The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

[mvf-m11c]

Catching up on your latest trip. Hope you are doing okay after that fall. That is good news to read that your filter protected your lens from being damaged.

You took very nice pictures during the Memphis trip. The buildings with the neon signs are nice to look at and I 'll be they look great at night. The restaurant that you ate for lunch looks very interesting.

 

[Leshaface]

Cool! We can be smelly water conserving sisters!

Dang it where's the tag fairy!

Haha that's cute!

What the heck? And now I want to see the situation in which they decided to add this to the sign.

And there’s where I fell down.

Worst spot in town right??

 

[PrincessInOz]

I did think this sign was cute.

I hope that you and Fran rocked it....just like the sign!!

We looked up several places on Yelp, and after some shopping we decided on this place.

Love it! It's the sort of kitschy place I look for when I'm in the US.

We got the sampler plate.

Wow! Not a place to take a pesky vegetarian!!!

Tater Red’s had some weeeeeird stuff in it!

It sure does!!








I hope that the pain from the fall didn't last too long.
Glad that you're getting the replacement filter![/QUOTE]

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I can understand the no vehicles, skateboards, etc. But reptiles? Did they really need to add that or was it just for the lost crocodile who didn’t realize they weren’t welcome?

I'm a little worried as to what happened that made the sign necessary!

I liked this one too, your first drink would be here but you’d have to wait a whole 25 feet for the next opportunity!

That's just hilarious.

We walked most of the way down and decided that it would be a crime to have come all this way and not eat some barbeque.

I would have to agree!

We looked up several places on Yelp, and after some shopping we decided on this place.

Sounds promising.

We got the sampler plate. Normally it would have had chicken instead of the he onion rings, but they were out of chicken that day. It was fantastic! But with all we had for breakfast we couldn't even finish the plate between the two of us.

That looks fantastic!

When I’m back we’ll be boarding the boat!

I'm on a boat. With my flippy-floppies...

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Just catching up. Plenty of early mornings for you! I agree although coming off the plane you have to wait for your scooter or wheelchair you miss being barged and get yoir luggage!

I had visions when you eventually got your hotel room key for your handicap king of a big old fashioned heavy key with 'room 13 ' on it lol. So heavy you have to have two hands to hold it.

Oh I just loved Beale street! Isn't it an interesting street. Great photos sorry about your fall and poor knee. Neat the trolley bus had a lift!

That PIG restaurant errr yes please yum!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[franandaj]

Cool. Never been to Memphis - but I know were I walking around in Memphis I would be constantly humming that Marc Cohn song "Walking In Memphis".

You know, I do actually know the song, but it never even came to mind!

Beale Street looks rather colourful.

Graham would take the stance that if they have the need to put it on the sign then somebody has done it.

It was quite colorful. I'm not sure how comfortable I would be walking it at night especially with Fran in a scooter. And yeah, kind of like our "Appendix A" to the rental agreement. Every time a tenant does something stupid (like put a 12 foot pool on the grass of the backyard at our duplex and then fill it with the water we, the landlord, pay for), yeah, it goes on the Appendix of things you can't do.

I like that way of thinking.

I rather like it.

You got to experience the local cuisine and I think the decor of the place captured the flavor of the locale as well.

This looks amazing.

It was a great plate of food!

Ah... this makes sense now. I totally misunderstood the last update. I thought you were riding the bus back to the hotel and just saw Beale Street in passing. I'm glad to see that wasn't the case and you were still able to do some exploring.

Naw, the pain pill was going to take care of me for a little while, but I knew that the pain would eventually kick in. I didn't mind walking to explore new stuff, but the idea of walking the 9 blocks back to the hotel sounded worse and worse the longer I walked.

Oh, come on... You can't see a Hard Rock in Disney World. You have to drive all the way to Universal for it!

Ooops! I guess I was thinking about the Planet Hollywood there.

The sad thing is, there's some idiot out there who did something and is the reason for each of the items listed on that sign.

I know that's the scary thing!

Looks delicious! I love some good BBQ.


