I once did a blog about the fact that I averaged a move every 5 years and of the 10 years I lived in Memphis 7 of them were at Chatham Village and 3 at the Hamlet. I loved the townhouse on Park Avenue (in
the picture above) and have many great memories of the years I lived
there. It was next to the Methodist East hospital, which came in handy
a few years later, when I was drunk, returned from a trip to NYC
arriving in Memphis in a snow storm, slipping on an icy step from where
I had parked my car and split my forehead above the eye. (That's
another blog--hopefully I'll remember all these separate blogs I have been talking about. LOL)
I, also, lived across from train tracks but never heard the trains
going by. Ummmmmm, do I talk about the red light or is THAT another blog? Okay, another blog!

One
of the first 'sightseeing' things I did after a week in Memphis was to
go to see The Pink Palace. It was originally built by Clarence Saunders
who owned the Piggly Wiggly (I'm sorry but even 41 years later I laugh when I say, see or
write that name.) It was built with pink Georgian marble which is how
it got its name. I don't remember the history of when he lost the home
to bankruptcy and it became a museum of natural history and planetarium
but I do remember the afternoon I spent there and thinking it was quite
impressive.

After
the assassination of Martin Luther King certain 'events' started to go
downhill and I was lucky enough to see two of them before they were
changed. One was the Cotton Carnival which was, at one time, a salute
to cotton, and took place in June every year,with krewes like they had in New Orleans at Mardi Gras time. There would be a Royal barge come down with the debutantes
of the season and then a parade plus special balls all over town. In
the middle of the 70s it became more of a salute to 'sister' cities
around the world.

Ever since I was a teenager and we had a summer home in Lake Hiawatha, New Jersey and I would go to the end of the summer fair near Morristown this city boy has loved fairs of all kind. It didn't take me long to
hear about the Mid-South fair and I was there for the rides,concessions, 4-H club and, of course, all the food competitions.

Both
events started going downhill in the mid 70s and I don't know what
happened after I left Memphis but I have heard both the Carnival and
the Fair have made a big comeback in the 2000s. I'll have to check that
out with Chuck and Terry.

Just before I left Memphis they started to construct Mudd Island which would eventually get the Pyramid sports arena. It had a
monorail from downtown to the Island which was featured in the Tom
Cruise film, "The Firm". I didn't get to Mudd Island until I visited Memphis in the 80s with Bill and we went to see
an outdoor production of the touring company of "A Chorus Line".

When
I arrived in Memphis it was a 'dry' State which meant you couldn't buy
drinks in restaurants or bars but you could bring your own bottle and
would be charged for set ups and/or a corkage fee. It would be 2-3
yearsbefore the law was changed but until then people would get drunk
as they had to finish the bottle before leaving the restaurant/bar
because you couldn't have an 'open' container in your car. I wish I
could remember the name of the jazz club I use to spend a lot of time
in not only because of the entertainment but they had lockers that you
could rent to leave your bottle of unfinished booze and have it their
the next time you came to the club. That whole thing was quite the
'culteral' shock to this New Yorker but I did adapt, quickly.

Though
I didn't go there often there was a park on the bluffs of Memphis
overlooking the Mississippi river that offered awe inspiring sites of
the river, downtown Memphis and the shore line of Arkansas.

There was a lot to see and do in Memphis and I did and saw a lot but the place I spent most of my time was Overton Park in the center of Memphis with many different aspects including a
band shell that Elvis did a show or two, a zoo, a natural woodland but
that's only part of the story and they weren't  the reason I spent so
much time there--besides, and how dare I say this, I didn't care for
Elvis!!!

Still to come: Gig Young, Overton Park, Overton Square, picking greens in the field, JWag's, Goldsmith's, Jackson, Jonesboro, Chattanooga, Circuit Playhouse, Theatre Memphis, sex in the buckle of the bible belt, Joe, Issac, Gene and more!