Memphis in May Beale Street Music Fest This Weekend: May 2 - 4

River Recedes

The river is finally slinking back from its high level but still has quite a way to fall. These pictures don't yet show just how high it really was but give you an idea. It was high enough to reveal that whole trees were washed up and under water on the cobblestones. The river has left us with a lot of driftwood; that riverboat ramp above was just about completely underwater. Unfortunatley, there's also a lot of trash that has been washed up and left behind. I'll try to remember to post some photos of the Mud Island River Park hillside which is a better visual gauge of where the water level was. We don't call it the Mighty Mississippi for nothing!

Grocery Stores

I went grocery shopping today and if you live downtown you are painfully aware of the shortage of grocery stores serving the area. Pictured above is one of the only choices: Schnuck's on Union. Now, I promised myself that I would be positive on this blog since there seems to be an abundance of people out there moaning, complaining and ranting I felt I did not need to add to the misery. I will keep this one negative sentiment short. See the scene above? That's what happens in the tiny, almost unnavigable parking lot at Schnuck's on a regular basis. If you are able to get in and out of the parking lot unscathed it doesn't help any that the inside of the store is no better. The store is way too small and I have seen people (me) get so frustrated in there all because they have packed the maximum number of cases and aisles in the minimum amount of space. I feel like having a panic attack every time I go there, which has been more and more infrequent lately.


Schnuk = Yuk

An alternative to Schnuck's is Miss Cordelia's in Harbor Town, which is at least actually downtown and a much better experience. They have a great deli with indoor and outdoor seating and the store is nice but small. The selection is not as varied as a Schnuck's or Kroger simply because they don't have the space. They do a good job though and I end up going there about twice a month to avoid the horror that is Schuck's on Union.



At any rate I was able to make this delicious lunch today. This is tuna salad on pita. Here's the recipe - it's easy and very healthy.
2 cans tuna (in oil - it's not going to kill you)
1 can chick peas
1/2 purple onion, diced
1/2 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 cup roma tomato, diced
1/2 tsp cumin
a little olive oil (yes, more oil)
salt and pepper

South Main Trolley Tour

As you can see the Zombies made it out in full force; lots of blood and knives and different body part here and there. One baby in a stroller had an entire "bloody" arm lying next to him and someone smeared "blood" all over their chihuahua. The chihuahua was also dragging an arm along. Arms were really popular. It felt more like Halloween than springtime. The trolley tour had a decent turnout and the weather for it was perfect, no rain as predicted.

There were the usual trolley tour attractions tonight as well:

Gestures Flowers and Gifts, one of the many nice shops (they had some excellent grapefruit juice w/ vodka though which made them my favorite shop tonight)

Art galleries

Many good restaurants; this is the patio at the newly opened Onyx

The Dead and the Undead

Concerning the Undead:
On the last Friday of every month the South Main Association hosts the Art Trolley Tour. This month though you'll get to see the Zombies straggle through around 7 pm or so. They start their walk from Beale Street and make their way down S. Main all the way to G.E. Patterson. I saw this last year and while it was novel, I think I'm not hip enough understand it. Maybe there's nothing to understand - it's just something to do for fun. But even if you don't want to see Zombies the art galleries and shops along S. Main are always fun and interesting to visit.

Concerning the Dead:
There is an Arbor Day 5K run on Saturday at 8 a.m. through Elmwood Cemetery. That's right, the cemetery. I suppose you could look at this as a very peaceful and reflective run. Elmwood is Memphis' oldest cemetery established in 1852. The proceeds go to purchase trees for the cemetery.

Hookah Update

I did go back to Sidi Bou. I did try the hookah for the cost of $10.99 and it was sort of what I expected. I had an apple flavored tobacco which sounds disgusting but was actually so light it was ok. No one else was smoking and as a matter of fact only three other people were there - all munching on sandwiches. Lightweights. Anyway, I'm glad I tried it and if this place ever closes I just don't know where I would get a hookah fix.

Hookah Anyone?

Located just steps away from City Hall on Main Street is the Sidi Bou Cafe and Shisha Lounge. I have run past this place a few times and thought to myself "Huh?" There have been a couple of mentions about it in local papers and other blogs but there's no substitute for seeing something first hand. You can see from their storefront awning pictured below that their offerings are scattershot. Their wares include hookahs (aka shisha aka many other names), pizza, breakfast, Moroccan tea, sandwiches, coffees, desserts and free WI-FI. Back to the hookahs - the concept fascinates me and is quite the oddity given the fact that it's here and in the midst of the central business district. I went in this morning to see what the deal is under the guise of ordering a breakfast sandwich, which was really good by the way. No hookahs were out. I was told you have to wait until late afternoon for those to appear. Drat, I'll have to go back and get some pictures. The girl at the counter told me the owner is from Tunisia. I found out also that the district called Sidi Bou Said is in the capital city of Tunis (thanks to my good friend for clarifying that point). So I wonder if I go back this afternoon will I see all the City and County employees in there smoking hookahs after a long day of hard work? For that matter Morgan Keegan is just down the street so maybe the Brooks Brothers set swings by for some Moroccan tea and a smoke. I just can't wait to find out. I may be posting again later on today if I go back for the late afternoon session.

