TBA
Tennessee and Arkansas
A regular at A&R Barbeque the night before recommended Bryant's Breakfast for a good local place, and he wasn't wrong. Skipped the cinnamon roll (which looked ridiculous) in favor of the sampler, which was three biscuits, two eggs, a potato patty, pork chop, bacon, country ham... insane. And it was only $12! Was it the life-changing experience promised? I'd say no, but it did make me thankful I was leaving Memphis the next day, less I turn into a whale eating here. :P o_0
Went on a nice run afterwards, found that for a few miles out of the downtown core, Memphis stays pretty nice. Definitely gets rougher beyond that, and found that the Memphis Zoo is surprisingly small on my run past its entrance. For a zoo that has a pair of giant pandas (Ya Ya and Le Le), thought it would have been bigger!
Next stop: Graceland. Elvis' home later in life, clearly heaven for his fans. Even had his airplanes on display by the parking lot. As an ordinary tourist it was kind of cool to go, but a bit of a stretch to recommend based on the steep price. At least it was off-season so no crowds.
The up-and-coming South Main area was the dinnerstop, with The Gray Canary doing a pretty good upscale meal. Some dishes, such as the brussels sprouts salad covered in cheese, were skeptical, but ended up being lighter than expected, and surprisingly well executed. The only real disappointment was the lack of any local oysters, even early on a Sunday evening. The deconstructed s'mores were pretty damned good!
Just for good measured, stopped by Gus' World Famous Fried Chicken, which was right across the street. Confirmed it's definitely better than the Los Angeles locations, although this one seems to use the world's tiniest chickens.
Then up way too early the next morning for the return home. Beat the approaching Arctic blast that was about to hit the middle of the country by hopping on a jet plane-- to the already-frozen city of Denver for the connection. Brrrrr!