at the Railgarten had heard of either. But these two guys played the hell out of their original blues on guitar, drums and harmonica, and is one of the things I love so much about Memphis. Such talented musicians you’ve never heard of, but you sure hope to hear more. Give them a listen on You Tube if you get a chance. The Railgarten was the perfect blend of young talent trying to make it, and a seasoned musician and band playing their best for a dancing crowd. We had a blast.

The last time we were in Memphis we got to spend some time with Ben’s mom, Carolyn, who is a joy, a sharp southern lady and retired financial advisor, and clearly the source of Ben’s skill in the kitchen. This time we also got to meet her husband, Ben’s stepdad, Tim Keane. Or Bubba. Bubba is a big guy. He was a quarterback with Arkansas State, later coached there and earned a place in their Hall of Fame. He also coached football at University of Tennessee, Kentucky and Memphis. He is bigger than life, full of exuberant stories, and we all hit it off right away. Ben and Jess fixed us Spaghetti Carbonara, and Carolyn and Bubba told us stories about their time in Italy, so now that’s added to our bucket list. Another great evening! There was an art show downtown so we walked around there for a while and then went over to Ben's brewery to sample the pizza and take a tour.

Then on to making homemade sausage! Carolyn has a family recipe and everyone pitched in. I know that they say you never want to see how the sausage is made, but in this case, it was fascinating. They had about 35 pounds of pork, the secret seasoning specs, and all the necessary kitchen tools to grind the meat and fill the casings. Ben’s brother Ross came and joined in with his son and a friend, and Bob and Penny took the boys for a ride. I was able to look at the secret ingredients, but if I mention them, I’d have to kill you. Suffice it to say it really was the most flavorful sausage we ever tasted, and Bob was depressed that we didn’t have the means to take some home with us. We will have to bug Ben and Jess to pack some up in dry ice and mail it!

Jess and I had our toes done, got terrific massages, and I generally worked on my blog while she kept up with her work. We watched Dune on TV, it was good, and made me want to read the book and The Many Saints of Newark, which wasn’t great, but then I was never a Sopranos fan. We had only one slightly sour note, which was actually weirder than anything else. Jessica’s car and Penny were violated! Yes, violated! Apparently, we had left the doors unlocked, and someone got into the cars, and ruffled through things. Penny was even under her tarp! Nothing was stolen—except for a bag of mostly garbage in Jessica’s car, so all’s well that ended well. Jessica says this happens at times, and it does in Norfolk as well, but she mentioned that most people think they are looking for firearms or drugs. Funny thing about that. We had a rifle in Penny’s trunk that Bob’s sister had given him in Arizona. No shells or firing pin. I guess the tarp was too much for them, or they couldn’t figure out how to open Penny’s trunk. Next night we made sure to lock up.

On our last evening in Memphis, Ben was able to get a reservation at Catherine & Mary’s Restaurant for the four of us and Carolyn and Bubba. This is the third Memphis restaurant for chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, and is named after their Italian grandmothers. Once again, knowing Ben has its advantages. As a thank you for the last-minute reservation, Ben brought a case of beer for the staff. And while we ordered lots of dishes from the menu, we also were graced with many more sent from the kitchen. Everything was delicious, the company was wonderful, we ate way too much, laughed just enough, and left hoping to get together again soon.

Leaving Jess is always hard and I have to do it fast—like ripping off a bandaid. We hugged Ben, Roland and Pete goodbye and once again, made some plans to look into a trip to NOLA in the spring. I hope this time we can pull it off.

Continuing east, we headed to Nashville. We were staying at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel next to the Grand Old Opry. Nashville is only about 3 hours from Memphis, but we wanted to go to the Lane Motor Museum, and I wanted Bob to see the hotel, which is pretty spectacular. It is a resort and convention center and I have had the pleasure of presenting there in the past so I wanted Bob to see it. It is huge and full of real gardens, trees and waterfalls, and even an inside river with a paddleboat! We got there early and spent the next several hours wandering around the gardens and shops, getting lost several times. Again, we were pretty worn out so off to sleep we went.

