I’m going to post this blog now, even though I’m going to put part of it in the Flora Christian next week. I had a really good time on my family vacation, and I wanted to put some reflections about it here before I forget everything.
We went to Memphis, Tennessee. We stayed just north of Memphis in Meeman-Shelby State Park. We got a cabin there which slept six people (2 BR, 1 bath) and had a full kitchen and nice, large living room. There was a TV, but since it only got 3 or 4 channels, and these were in digital and the TV reception was “hit-and-miss,” we pretty much did without TV for the week. We were back in the woods, overlooking a lake. It was really nice and very relaxing. We also didn’t get cell phone coverage there and there was no internet. Hannah about DIED! But it was nice to be pretty much “unplugged” for the week.
We left Flora on Saturday, July 25 at about 10:30 am. Our intention was to drive down to Sikeston, MO, and take the kids to eat at Lambert’s Café (home of the world famous “Throwed Rolls”). We thought we’d get there about 3:00 and miss the rush. We got there pretty much on schedule, and there was a 2 hour wait. We kept driving. We got to our cabin before dark, unloaded the van, and headed back to Millington, TN to Walmart to get our food and supplies for the week. We then went back to the cabin and settled in for some serious relaxation. I have to mention that the drive from our cabin to Millington was about 6 miles. It took 20-25 minutes. The roads were winding and narrow, and without a GPS to guide us (Thanks Lane & Brian!) we would NEVER have made it! We got dinner at a Krystal hamburger joint, which the kids did NOT care for but I liked because they were like White Castles. When we got back to the cabin, we watched Veggie Tales movies on DVD (this would become a nightly theme).
On Sunday, we slept in and got up when Joni made us a fantastic breakfast of pancakes, eggs, bacon, juice and milk! I need to backtrack here and talk about worship. We don’t know anyone in the Memphis area, so we weren’t sure about finding a place to worship. So, we took the family to Mt. Vernon, IL, on Friday to Central Christian Church’s Friday night worship experience. We had a great time and even met some FCC friends while we were there (Paul, Alicia, Matt, Bethany & London). Anyway, back to Sunday—we spent the morning relaxing in and around the cabin, and then went to the pool in the park for the afternoon. I’m not one to lay around “tanning,” but it was nice to park in a deck chair and not worry about cell phones, websites, or email for the afternoon. Everyone needs time occasionally to simply “unwind,” and I got mine there beside the pool while the kids swam and Joni relaxed in a chair beside me. We went back to the cabin and I grilled the meat for dinner (pork steaks, chicken breasts, hamburgers and hot dogs) while Joni fixed the rest of the meal. After dinner we watched another Veggie Tales movie—“The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything.”
On Monday, we got up and after breakfast decided to go on one of the walking trails in the park. (Breakfast, by the way, was Dad’s biscuits & gravy.) The trail was rated as “moderate,” which was only the terrain. The rating did not cover the hoards of mosquitoes or the mud. Holden also did not warn us that his sock had a hole in it (on his heel, of course) and didn’t tell us about the blister on his heel until we were about a mile into the hike. This caused us to turn around and walk the trail in reverse to get back to our van quicker. Joni carried him about a quarter of a mile and I carried him about a half a mile, and then he said he felt better and walked the rest of the way himself. It was hot and VERY humid, so we went back and took showers and still had half the day left. Joni made a Mexican lunch (tacos, nachos & cheese, and some Mexican soda—Barrilitos) before we headed in to take a driving tour of Memphis. We drove by the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, and then decided to walk some of downtown. We went down Beale Street, heard some live Blues (several bands, actually), went in the Hard Rock Café so Hunter could buy a t-shirt, walked past the FedEx Forum (where the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team plays), and went to the Gibson Guitar Factory. We didn’t do the factory tour, but Hunter and I went in the factory store and saw more $5000 guitars in one location than I had seen in a while! After that we drove to Sun Record Studio (where Elvis Presley first recorded) and took some pictures. Then we drove to Mississippi so Hannah could say she had been in 5 states on vacation (IL, MO, AR, TN & MS). After some shopping at a mall, we went back to the cabin and watched another movie—this time “The Hunt for Red October—before going to bed.
Tuesday was Graceland day. First, we went to the Peabody Hotel and saw the marching of the “World Famous Peabody Ducks.” I won’t take time to tell the tale here if you don’t know it—just visit their website. Then it was off to Graceland, where we took the mansion tour, went through the airplanes, went to the car museum, and visited each and every one of the 14 gift shops on the premises. Holden is a HUGE Elvis fan, and he enjoyed the tours (especially the mansion) as much as anyone. After Graceland we went back downtown and went to the Mud Island Riverpark. They have a scaled down version of the Mississippi River which you can wade that dumps into the scaled down Gulf of Mexico. The kids had a great time doing that and visiting the true scale version of a river paddleboat in the Mud Island museum. Of course, we rode the hanging monorail that goes from downtown Memphis to the island. It was a REALLY long day, and after we went home and had leftovers from all of the fantastic meals Joni had cooked, we packed up to leave and went to sleep without even watching a movie!
We left and came home on Wednesday morning. We got to Sikeston at about 2:30, and this time waited about 10 minutes before getting a table at Lambert’s. The kids liked the food, but LOVED the rolls being tossed all around. They each caught at least one and buttered them up and ate them. For those of you who have never been to Lambert’s but HAVE gone to the Beef House in Covington, IN, the rolls are about the same (I know your mouth is watering by now!). The restaurant is a fun experience, especially with kids along. But we were tired and ready to be home, so we got back in the car and made it back to “the farm “ around 6:30.
As always, I learned something while on this family vacation. At the risk of a lawsuit from CBS or Worldwide Pants, here are the Top 10 Things I Learned on my Memphis Family Vacation:
You can see my pics from the vacation on my Facebook page by clicking HERE.