Again, I'm glad you managed to get some time to tour Beale Street despite the fall. It looks like you had a good time looking around and seeing the sights!

It was definitely tasty and I hope I can get back there and try some other places that were recommended. We just didn't have a lot of time and after that fall, I wasn't going to go walking around any farther than where we already were.

Just figured it would be a twin otter or similar.
If you don't know what that is (or don't feel like Googling)... nevermind.

I don't know what it is, but I assume that is your definition of a puddle jumper.

You never know when an emergency change of clothes can happen.

I'd rather just go back to the ship and change.

Well, that's good at least.

Oh yeah, her pain pills are quite the thing. That is unless you want to stay awake for long periods of time.

And why differentiate between animals and reptiles?
Reptiles aren't animals?
Can I bring a fish?

No reptiles are not animals, they are cold blooded. Not to say that they are mean people, their blood just doesn't maintain a steady temperature, it is based on their surroundings. They did not say anything about fish, nor did they differentiate about amphibians either. I suppose you could bring a frog.

For some people, 25 feet is a long way to stagger.

I've been there.

I've seen those here.
We have an entire area that's filled with buildings from the 20s and 30s.

I don't think we do. Anything gets old in LA, they tear it down. I'm surprised the Mission San Fernando is still standing.

Love the name. I'd go there.

I like it.

That may or may not have influenced our choice.

Man that looks so good!

It was. I wished I had two stomachs.

Oh, man. So sorry for you!

It was sort of bad for the next day or two. I still can't climb up on that one knee.

Who's that?






Kidding!

Truthfully, I couldn't tell you any song her ever sang, I just know him from the "Infomercials" they had for records on the TV when I was a kid. He was always selling records back then. I never liked country music so I always knew him as "some country singer". When Willie Nelson was big I knew him as "some country singer who smoked dope and evaded taxes."

I don't like that place.

I don't really either. Thanks for the sentiment.

Yay!

Hopefully soon! A few more shout outs, but for now, gonna go hit the town before it gets dark. I'm a little scared about after dark!

 

[pkondz]

I don't know what it is, but I assume that is your definition of a puddle jumper.

This is a twin otter:

And I do not consider it a puddle jumper.
That would be more like this:

Which I haven't been on.
Well... I have, but not on floats.

But I've been on similar to this:

Which may be what you were on?

In my experience, when people say "small plane" they mean something like this:

or maybe (less likely) this:

I'd rather just go back to the ship and change.

Did you have that option?

Oh yeah, her pain pills are quite the thing. That is unless you want to stay awake for long periods of time.

No reptiles are not animals, they are cold blooded. Not to say that they are mean people, their blood just doesn't maintain a steady temperature, it is based on their surroundings. They did not say anything about fish, nor did they differentiate about amphibians either. I suppose you could bring a frog.

Interesting. Your definition of animal and mine differ.
Mine is more like what you'd find when you Google the definition and look at the first definition.
(I'll save you the time: )
a living organism that feeds on organic matter, typically having specialized sense organs and nervous system and able to respond rapidly to stimuli.
"animals such as spiders"

But the next one is probably more what you use:
a mammal, as opposed to a bird, reptile, fish, or insect.

Nevertheless... we can bring tarantulas.

I've been there.

I still can't climb up on that one knee.

Oh, sorry to hear that.
Is it getting any better?

When Willie Nelson was big I knew him as "some country singer who smoked dope and evaded taxes."

Me too!

Hopefully soon! A few more shout outs, but for now, gonna go hit the town before it gets dark. I'm a little scared about after dark!

Have fun. Be safe!

 

[dalmatian7]

I have been following g your reports for a while and really enjoy them. I was in Memphis in 1999 for a. Conference and stayed at the hotel you could see from your hotel window. Your pictures brought back a ton of memories. Thanks for sharing your adventures.
Heidi

 

[rndmr2]

Nice update! There were some really neat looking places there. I have been to Memphis but I was about 7 years old. We were also there for the sole purpose of seeing Graceland since my Mom was a HUGE Elvis fan.