I have no idea what happened next. We woke the next day, ate a leisurely buffet breakfast, talked about some possible things to do, rejected them all in favor of a quiet, relaxing day, and both of us totally forgot about the auto museum. I, of course, could be accused of doing that with purpose, but we actually didn’t realize that we both totally forgot about it until we got back to Norfolk! Oh well. Bob said later that he read about it and there wasn’t anything he was too upset about having missed.

After Nashville, we had one more stop before home. Radford, Virginia, to see Morgan and Jake. For Halloween! A strange thing happened on the way to Radford. As the sky began to darken, we discovered that Penny had developed a strange fear of the dark. This was evidenced by the fact that she dimmed her interior lights by leaving only a slight light for the speedometer, the amount of gas, and the mileage. Otherwise the interior lights and gauges go completely dark. Once daylight returns, so do all her lights. In fact, if you enter a tunnel, the same thing happens but fixes itself once the sunlight returns. No real problem and we have a reservation to take Penny into the shop once we get back to Norfolk. Penny has put on over 10,000 miles on this trip and I think she just wants some rest!

We got to Radford in time to take Morgan and Jake to dinner at Sharkey’s. This is a restaurant and bar that serves reliably good food. We ordered and talked about their semester and our trip and headed to the hotel for the night. Our plan the next day was to go to a movie, and go out to dinner with Morgan, Jake and their roommates, Carol and Colleen. We like a restaurant there called the Farmhouse that serves good steaks. The movie we saw was Last Night in Soho. Morgan likes scary movies and I’m not much of a fan, but this one was really good. It’s a psychological thriller set in both the present and the 60’s. The music is great, the actors are terrific and one of the stars is Diana Rigg in her final role. I loved her in The Avengers when I was a kid and thought she was so cool. Dinner was good as always, and we had a great time with the kids. They were having a Halloween party that night and we were invited, but we didn’t have costumes (hard to believe Bob didn’t have a costume) and so we said goodnight. We stopped in the morning for hugs goodbye and we are looking forward to them coming home in a few weeks for Thanksgiving.

And so, on November 1, we pulled back into Norfolk. The Chesapeake Bay was angry, and our weather luck had run out. It was gloomy and chilly, and this was the first time I ever remember not being mostly glad to be home after a vacation. I wanted to keep going! According to my record, I have 7 states in the US that I have not yet visited, mostly in New England, but the weather probably isn’t the best for that and it will have to wait. We had been gone since September 2. My hair was longer than it’s been in years, Bob was also looking pretty shaggy, but we had the best time and wonderful adventures with memories to last a lifetime.

People ask us what we liked best. Usually we say Crater Lake because it was so surprisingly beautiful and extreme, and because we almost cut it from the trip. But truly the best part was the connections. Our connections to this beautiful, amazing and diverse country. The surprising mountains, sometimes looking like clouds they were so high. The long lonely roads through the prairies, straight for miles with crops or cattle, or rows of giant windmills slowly bringing energy to the towns. The oceans, sometimes serene and inviting, and sometimes angry and punishing, chewing up the land. The surprising connections of a grizzly bear around the corner, or the call of a moose, or a white wolf, loping along a road. Our connections to strangers we met along the way, everyone different in so many ways with so many ideas and things to share, and yet all so alike in wanting the best for their families, cultures and value systems. Our connections to our families and friends, seeing David’s smile, watching Chrissy dance to the music with Penny’s stereo cranked up high, laughing with my brother, watching Sharon prepare for a road trip, enjoying a great meal with Michelle and Matt, watching Bob and his sister as they traded stories of the past, hanging out with Jess and Ben and Morgan and Jake. These are the moments that make life special. And finally, our connection to each other. With long hours alone in this adventure, no longer distracted by work or day to day issues and cares, we became closer than ever, remembering why we chose each other, and why we plan to stick this out to whatever end may come. Yes, the best part is definitely the connections.

And so it is back to baseline retirement, which is pretty damn good all by itself. We have more plans though. No sense stopping now. As Mickey says, See you real soon.