Day 1 (it's really 36 hours)

My Memphis adventure did not start well. Woke up to two inches of "slurpee" which I had to drive in to get to the train station - a trip that would normally take about an hour wound up being an hour and a half. Finally made it to the station with five minutes to spare only to find out the train was running a half hour late. The layover in Chicago was long, boring and noisy. I saw more more Amish people in Chicago than I've seen in my whole life in Michigan :0) The train was supposed to terminate in News Orleans but wound up terminating in Carbondale, IL because of a train derailment earlier in the day and we were to be bussed the rest of the way to Memphis. Unfortunately, they only had one bus at the station when we arrived which quickly filled up - we were told another bus was on the way and would be there in about half an hour if we wanted to wait so a group of us decided to catch the next bus. Two hours later at 4am the promised bus finally arrived and we all piled in and tried to find comfortable sleeping positions for the four hour bus ride. Finally arrived in Memphis and headed to my hotel hoping they would have a room available for a (very) early check in - of course not. So I hung out in the lobby and had some breakfast while housekeeping put a rush on getting a room ready - after 24 hours of traveling all I wanted was a shower and some sleep. After a couple hour nap I headed out on the town - I explored Beale St and some of the area around my hotel but I was really too exhausted to do anything more. The sight seeing will start in earnest tomorrow after a good nights sleep.

Day 2

Well - I think I fell asleep around 7pm and didn't wake up until 5am - ever then I just laid in bed and watched TV for an hour so. Then it was time to take a shower and head down to the lobby for some breakfast. After breakfast it was off to the Burkle House - it used to be a stop on the underground railroad during slavery. The tour was very informative - once we finally got to take the tour - they were about an hour late opening. I would have left and went back later but it was a five block walk to the trolley stop and I didn't want to walk it twice :0{

Lunch was garlic and Cajun shrimp at the Blues City Cafe on Beale St and then it was off to the Civil Rights Museum were I spent the afternoon and could have spent several more hours because there was so much to read. Then it was back to my hotel room after a stop at Subway to pick up something to eat for supper. Now I'm going to take a cool shower and relax for the rest of the evening.

Day 3 (another 36 hour day)

Checked out of the hotel and left my luggage to pick up later. Went to the Peabody hotel to see the ducks - they live on the roof of the hotel and twice a day they ride the elevator down to the lobby and march to the fountain to swim - very cute. Then I made my way back tho Beale St to see the Rock & Soul museum - it was a good tour but there were only five rooms - I would have thought it would be bigger. Stopped at A. Schwabs for an old fashioned milkshake (yummy!) And then headed to my hotel to collect my luggage and head for the train station. After checking my luggage I went across the street to the Arcade which is an old 50's diner where Elvis used to eat. Back in the train station I asked the lady at the counter if the train was running on time - nope at least an hour late due to thunderstorms in Mississippi. After another long, boring layover in Union Station it was time to finally get on the train back to Michigan (which thankfully left on time and actually made it to Flint on time) and then drive home where I took a bubble bath and then collapsed into bed and slept for ten hours.

All in all, it was a good trip and I had fun but I really wish I'd had my AFO to use before I left since I did a lot of walking and my ankle is pretty sore. I really enjoy taking the train to get to places it would be too far to drive on my own but I hate being at the mercy of mother nature, Amtrak's horrible schedules and their old, outdated equipment that can (and frequently does) break down if you look at it cross-eyed.