Memphis: Thunder Without the Lightening

So we spent the night out in Memphis tonight. Memphis probably has the most bustling downtown out of all the cities we have visited. There is a strip along Beale Street that is one blues bar after another, and there are lots of colorful lights and goodies to look at. Memphis is the home of the Blues, so most of the bars here are dedicated to live music and music of the blues variety, albeit a watered down version that is more tourist friendly (more on that later).

We ate a pretty decent meal at this place called Huey's which is in the center of downtown. It was pretty much straight up American food; burgers, fries, beer etc. I actually ate a salad which made me feel like a human being again as opposed to a fatass. I'm starting to really miss healthy food and the gym.

We then went to B.B. King's Club. This is the same brand they have in New York, but this is the original and had some really entertaining live music. We stayed there for awhile and then went to the Flying Saucer Bar which was down the street. It also had live music, but it was 3 old men playing young men's songs. Stranger and not so good, but the bar was fairly crowded.

So why is Memphis the city of thunder with no lightening? Because it SHOULD be a great city, but it is really lacking something. First of all, all the blues places I mentioned on the main drag are designed for tourists. The blues is watered down and more like pop music, it lacks the extreme sadness that really defines the blues genre. Second, even for a Friday night the city was pretty dead. It seemed like everyone was congregated in one or two places and everything else was empty. Finally, the crowd was OLD. There were some younger people in the Flying Saucer Bar, but they were overwhelmingly of the male sex.

I think OJ and I don't really understand how to go out in these cities. It doesn't help that we are driving between 200-300 miles a day and by the time we get to a new city, we are so tired we barely have the energy to go out. But we are also used to NY, where everything is popping no matter where you go. It seems like here, you have to KNOW where you are going, and there are particular spots that everyone goes to on particular nights. If anyone is from or has lived in the South, drop a comment and let me know if that is true.

I know I'm not my witty self tonight but a) I'm tired as fuck and b) it's like -40 degrees outside here. Seriously, I have no idea if the city is always this cold, but it's as cold as NY here in Memphis right now. I nearly died walking from one place to another.

We've decided to check out Graceland tomorrow, walk around downtown for a bit and then book out of here for Nashville. Hopefully the nightlife will be a little more satisfying, like one giant orgasm as opposed to several loud fakes ones. Ok, there is my perverted simile for the night and now I'm done.

J$