Walking in Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee. Elvis. Johnny Cash. The Mighty Mississippi. Central BBQ. Gus’ Fried Chicken. The Peabody Ducks. The National Civil Rights Museum and the Lorraine Motel.

And our wonderful daughter Jessica Halliday, her guy, Ben Boswell, and our grandkitties, Roland and Pete. There are lots of great reasons to visit Memphis, but for me, it’s all about Jess and Ben.

Roland

Pete

Jessica was named after the song by the Allman Brothers. And, like the song, Jessica is pure joy. She was a tiny baby, just over 5 pounds, and was a frank breach, meaning that she wanted to come out butt first and had her legs up around her neck. She remains very flexible to this day. Jessica is kindhearted, wickedly funny, and is an amazing cook. So naturally she was attracted to Ben who is equally kindhearted, knows virtually everyone in Memphis, holds music in his soul and is an equally amazing cook. When they cook together, it’s like watching a dance. Not the ballet. More like the Lindy Hop.

Jess and Ben live in Cooper-Young, an artsy neighborhood always redefining itself. Most of the buildings are centuries old, and always in a state of renovation and growth. If great food, music and interesting art and antiques are your thing, you can’t do better than this. Jess and Ben have been pretty conservative during the epidemic, and haven’t been out much except as needed for work and for helping their friends and family who need someone to shop. Ben’s family is near, and while we were there, we got to spend some time with Ben’s mom, Carolyn. A true southern lady, she brought us a gift of candied pecans, and stayed to enjoy Central BBQ with us. She loves Jessica, and of course, I love her for that.

On our first evening together, we went to The Beauty Shop restaurant, where, when it was a real beauty shop, was where Priscilla Presley got her hair done. We scored a table on the patio, where many fans kept the air moving to push away that nasty virus. The food was terrific. Next morning, we walked over to the farmer’s market and munched on some exceptional chicken enchiladas for breakfast. Jess and Ben had asked us what we wanted them to cook for us, and I requested her homemade sourdough bread while Bob asked for jambalaya. It turned out they had never made jambalaya, so Ben found a recipe from one of the many chefs they admire.

Bob and I think Jess and Ben should have a restaurant, or at least a food truck. The world would be a better place if we could all eat what they cooked. The sourdough bread was perfect, soft and chewy on the inside with that sourdough bite, and delightfully crunchy on the outside. She makes her own starter and we devoured two loaves while we were there. The jambalaya took hours, and watching Jess and Ben make it was where I noticed that they dance while they cook. Their kitchen is small, but functional, and they move in concert, sharing the various tasks of stirring, browning, measuring and tasting. They rely on each other’s skill and personify teamwork. The result was perfect.

We took several long walks with Jess. Walking in Memphis is to see small, carefully kept houses on the same block as huge mansions. Jess is trying to find the perfect tree to add to her front yard so we stopped frequently for her to use an app to identify the trees she liked best.

Penny loved Memphis. On nearly every block is colorful street art so Penny wanted her picture with many. One afternoon we went to the Edge Motor Museum. This is a building constructed in 1925 that now houses the highlights of the rise of the American sports car from postwar to 1974 and is just down the street from Sun studios. The guy in charge of the museum was a big Penny fan, and let us park her right in front. As always, we had numerous people stop to take pictures with her.

One evening we watched the movie, Dolomite is My Name with Eddie Murphy. It’s based on the true story of Rudy Ray Moore who created a character found in blaxploitation films in the 70’s. It was hilarious, and a great way to spend an indoors evening. For dinner that night we had Gus’ Fried chicken, a Memphis tradition, and arguably the best fried chicken in the world. Visiting Jess and Ben is not for dieters.

Next day, Jess and I made what we thought would be a quick trip to a store, and found ourselves at the start of the Cooper-Young Gay Pride Parade. It was colorful, joyous and stopped traffic as everyone cheered and waved. Numerous folks cheered on the roof of the local Playhouse, and we were sorry we didn’t know about it, as Penny would have loved to be included.

Leaving Memphis is hard. We usually get to see Jess and Ben once or twice a year, but that is not nearly enough. So, we began to hatch a plan for the next visit. They love New Orleans and have been many times. I have been there a few times, but only to work, so I don’t know the city very well. Bob has never been. New Orleans with Jess and Ben is the way to do it, so we are now working on a foodie trip in the future.

So, with sad hearts and full stomachs, we headed to visit my sister Lynn, Brother-in-law Tom and their family in Birmingham, Alabama.