Your lunch looked good, I have really developed a liking for BBQ in recent years. there is a place near here (in Rochester, NY) called Sticky Lips that's really good (I also get a kick out of the name! LOL )

Can't wait for the next update so we can see the ship!

 

[Flossbolna]

I am so sorry for your fall! That sounds horrible! I had a very similar incident when I went for a run one evening in February 2014 and you are lucky that you "only" ended up with a bruise. I had to visit the emergency room for several stitches and had two doctors conferencing about whether I needed emergency surgery to remove my bursa. They decided that it was only a scratch on the outside of the bursa, not a real cut in it. And luckily they were right, bot for a week I was quite in panic of getting bursitis in my knee... But I can appreciate how emberassed you must have felt and then how much pain all those bruises caused. I lived on 800mg of ibuprofen three times a day for a week...

This looks really interesting!! That's the kind of America European tourists imagine to be everywhere.

We did a little shopping before we made our final decision

I am so happy that Fran's shopping mojo is back!! And I really like her outfit! The shop looks interesting, too.

And your outfit is really great, too! Did you coordinate for the boarding picture? Love the little Disney hint on the shirt.

Oh!! This looks amazing!!!!!

Hey, I have been on plans like that - especially with that decor!!!

 

[franandaj]

Catching up on your latest trip. Hope you are doing okay after that fall. That is good news to read that your filter protected your lens from being damaged.

Yeah, that was no fun. My right hip still is sore so that I can't sleep on it, and the knee is still tender as well. The bruises are sort of going away.

You took very nice pictures during the Memphis trip. The buildings with the neon signs are nice to look at and I 'll be they look great at night. The restaurant that you ate for lunch looks very interesting.

I'm sure it would be quite a sight at night, but we were just too exhausted that night when we arrived.

Dang it where's the tag fairy!

Haha that's cute!

I thought so!

What the heck? And now I want to see the situation in which they decided to add this to the sign.

Yeah! I'm really wondering. Did some guy show up with a giant python around his neck?

Worst spot in town right??

I hope that you and Fran rocked it....just like the sign!!

Actually we walked right past it. No Hard Rock Cafe for me, much more interesting places.

Love it! It's the sort of kitschy place I look for when I'm in the US.

See like this!

Wow! Not a place to take a pesky vegetarian!!!

I'm not sure there was anything there he could have eaten. Maybe Onion Rings.

It sure does!!

I hope that the pain from the fall didn't last too long.
Glad that you're getting the replacement filter!

The acute pain subsided by the next evening, but the lingering pain is still lingering.

I'm a little worried as to what happened that made the sign necessary!

I know, really.

That's just hilarious.

I'm guessing that this is a town you can walk around with alcoholic beverages. I'm sure folks down one between signs, just to prove a point!

I would have to agree!

Sounds promising.

You gotta go with the local flavors!

That looks fantastic!

I was just sad that as hard as we tried we couldn't finish it all.

I'm on a boat. With my flippy-floppies...

I'm going to guess this is some obscure movie quote that I don't recognize....

 

[franandaj]

Just catching up. Plenty of early mornings for you! I agree although coming off the plane you have to wait for your scooter or wheelchair you miss being barged and get yoir luggage!

We actually did pretty well with early mornings this trip!

I had visions when you eventually got your hotel room key for your handicap king of a big old fashioned heavy key with 'room 13 ' on it lol. So heavy you have to have two hands to hold it.

No, just your standard credit card key.

Oh I just loved Beale street! Isn't it an interesting street. Great photos sorry about your fall and poor knee. Neat the trolley bus had a lift!

Beale Street was definitely interesting and a sight I'm glad we saw. I was so happy the trolley had a lift!

That PIG restaurant errr yes please yum!

Looking forward to reading more!

I'd go back there again! And yes more coming soon!

This is a twin otter:

And I do not consider it a puddle jumper.
That would be more like this:

Which I haven't been on.
Well... I have, but not on floats.

But I've been on similar to this:

Which may be what you were on?

I would consider those tiny puddle jumpers.

