Roadtrip Chapter 1- Memphis/Mason

Bright and early on a Saturday June 25th, 2011 the Nielsen family embarked on their first but definitely not last family vacation. The car was packed, tummies were happy and we were on our way to MEMPHIS! Along the way we stopped at our favorite BBQ place in Texas (Bodacious BBQ in Sulpher Springs, TX). It was just as delicious as we remembered!

We made awesome time and got to Memphis in the early evening. We decided to go into the city and get a bite to eat and check out Beale ST before the crazies got out. We ate at the Blues City Cafe on Beale ST and although the food is pretty great the service was - well there really wasn't any. Lets just leave it at that. I got the fried catfish and shared it with Baleigh- we both really loved it. We give this the Nielsen rating of 3 thumbs up for taste, 4 thumbs down for service, and the price was under $10 per plate.

We ventured out onto Beale ST to find it very different from when we had visited in November (we were the only people on the street that night). Even at 7 PM it was hopping with life. We battled through the crowds and walked the length of the the street before deciding to call it a night.

We have never planned out a vacation like we did this one before so we had booked all of our hotels online and here I will make a plug for Travelocity.com. I read reviews and put in the specs of the room that we wanted and we did not pay over $50 for a hotel room (with the exception of the room we rented down town Chicago). They were all clean, quiet, with comfy beds in what appeared to be safe neighborhoods.

We got up early on the 26th (Happy Birthday to me!) and headed to the Blue Plate (a breakfast place that was recommended to us by a local last year when we were there) for breakfast. This place was amazing. I had and omlette with some country hash browns that rocked my world! The portions were enormous and could easily be shared with someone else. We played musical plates at the table so everyone got a chance to taste a few things. Baleigh's blueberry waffle with wild blueberry compote and home made whipped cream was my second favorite. Forgetting about the food for a second- the ambiance was incredible as well. The whole place is painted in a bright sunshiny yellow and then decorated in paintings from local artists. All the paintings are for sale if one really strikes your fancy. Overall the Nielsen Rating for service gets 4 thumbs up, the food gets 4 thumbs up, and the price per meal was under $8 per person. (If you are looking for a peanut butter and banana sandwich they serve it here)

From the Blue Plate we headed to GRACELAND! Years ago when Jake and I were both in College we used to talk about just keeping on I-57 S and going all the way to Graceland. Over a decade later we finally made it. I will make a note here that it is not really a place to take little kids. Your are given a headset and a handheld "walkman" like device that guides you through the tour. Thor was really bummed that he didn't get a headset so I gave him mine and he "guided" Baleigh and I through the house. I was able to read about everything as we went through the Jungle Room with the built in waterfall and see the beautiful front room all in white with exquisite stained glass peacocks (my favorite room). Jake took a bit of a slower pace white the kids and I moved ahead.

At the memorial gardens Elvis is buried next to his parents and grandmother. Fresh flowers are sent to Graceland daily and they are displayed until they wilt. They come from all over the world even still to this day. Something that I didn't know about him was how protective he was of his family. The upstairs of his home was their hideaway. No one was or is allowed on the second story of Graceland. It has never been photographed and according to his daughter's wishes it will never be open to the public. He was also a man who gave back to his community - if he saw someone who was struggling it was not uncommon for him to just toss him the keys to the car he was driving and give it to them- or to donate large amounts of money to the local charities. Those are things that no one really talks about when they speak of "the King".

We headed out of Memphis around 1PM with Mason, TN as our next destination. Mason, TN aside from being the birthplace of Issac Hayes is also the home of Gus's World Famous Spicy Fried Chicken (according to Clair Robinson on Food Network - and their sign out front). Here we experienced our second taste of what Jake and I consider no service but apparently what is considered standard for the south. : ) We watched as every table in the place was served (some who had come in after us) before our order was even taken. When the waitress finally made her way to our table she said (not asked) "you're having the family bucket" - to which Jake responded "no" and proceeded to tell her what we WOULD be having. The food eventually came (the restaurant was actually empty by this point) and was pretty tasty - however we were left wondering where the spice was. It was well seasoned and juicy but barley had a hint of spice. This place got a Nielsen Rating of 2 thumbs up for taste, 1 thumb down for service, the price for a family meal was about $20.