Risotto, Pasta and Ceriello

I'm moving indoors for this post since I've been outside a lot lately. My globetrotting friend Mary visited Memphis a couple of weeks ago and brought me some gifts from her recent trip to Italy. Some fantastic looking brightly colored striped bow-tie pasta (aka farfalle) and also a bag of asparagus risotto. I had both and they were very, very nice. I made a simple sauce for the pasta:
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1/2 large white onion, finely chopped
garlic - as much as you can stand
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. butter
2 tbsp. cream (yes - this is what makes this so good)
salt, pepper, italian seasonings
I had broccolini on the side - sauteed in a pan with A LOT of olive oil and A LOT of garlic. If these things scare you, you are reading the wrong blog my friend.

The risotto was more straightforward as I just followed the package directions and also very delicious.


Risotto bubbling away in the pan.

Asparagus risotto with parmesean cheese. So good!


Speaking of Italian food, Ceriello, a gourmet Italian food shop will be opening soon at the newly renovated Court Square Center just north of Court Square on Main Street.
See the link below to their website to find out more about them.

Visit Ceriello's website: http://www.ceriellofinefoods.com/

Crawfish Festival and Africa in April

How often do you see truckloads of crawfish, hundreds of Harley's, African art and jewelry, and mounds of shea butter all in one day? Once a year it seems in Memphis. Apparently we're doing a better job at offering diversity than we get credit for.

The 16th Annual Crawfish Festival was held yesterday on Wagner Place just along side Riverside Drive. The festival proceeds benefit families and children being served by Porter-Leath.
There were tons and tons of crawfish as you can see. The weather was even warmer than yesterday as evidenced by my severe sunburn. There was a big turnout for the festival and it went on all day. The largest contingent there seemed to be bikers (or do I say motorcycle enthusiasts?). As I rounded the corner onto Wagner there must have been 100 motorcycles parked there.

Just a few blocks east of the Crawfish Festival in Robert R. Church park, The 22nd Annual Africa in April festival was being held. The honored country this year is the Republic of the Gambia. The festival's mission is to promote cultural awareness and diversity.

The season of festival food is back!

This is my heaven. Mounds and mounds of fun jewelry!

Almost every vendor was selling shea butter.

Public Art

This abstract form at the Cannon Center (Poplar and Front) is called "Roof Like a Liquid Flung Over the Plaza" and was created by Vito Acconci and Acconci Studio, New York. More that just an object to look at there is actually seating inside so I suppose you can become part of it in a sense. I have heard many people comment on it and mostly what I hear is negative. I think most people only see it from the corner and don't actually walk around it which you should do to get the feel for the entire piece. What is the purpose of public art? To inspire, provoke, make you think or feel, define the character of a city, decorate? I believe it's all of these things.

Have you ever seen it from this side?


Or from inside looking up? It's an entirely different point of view.

This sculpture is called "Whirl" and was created by artist John Medwedeff. It's defined as a "shade structure".

This sculpture just north of City Hall is called "The River".

This fountain is in front of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis on Main Street. I had never even seen it before I lived downtown. It's really striking at night.

Mural on the south side of the D.T. Porter Building.

Also "public art"?

Visit the Urban Art Commission website for more info about public art in Memphis.
http://www.urbanartcommission.org/about.html

Cars and Farmers

There is a Corvette show today on Beale Street hosted by the International Council of Corvettes (I'm not making that up). I'm not sure why they are "international" but I'll take their word for it. Corvettes are lined up as far as the eye can see all the way down Beale Street from Second to Fourth.

It's also the opening day of the Memphis Farmer's Market. Since it's so early in the season there was not any produce to speak of but there were things like honey, coffee, plants, preserves and other interesting items. At any rate there was a pretty good turnout and if you've ever been you know that soon it will be packed. They do a great job and I hope they get bigger each year.

Because the Farmer's Market is back and also since the weather is perfect today all the shops along South Main have their doors open. You can't tell from this shot but there were a lot of people out enjoying the day.

Taking advantage of the nice weather, I walked through Tom Lee Park and could have just sat on a park bench all day. To read about who Tom Lee was, click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Lee_Park