In my experience, when people say "small plane" they mean something like this:

or maybe (less likely) this:

Those are definitely what I think of as small planes and I would classify them as puddle jumpers.

Did you have that option?

Well when you go on a 1-3 hour excursion, no one expects you to bring a full wardrobe change. Plus I have never experienced a wardrobe malfunction.

Nevertheless... we can bring tarantulas.

You can. I will avoid arachnids!

Oh, sorry to hear that.
Is it getting any better?

Sort of. Not really.

I have been following g your reports for a while and really enjoy them. I was in Memphis in 1999 for a. Conference and stayed at the hotel you could see from your hotel window. Your pictures brought back a ton of memories. Thanks for sharing your adventures.
Heidi

I'm glad you could relive some memories through my trip!

Nice update! There were some really neat looking places there. I have been to Memphis but I was about 7 years old. We were also there for the sole purpose of seeing Graceland since my Mom was a HUGE Elvis fan.

There was a paid excursion to Graceland that was optional but neither of us are really Elvis fans, and we wanted to take it easy and not run around on a bus all day.

Your lunch looked good, I have really developed a liking for BBQ in recent years. there is a place near here (in Rochester, NY) called Sticky Lips that's really good (I also get a kick out of the name! LOL )

We have tried Barbeque in many parts of the country, Kansas City, Texas, now Memphis, I have yet to experience Carolina Barbeque.

Can't wait for the next update so we can see the ship!

I will be coming right up!

I am so sorry for your fall! That sounds horrible! I had a very similar incident when I went for a run one evening in February 2014 and you are lucky that you "only" ended up with a bruise. I had to visit the emergency room for several stitches and had two doctors conferencing about whether I needed emergency surgery to remove my bursa. They decided that it was only a scratch on the outside of the bursa, not a real cut in it. And luckily they were right, bot for a week I was quite in panic of getting bursitis in my knee... But I can appreciate how emberassed you must have felt and then how much pain all those bruises caused. I lived on 800mg of ibuprofen three times a day for a week...

Yikes! I'm sorry you had such a bad fall! I'm glad that it was just superficial wounds and nothing broken! I take 600mg ibuprofen as my regular dosage when I need "pain pills". You don't really want to know about Fran's, although she no longer needs morphine.

This looks really interesting!! That's the kind of America European tourists imagine to be everywhere.

Interesting. Probably like the PR situation you're discussion on Mark's TR where all Americans think Germany looks like Bavaria.

I am so happy that Fran's shopping mojo is back!! And I really like her outfit! The shop looks interesting, too.

We had already purchased things in 2-3 other stores before that. I found a shirt that said Beale street with a saxophone on it so I had to have that one! It was a definitely neat store, she got the hat there. The rest of the outfit was just chosen for the weather.

And your outfit is really great, too! Did you coordinate for the boarding picture? Love the little Disney hint on the shirt.

Thanks! No we didn't coordinate, but we both brought brown "overflannels" (even though both were made of courdoroy). They were warmer than the ones we normally wear at home. And of course they have a Disney hint on the shirt. Most all of mine do! I'll give you a spoiler alert. There were many things that were not like Disney ships and the first was that there was no boarding photo.

Oh!! This looks amazing!!!!!

It definitely was!

 

[franandaj]

We had just been picked up by the bus at the hotel, and we made our way to the boat. I took some pictures on the way to the ship. But I didn’t think you needed to see all of them.



Then we arrived at the dock and made our way down to the ship.





I thought that this one was our cabin, but it turns out that ours was on the other side.



I was really pleased with our cabin.















And the balcony outside was huge! It wasn’t completely private, but many people came out onto the balcony and would see the sign and assume it applied to the entire balcony. I thought it was just the immediate area outside the cabin and the farther part away was open to all. We rarely had visitors on the patio so it was nice and private.



It was so quaint, our stateroom unlocked with a real key!



They also had today’s “River Times” for Memphis, TN on the bed, plus the one for Tomorrow, Greenville, MS









Once we are back home, I will scan these in so that they are easier to read.

