Day Fifty-Four: Memphis - Tupelo, MS

After sleeping on the idea of spending one more day in our company, Katie decided to procrastinate her drive back to New Orleans and instead make a trip with us to Tupelo, MS, because she loves me sooooooo much, she just couldn’t resist (right, Katie?). We took our time at continental breakfast that morning, taking turns holding Tío and gorging ourselves on over processed muffins and questionable sausage patties. Oh, and just as a side note, I’d like to raise a question: does anyone actually enjoy “Mixed Fruit” jelly? And seriously, what the hell is that? When you go to the grocery store and see a plethora of flavored jellies to choose from—raspberry, blackberry, huckleberry, strawberry—who in their right mind picks “Mixed Fruit”? I wanted to debunk the sketchy flavors, so I eventually checked the label and found that grape juice concentrate and pear juice concentrate were the main ingredients, because, you know, grape jelly isn’t shitty enough, so why don’t we throw a little pear juice in there since it tastes like absolutely nothing? And let’s just keep adding it to our little jelly caddy so that customers have to sift through all the jelly packets in desperate hope of finding the lone strawberry, only to be let down: mixed fruit, mixed fruit, mixed fruit… ah! Oh, wait, no… mixed fruit… damn those Welch’s bastards…

A little dramatic, but I’m really over the jelly situation. So anyways, moving on, we finished breakfast and hung out in the hotel room for a short time before driving to Starbucks and getting our fix. We were itching to experience Memphis but just didn’t have the time or energy to see everything that we wanted to before heading to Tupelo, so we opted for a quick driving tour so that we could keep the poor puppy (and ourselves) in the air conditioning. We passed by Beale Street, the renowned area downtown that is famous for its blues artists, funky bars, and historical landmarks; but unfortunately, there was a large sign that read:

NO

motor vehicles

skateboards

rollerblades

bicycles

dogs

reptiles (etc.)

Damn, you mean I can’t bring my iguana? We had planned on walking our bikes through so that we could keep an eye on them, but that was prohibited, and so was the puppy, so we ended up at the waterfront instead, lounging under the shade of the only tree on the entire stretch of grass and giving Tío a bath from a bottle of water. He loves baths… it’s precious. That concluded our time in Memphis and we vowed to return someday soon (NOT on bicycles) so that we could spend time in the city and get a feel for the entertainment district at prime time, after 9 p.m. The three of us (plus Tío) hopped back into the car, which had become stuffy and scorching in a matter of minutes, and left for Tupelo.

It was a fairly short drive, which allowed us time to relax at the hotel when we arrived, and we spent the majority of that time trying to decide what we should have for dinner. It took us (not kidding) probably an hour to choose what we wanted to order from Olive Garden, as if their menu was so extravagant that we just couldn’t make a decision, and we called in a to-go order because we were so disheveled that we were ashamed to show our faces at even a chain restaurant. While we waited on dinner, we made a stop at PetSmart to let Tío “choose” his first toys; I emphasize the word “choose” because the little guy can hardly even walk straight, let alone sort through which toys might be suitable. One toy turned into two toys, which turned into four toys, and eventually we made it out with a bag full of stuffed animals and balls larger than the puppy himself. Next stop was the liquor store, because what goes better with Italian food than cheap margaritas, and then finally Olive Garden to pick up our order. We brought our goodies back to the hotel, where we ate and drank and ate some more until hunkering down, all on the same bed, to watch a documentary about the Louisiana maximum-security prison.

That was about the extent of our trip to Tupelo, and if I’m being totally honest, the down time was exactly what we needed.