May 1, Friday
11 miles !
We rode out after stopping at Wal-mart for some essentials. Headed across the Arkansas-Memphis bridge. It was quite a thrill! We had to unload our bikes to lift them over a barrier on the freeway to get to the pedestrian walk way across the bridge. Very much worth doing! There was no way we could have made it across the bridge otherwise. Almost immediately across the bridge was a Super 8 motel. We decided to "set up camp" there.
We hadn't scheduled it but we arrived just in time for the Beale Street Music Festival which started today and goes thru Sunday. After settling in we walked on down to the river front for the festival. Memphis has a legendary history as "the crossroads of American music." The information brochure describes the festival: "The Beale St. Music Festival draws music lovers from all over the world. ....Three huge outdoor stages and a mega blues tent presents 60 acts from a variety of musical genres....top performers and mixes it with some latest and greatest contemporary talents...creates a major music experience second to none..." This all takes place on about 35 acres along the Mississippi River front.
Rusty and I think that the "people watching" was even better than the music. As one can imagine the crowd consisted mostly of college age or 20-30 somethings looking cute and on the look out for someone else cute. Colorfully designed rain boots were everywhere to finish off the outfit of short shorts or a short little dress. These boots were "the thing" on the East coast three or four years ago when we were in DC and I fell in love with them. While there I bought a pair on clearance for $15. Couldn't bring myself to pay the full $55-75 price! I asked one of the girls who was working a concession and wearing the "cute boots" if they were a fashion statement. She said that they were for the rain. It rains every year for the music festival and the girls want to be prepared. Ohhh Reeealllly. :)
We bought expensive event food and lemonade and listened to some pretty loud music in the Blues tent and then found a great little side group. Sat on the lawn and listened to the sound of middle aged James "Super Chiken" (that's the way he spells it) Johnson's banjo and his enthusiastically hyper keyboard sidekick. This was the sound we were looking for. It appeared to us that most people were there to have some background music while they drank beer and flirted.
Instead of taking the shuttle we saved $6 by walking down to the festival led by a couple who had "been there before". However when it came time to head home in the dark, we were on our own. After a lot of laughing and a few course corrections in a pretty scary part of town, Rusty suggested we go back to the festival and get a cab. So much for saving money but we stayed calm and made it back to the motel safely. There is an adventure is every moment.
Two more boots on the bridge
Gloves: 13
Boots: 9
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