My “gift” bottle of wine never arrived in the stateroom and I called the purser’s office and they said that they would have one in time for sail away. We did the muster drill and it was painless for us. Because Fran couldn’t do the stairs, they just let us wait in the foyer outside our stateroom until it was over and then we headed back to the room.

We were underway and I still had no wine, so I decided to rectify that and not knowing the ship, looked at our map and decided the bar on deck 5 was my best option. It turns out that was the farthest bar from our cabin!

There was an old fashioned steam calliope playing and it was LOUD! As they were pouring my drink, Fran called me to say that my wine had arrived! Oh well.

I went back to the stateroom and we chilled on our patio.





















Eventually I went back into the room and continued to unpack. The room was very small with all our luggage in there, but luckily the suitcases fit underneath the bed so once that was taken care of there was room to move around.


[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

The store was open already and Fran wanted to go there before they were sold out of 3X shirts. Some of the shelves looked pretty picked over, but we found a couple T-shirts and a few other things.















While she browsed the shop in detail, I toured the other rooms on the boat. This is the area just outside the Gift shop, you can see the purser’s office on the right hand side of the picture. The stairway in the middle descends down to the Main Dining Room.



The Gift shop is behind these display windows.



Here is the Mark Twain Room. I spent a lot of my computing time in here.



You could find photocopied crosswords and Sudoku on that counter every morning. I never tried them because they were only Medium and Hard no Easy.





This was my spot where I would compute.











We have a single chair like this at our house, it is intended for gentlemen wearing swords.



On my explorations, I found this Espresso/Cappucino machine. I ran into a nice couple who was making some coffee and we chatted a bit.

Directly behind me in this picture was a case that was always full of fresh baked cookies. Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal and White chocolate chip macadamia nut.





Then I found the ladies parlor.





And the men’s parlor.







We killed some time in the room and then headed down to dinner. I captured these photos as the moon rose and the sun set.














[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

It turns out the nice couple that I ran into at the coffee machine were our tablemates for dinner. They were from South Africa and their names were Jenny and Nigel.



Here is the menu for the first night.



For starters, I hat the Tuna Tartare, which was excellent.



Fran had the Fried Green Tomatoes which she seemed to enjoy.



She had the Split Green Pea Soup with Ham



And I had the Spinach Salad with pecans and dried cramberries



For our main course, I had the beef tenderloin. This was fantastic and cooked perfectly.



She had the roasted halibut, which she said was equally tasty,



For dessert I had (I think) a spiced cake which was awesome.



She had bread pudding which was equally as awesome!



Wine was included with dinner and they poured it heartily. Turns out our dinner companions were also big wine collectors. It sounds like his collection puts mine to shame as he had a room and not just a refrigerated closet. We drank quite a bit, so much so that Fran wanted to go to bed at least half an hour before we left that night. Back in the room, we crawled into our comfy bed and had a good night’s sleep.

 

[Flossbolna]

I took some pictures on the way to the ship. But I didn’t think you needed to see all of them.

Interesting how wide the ship is! I wonder how the dimensions compare to the modern river cruise boats you see here in Europe. I think they are less high as there are so many bridges that are rather low. Those bridges were built well before anyone invented steam boats.

I was really pleased with our cabin.

The cabin looks gorgeous and I really like the "bed protector". I have seen that on other cruise lines as well and miss that at Disney. They only have the blanket, but that is not really sturdy enough in my opinion. Another thing that is different besides the lack of the boarding picture! ;-)

And the balcony outside was huge! It wasn’t completely private, but many people came out onto the balcony and would see the sign and assume it applied to the entire balcony. I thought it was just the immediate area outside the cabin and the farther part away was open to all. We rarely had visitors on the patio so it was nice and private.

I think this looks really great and I would really like that! I know that on some cruise ships they have cabins that open up to the promenade deck and I think for me that would be perfect as I prefer being in a public space to being on my own little balcony.

They also had today’s “River Times” for Memphis, TN on the bed, plus the one for Tomorrow, Greenville, MS

Interesting to read through! And I like that they tell people that you need to be at your table by the latest 15 minutes past your dining time!

