Memphis!

A few months ago a couple of friends and I signed up to run in the St. Jude 5K race.  As you will see, we did more than just participate in the race.  None of us had ever been to Memphis and we were really looking forward to the roadtrip.

One stop we just had to make was to Uncle Lou's.  Susie's brother had been to this fried chicken dive last year after having seen an episode featuring Uncle Lou's on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  You can see it here.

I tried to tackle the "Sweet Spicey Love" (I shortened it to SSL) fried chicken (foreground), Susie had the grilled SSL (featured at 10 o'clock in the picture) and Tonya had the original (featured at 12 o'clock in the picture).  She wasn't feeling very SSL.

The food was pretty delicious and the staff was pretty fun too.  We decided we should get a picture of us outside the restaurant.  Susie went back in to ask our waitress to take a picture and she dragged Uncle Lou himself out for a "photo op". 

Saturday morning we ran the 5K.  I, Karen Slovensky, actually kept up with these girls who run at least 3 days a week!  I finished in 33:43.  A personal best and I was pretty dang proud of myself, Susie and Tonya.  This race is post-race.  Hence the reason my face is the same color as my shirt.

Graceland!  That's right, the home of the one and only, Elvis Presley!  We were able to tour his home and his 2 planes, and we were also able to see his cars, jewelry, wardrobe and his grave.  He was quite a talented entertainer and had quite the ecclectic taste.  It was a pretty fun tour!  I had Elvis songs stuck in my head for hours afterwards, but it was still a fun tour.

   

Our tour of Memphis also took us down Beale Street.  Beale Street holds a lot of history, especially when it comes to the Blues style of music.

This is Susie under the "Memphis" sign that she adored.

Looking down Beale Street.

Yours truly on Beale Street.

There are interesting people, well, everywhere you go.

He did have a very cute dog that look so very much like the dog we used to have.  Those of you that knew Bear would have to agree.  This dog's name was Ashley.

We also went to the Peabody Hotel.  You know, the hotel where the ducks get the VIP treatment.  Well, it's a gorgeous hotel and it was decorated beautifully for Christmas.

We couldn't go to Memphis without getting a little BBQ.  It was pretty dang good too.  I think I should have run at least four 5K races to make up for all of the food I ate.  It was a super fun trip and it was only 4 hours away!  I can't believe I had never gone before!