Mostly Midtown Memphis

Friday was a crazy day. I started off meeting my parents for a beer out east for a beer. More accurately my dad’s happy hour buddies from Germantown High. It was nice but the beer only made me tired so I went home and took a nap. Good Thing. I first met the Stephany cousins, Jasper, and Keri, who was in town from Chicago, for a beer at the Blue Monkey. Later on I met up with a couple of Baruch’s friends for drinks. We hit La Chardonnay first then slid over to the Beauty Shop for some killer mojitos. These were the best mojitos I have had since DC. I know that sounds obnoxious but its true.

The Blue Monkey

The Beauty Shop

Baruch and friend wisely bailed, so Cindy was brave enough to come with and meet up with the rest of the motley crew at Bayou. It was an all star gallery of wild ones, the Music Man, Jasper, Angry Chuck, Buff, and Keri. . Suffice to say, poor decisions were made and we ended up at Alex’s Tavern for some late night food and drink. When Buff joined were rolling four Stephanys deep. That is illegal in most states.

Downtown Memphis

The Reba Russell band was playing at Court Square tonight. Beautiful night. The Music Man’s Jazz band from school opened up tonight and did a fabulous job. They covered some of Memphis’ classic songs. Last year they were awarded the title of best high school band from Downbeat Magazine. I hung out with Penny, the Music daughter, for a stretch. Later on that night I met up with Truk for a couple of beers at the Saucer. The pint special was Oktoberfest Beer. In bed by 9:30pm, it was good night.

The Gazebo stage

People mulling around the foutntain

One of the ore hilarious/annoying part of the Court Square concert series is the weekly “Bum off”. Its kinda of like a dance off only the crack influences the dancing style far more than the music. It helps pass the time but if any tourists see them it kind of freaks them out. I really want to have “Bum Dance Contest”. I can yell, “It’s an ol’ fashioned Bum off! Old school rules apply!” I’m not sure what those old school rules would apply but when I think about it in my head I giggle. I have issues.

Memphis, TN

I went out to SBA to support the H’s volleyball team in an important region match. There was a big crowd so it was great atmosphere. I said of hellos to a lot of my old SBA cronies. The seniors are the last group of kids I coached in Football so it was great to seem some of them. One of favorites was a kid we dubbed “Manhole”. I coached his older brother in football and taught his other one. Smart and funny kid, he is stand out wrestler. His family has gone through a lot. About three years ago he lost the brother that I taught in car accident on his way home from school at LSU. He has kept a good head on his shoulder and I enjoyed talking with him.

SBA got us in the firth and tiebreaker set. In the end it could be a good loss. The team had beat SBA the other 4 or 5 times they had played them and I feel that it is tough to beat a good team every time you see them. We will see them again in the region tourney. I like supporting the team, a lot of my old students, and one of my 8th graders starts on the varsity as a setter. She is pretty good.

Washington, DC

After waking up and getting packed Billy picked me up from the hotel and we headed to fields near the Lincoln Memorial along the Potomac to play some flag football. This was the season opening game. The team is mostly comprised of Ugly Mugs softball team with a few additions, namely two members of my Erie Crew, Ryser and Micah. The weather was sunny, the skies were blue, and there a nice breeze coming off the Potomac. Wow do I miss playing football.

The Ugly Mugs drew first blood only to be matched by the opposing team on the next possession. After that the route was on. We, by we I mean me, stopped trying to call plays in the huddle we started lighting up the scored board like a pinball machine. The final score was 28 to 6. All played well. After the game we headed to our sponsor bar for the obligatory min burgers, wings, and pizza rolls. MMMMHHH, bar food. We watched the first half of the NFL games and then returned to the mancave at Bill and Amanda’s to watch the Packers secure a win in the second half. Ryser made this killer chickenwing dip thing which was awesome. I had to tread lightly though because given my gastric intake of the previous three days coupled with a flight home I needed to “manage the team”. Once on the plane I slept from gate to landing.