Looks like a great sailaway despite the drink hiccup!

That looks really interesting that they have all those books there!!

This was my spot where I would compute.

Great computing spot! All the public areas look wonderful!

On my explorations, I found this Espresso/Cappucino machine. I ran into a nice couple who was making some coffee and we chatted a bit.

A WMF machine! That's German coffee engineering! ;-) Many places here have those and I find that they do make a rather decent coffee. I would prefer a coffee from this to the stuff they made for me at the Cove Cafe...

Those look delicious!!!

Oh, fancy plates!!

Wine was included with dinner and they poured it heartily. Turns out our dinner companions were also big wine collectors. It sounds like his collection puts mine to shame as he had a room and not just a refrigerated closet. We drank quite a bit, so much so that Fran wanted to go to bed at least half an hour before we left that night. Back in the room, we crawled into our comfy bed and had a good night’s sleep.

Sounds like dinner was a great success with table mates and food! The food all looked really good, especially that tenderloin!

 

[Leshaface]

I was really pleased with our cabin.

Oh my gosh, I love the cabin! Definitely different from the DCL cabins but very cool.

It was so quaint, our stateroom unlocked with a real key!

We were given real keys when we went away for my 'relaxing' weekend and I was pretty shocked myself!

I think this is so cool! Do waters get rough on rivers?

This was my spot where I would compute.

Nice spot

Then I found the ladies parlor.

Pretty and dainty! So not me.

And the men’s parlor.

Ah, here we go!

Wine was included with dinner and they poured it heartily.

Dinner looked pretty amazing. I was excited to see the pics of it, wanted to compare to DCL but the serving portions all look about the same. But wine included?!

Turns out our dinner companions were also big wine collectors. It sounds like his collection puts mine to shame as he had a room and not just a refrigerated closet.

Wowzers! You're still the only person I know with a huge collection so still number one in my book

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'm going to guess this is some obscure movie quote that I don't recognize....

Saturday Night Live, actually.

I took some pictures on the way to the ship.

The ship looks really cool!

We rarely had visitors on the patio so it was nice and private.

Bonus! That's just perfect.

It was so quaint, our stateroom unlocked with a real key!

A what?

Here is the Mark Twain Room. I spent a lot of my computing time in here.

Pretty snazzy. I think I like that room better than the men's or women's lounges.

We have a single chair like this at our house, it is intended for gentlemen wearing swords.

Get a lot of visitors like that, do you?

That's pretty interesting, though.

Directly behind me in this picture was a case that was always full of fresh baked cookies.

Oh man. You just sold me on the cruise. I wouldn't leave the room. Except to find Sudoku for Dummies.

Turns out our dinner companions were also big wine collectors. It sounds like his collection puts mine to shame as he had a room and not just a refrigerated closet.

I would have been able to build a wine room if I didn't have so many kids.

 

[rndmr2]

Beautiful room! Love the balcony area too. Love the pics around the ship, the public seating areas look nice and inviting. Nice that they have the cappuccino machine and yummy looking cookies out for people to enjoy. Sounds like you lucked out with good tablemates. I always enjoyed that part of cfruising but it is always a little scary waiting to see if everyone will get along.

 

[PrincessInOz]

we arrived at the dock and made our way down to the ship.

I'd love to do this cruise some day! I can cope with river cruising.....just not open sea!

I was really pleased with our cabin.

And the balcony outside was huge!

Wow! What a great room and balcony.

I went back to the stateroom and we chilled on our patio.

Pity that the bottle of wine wasn't available on arrival!

While she browsed the shop in detail, I toured the other rooms on the boat.

This was my spot where I would compute.

Then I found the ladies parlor.

Love the ladies' parlour.....and that's a great spot for computing.
I think I would have loved to have been able to browse in that shop too!

It turns out the nice couple that I ran into at the coffee machine were our tablemates for dinner. They were from South Africa and their names were Jenny and Nigel.

Turns out our dinner companions were also big wine collectors.

How cool is that? That's one heck of a happychance to run into the people you would be sitting with for dinner!