Tonight we are going over the second half of our big, fat, American road trip. Derek and I went across the country on a trip from Minot to Orlando. It was a long haul, but incredibly fun. If you missed our first two stops–check out yesterday’s post.
The third leg of our trip took us from the Kansas City to Memphis, TN. We left Kansas City right after our late lunch at Jack Stack BBQ and drove down to Memphis–only about six hours. We arrived around 10pm and decided that we should put our “tired” aside and venture down to Beale Street. {Which, according to USA Today, is America’s most iconic street.} I mean…how often do we go to Memphis? Besides, we were only spending the one night there. If we were going to take in some live music, it was now or never. It was cold. It was off season. It was late and places were starting to close up. But we went anyway.
The lights were lovely and the live music was even lovelier. We ended up sitting in the B.B. King Blues Club. We heard the last few songs of their house band’s set. So good! {Image below from the BB King Blue’s Club website.}
The following morning, we kept with our musical theme. First we drove past Aretha Franklin’s childhood home. {It’s still there!} Then we hit up the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, to learn about the heart of the Memphis music scene. The museum was interesting, especially for folks with a pulse on the music scene. For me, it was a little hard to pay attention…because there were lots of songs playing from lots of different directions and I had a hard time reading. But that’s probably due to my own sometimes stunted attention span. At any rate, we listened to some great music and looked very hipster doing it.
Then we hit up the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, to learn about the heart of the Memphis music scene. The museum was interesting, especially for folks with a pulse on the music scene. For me, it was a little hard to pay attention…because there were lots of songs playing from lots of different directions and I had a hard time reading. But that’s probably due to my own sometimes stunted attention span. At any rate, we listened to some great music and looked very hipster doing it.
After the museum we ate soul food at the Four Way–which the locals told us was the best around. Indeed it was.
We wrapped up our time in Memphis travels with a swing past Graceland. We didn’t have the time to tour, but we did walk past the home of the king…where I insisted that we each try to dance like Elvis. We gave it our best shot, but I’m pretty sure Elvis would be embarrassed.
The next leg of our trip took us down to New Orleans. Since we were mostly there for a wedding {which I was photographing} we only did the basics. Strolled the French Quarter, ate red beans and rice, coffee and beignets at Cafe Du Monde.
We also had the second best breakfast of my life at the Ruby Slipper. {The absolute best was the Friendly Toast in Portsmouth.} But, like I said, the main event was the wedding. More of these photos coming soon!
From NOLA, we reached our “final” destination–Montgomery, AL. The main reason for road tripping was the drive to Montgomery, where Derek had to attend a training course. It was a relief to get out of the car for a bit. We stayed in town and out of the car for a full week before packing it back up to head south for the long MLK Day weekend.
We drove down to Pensacola, where we had a lovely dinner at what is perhaps my all-time favorite restaurant–Dharma Blue. Photo below via the Dharma Blue Facebook page.
The following morning we ate breakfast at one of our favorite haunts–Ace’s in Milton, FL {we used to live in Milton.} The food was great…but catching up with our friends who still live in Milton/Pensacola. I love these ladies!
Finally, it was another long haul from Milton down to Orlando! There we got to see another Milton friend and I made all my Harry Potter dreams come true!
Since my back pain was flaring up {maybe all that time in the car had something to do with it…} we decided to take in Universal Studios instead of Islands of Adventure, since there are fewer roller coasters at Studios. Coasters aside, it was amazing!! Oh my. I just don’t even have words. Sure, Universal Studios was fun. But Harry Potter World–Diagon Alley–blew. my. mind. Blown. The butter beer. The Gringott’s dragon that breathes real fire. The shops. The food. Amazing.
Our friend Angel was selected to have Olivander select a wand for her. We ate the best amusement park food I’ve ever had at the Leaky Cauldron. And made a thrilling Escape From Gringotts. {Who knew melding 3D video and a roller coaster could be so fun?!}
Of course the other parts of the park were fun too…but it all really paled in comparison to how great Diagon Alley was.
From Orlando, we trekked back to Montgomery for the duration of the journey. {If you are in Montgomery, you should definitely have some rockin’ Cajun food at Uncle Mick’s and participate in Trivia Night at the Irish Bred Pub–get the Irish Mac ‘n’ Cheese while you’re there.}
We had an awesome time…but after all that travel it’s been really nice to be back home, back in a routine. I’m sure this is just one in many, many adventures that 2015 will bring.
