West Memphis Arkansas

This Labor Day weekend we took a drive through TN, we went through Memphis, and crossed the over the Mississippi River into West Memphis Arkansas. We started our 4 hour road trip around 8am on Saturday morning and followed Ernie and Janette. We had to take 2 cars of course and we managed to have room for Smokey. As we drove across the great state of TN, I began to notice that almost every car had some form of hunter safety orange to it. Some were occupied by both men & women wearing orange, others were covered w/orange T stickers, some had orange flags, while some had pom poms sticking out of the windows. The UT pride was in the air... In fact we stopped at a McDonald's and I'm not kidding, I think I was the only person not wearing orange. I was more than a little impressed by the display of enthusiasm. It was a long trip and Addison did not enjoy it. We had to stop several times to get her to relax. She had been doing a lot better in the car too, but this was not her day. We were following Ernie and Janette down caravan style. Normally this would not be funny, but in the 4 hour drive I lost count of how many times my husband and his parents called each other on the phone. LOL! Actually we ended up finally splitting up. Charlie was riding w/her Nana & Papa and she needed to go potty. Since Scott and I were heading to the bank we decided to just go ahead with out them. We finally made it to Aunt Margaret's house in West Memphis, Arkansas early Saturday afternoon. Ernie and Janette did beat us there and my funny FIL new exactly to the minute how much longer it took us when I asked him a few hours later. He was so proud to say '8 minutes, Sarah we were here for 8 minutes when you pulled up!' LOL! Classic Ernie! It was pretty cool to drive across the Mississippi River and across state line. Aunt Margaret is Janette's sister and Nat graduated from high school there and Scott went to Jr high there. Now I had been there before several years ago, but it was fun to see where Scott grew up. He drove me through the town that had the small town, Southern vibe. It is a beautiful town, covered with tall, aged, green trees that grew over the streets. It reminded me a lot of Northern California towns. It was interesting how there was a neighborhood grouped together where several subdivisions came together and there were some streets that had nice, large homes & others that had old beat down shacks. As Scott turned the corner I wasn't sure what I was going to see next. As Scott gave his tour, he spoke like he was just there yesterday. He spoke like he was home. He told me where he would play as a child, he mentioned all of his old friends houses and bragged about his brothers football days, as we drove by the stadium.
It was a good weekend trip. On a personal note I learned a lot about myself. I tried things I had never tried before. I enjoyed the thrill that came with the new & the unknown. I let go of a few rules and was pretty laid back. I also laughed. I laughed in a new way, I laughed at myself. As I was heading out to downtown Memphis and I was explaining to a mother of 2 how to put my kids asleep as if it was a new phenomenon and collectively I was told that it would be ok for her to stay up late and just fall asleep when she was ready. This thought had never occurred to me. I thought she needed structure and had to stick to her routine. They also fed her chicken nuggets at 8 PM. I didn't laugh to be rude... I laughed because it was out of my routine and I had never strayed from my routine. This was not my only 1st. I also ate spaghetti w/a meat sauce, I ate a mexican casserole that had dorritos in it, I ate a pigs butt, and I ate red beans & rice. Yes, I had a wild weekend.
Charlie Mae had more fun than anyone. She spent the entire weekend playing! She jumped on a trampoline, she swam, she ran, and she played video games! She was busy, busy, busy!! The child was nonstop for days and she slept the entire way home. Addison had a blast too, she was passed around from cousin to cousin and was as good as ever. They both slept all night when we were there and they both slept the entire way home. The highlight of the trip for me was going to Memphis on Sunday with Faith. That's Scott's 16 year old cousin. We went to the mall so she could get a new dress for a semi-formal dance. We picked out a fun dress and an awesome pair of shoes. Plus, she was able to get a great deal on both. We both had a lot of fun. Before she found this dress she was going to wear yellow sneakers! I know! Crazy kid... Luckily she found my fashion sense worthy enough to talk her out of that! Sunday night we went downtown to Beale street, which was awesome! We had a great time. We found a seat outside at a bar where we could people watch, hear music and see the street performers. The weather was perfect, not hot at all and I didn't need a sweater to accidentally leave behind. Memphis is by far one of the coolest cities I have been to. The atmosphere just screams FUN! I even love the smell... Booze, sex, drugs, puke and of course urine, but hey that just screams GOOD TIMES! LOL. We ended the night at Silky Sullivan's... Great drinks and dancing. We needed a night out for sure and we made the most of it. Scott had a great time with his family and they were very hospitable. Everyone was extremely nice. Funny how my family asked me what they thought of me and were curious if I 'fit in'. I wasn't sure what that exactly meant, but I'm sure I totally blended! Ha! I kept my historical map in my purse so they didn't see it. There was a moment when Charlie pointed out a bird and I told her it was a dove. Scott's cousin Jeff said 'it is a dove!' I said, 'yea I know, that's what I just said, it is dove season!' He was surprised to say the least. LOL... That's just my daddy talking. I always know when September 1st comes around...
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®