Walkin' in Memphis

At the end of July, our whole family took a weekend trip to visit Uncle Bud and Aunt Vickie who live in Memphis. They have lived there a long time (Vickie was born and raised there) and we've been to see them lots of times. But this time, we decided to be tourists for the afternoon.

With Daniel's strong interest in music, we thought it would be fun to go check out Beale Street and some of the musical connections in Memphis (we didn't make it to Graceland). Since it was very hot, we opted to walk a "few feet off of Beale" to the Rock and Soul Museum, which happens to be adjacent to the FedEx Forum, where the Memphis Grizzlies play basketball. Later that evening, we met up with the rest of the fam and ate dinner at a restaurant on Beale Street and then went to see a Memphis Redbirds baseball game (the stadium is also in downtown Memphis).

The museum was curated with the help of the Smithsonian Institute, so it's not too shabby. Lots of fun musical memorabilia and juke boxes with music from the 40s, 50s and 60s to listen to (or dance to, if you're a woman off of a tour bus who was reliving her youth . . . not anyone we knew, but she was comical to watch).

Before we went downtown on Saturday, we also spent some time in Germantown, outside of Memphis, at a park (again, it was HOT) and walking around a shaded outdoor museum of sorts with an old-timey jail and fire truck and train caboose.

It was a fun trip and we enjoyed getting to spend time with Bud and Vickie and various other relatives and friends of the family.

Now for the pictures:

Swinging at the park

A little piece of shade

Mary Lane liked this "little boy" and thought he was crying.

Erica and Grandma in jail

Someone's peeking around the ladder on the back of the red caboose

Smile!

Daniel was conveniently wearing his U2 shirt that day, so it was a great photo op

Our dinner destination

Uncle Bud, Aunt Vickie and Erica

Vickie's sister, Valerie, and Erica became buddies

Vickie and Bud own the jewelry store that sponsors the "Kiss Cam"

My cousin, Scott, and his wife, Sonnia

Vickie's nephew, Cole, with Daniel and Vickie