Walking in Memphis

It was a busy day today. I knocked out 500+ miles of driving, checked out Memphis, drove through 5 states and climbed Mississippi's high point.

I camped on the Summit of Taum Sauk, MS last night and when I woke up this morning I noticed a lookout tower on the other end of the park so I climbed up to see if I could get a better view. It wasn't that great of a view...partly because it was overcast and partly because it was only a 1,900 foot mountain.

On my way to Memphis I stopped by some bakery/bed and breakfast in Southern Missouri that was once a Catholic boarding school. Their dinner rolls were pretty spectacular.

Once I got to Memphis I immediately hit a diners, drive-ins and dives BBQ spot called, "Cozy Corner". They had some pretty incredible BBQ ribs. They also made a side dish of Spaghetti with BBQ sauce which was surprisingly delicious.

Next stop was downtown to walk around a bit and work up an appetite so I could hit another BBQ place before leaving.

I stopped by the Peabody Hotel and stumbled upon their famous March of the Ducks. Basically they have a bunch of ducks that spend their day in the fountain in the lobby. Then at 5pm each day, the ducks march out of the fountain down a red carpet to the elevator to retire to their room for the night...I shit you not...it was pretty cool.

After getting a few flights of Tennessee whiskey at the bars around town, I went to the famous rib spot called Rendezvous for a dry rub rack of lamb. It was incredible! This place has catered for the last 5 presidents and has even been served on Air Force 1.

Many thanks to my good friend Matt for his recommendations. He also supplied me with some serious intel on Nashville which will be put to good use tomorrow.

After leaving Memphis I started driving down to Mississippi to climb their state high point. Truth be told, "Climb" is a bit of a stretch. This one was really just a drive up. I was able to park right on the summit.

Finally, I was ready to start driving to Nashville, but I started getting a bit tired on the way so I pulled over to call it a night. I pulled over at the Alabama Welcome Center rest stop and they had a decommissioned Saturn Rocket on display. I am considering pushing back the trip to Nashville a couple hours tomorrow morning and stopping by the Space Center in Huntsville, Alabama first. It looks pretty cool.

So I hit a 2 milestones today...

1) I've now traveled over 28,000 miles
2) I've now been to every state in the continental US except for Washington and Maine.