Sunday, January 21, 2007

Houston-Chicago Trip - Day Four

Got up at 6:00, showered, packed and had breakfast with Kim at 7:00. Todd, Makenna & Mason got up to see me off, and I started out at 8:00, an hour behind schedule. I decided to take Hwy 59 north instead of retracing my route back to New Orleans and going north on I-55. 59 is a little slower, but I wanted to see the country.

The weather cleared mid morning and the ride through East Texas was very enjoyable. Went through lots of small towns. Really a rural area. Going through the town of Diboll, I saw a building supply store that had burned to the gound and was still smoldering. It didn't look like any attempt had been made to put out the fire. I stopped to take some pictures. A hamburger and fries at Wendy's in Marshall, Texas made lunch.

After crossing into Arkansas, the clouds returned, and while the miles went by faster because it was all freeway, the scenery wasn't as nice.

I got into West Memphis around 6:00 and after dark. The room at the Hampton was nice, but the internet service wasn't working. The manager changed my room to one that had service.

I wanted Memphis ribs for dinner. I asked the hotel manager where the nearest Corky's was, and unfortunately it was on the east side of Memphis, too far to go. She suggested Interstate Barbeque, close to downtown Memphis. It was closed. I went on downtown to Beale Street looking for ribs. I found Alfred's. The ribs were only so-so, but on Sunday nights from 6:00 to 9:00, the Memphis Jazz Orchestra plays there. The MJO is an 18 piece jazz orchestra made up of amateur musicians. They've been doing this Sunday night gig for 18 years. The sound they produce is not often heard today and very professionally done. Most of the players show up in jeans and play around a lot. They have fun and sound great doing it. I thoroughly enjoyed the music.

They quit at 9:00 and I came back to the hotel. I want to get started by 7:00 to be in Naperville mid afternoon.

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