......Weldon Watch: July 2009

Last weekend was filled with fun times with old friends (not old, just long time friends!) We have been planning this trip for months. Tonya took Jessica to NYC for her graduation gift and they wanted so badly to see the Broadway show, Wicked. Needless to say the tickets were way too expensive at the time, so all I have is a picture of Jessica in New York with her lip poked out because she didn’t get to see it.

I promised her that if it came anywhere near here, we would go see it! SOOOO….several months ago it was advertised that it was coming to Memphis at the Orpheum Theater. Of course we couldn’t go without our dear friend Tonya! We called her up and she said name the time and place and she would be there. We also invited her sister Sonya to go. Tonya moved to South Carolina from Magnolia many years ago and I only get to see her about twice a year. She was a dear friend of mine for many years and was a bridesmaid in my wedding 25 years ago!!!! We worked together at the Shoe Box for a long time too. I love that girl. She is especially crazy about Jessica and the feeling is completely mutual! Sonya worked with us for a while at the Box and she is as much a part of us as Tonya is!

Tonya met us in the parking garage…What’s wrong with this picture? Miss Diva grabs two little bags and takes off…it’s ok, Mom will get it!

Tonya arrived from S.C. before we did, so she “fixed” up our room. She had little princess crowns on the beds and our “jewelry” for the evening! She’s so cute!

We stayed at the Westin in Memphis. This is Beale Street….Our view out our window.We ate our first meal of the trip at BB Kings. I could not go to Memphis without eating there. My cousin, Charlene, has gone on and on about the food there. I have to say, she didn’t let me down! It amazes me how you can just stop anyone and say, “Will you make a picture of us?” and they are happy to do it! One of these days someone will probably run off with my camera! :)

The live band playing there that night was amazing. I just love a band with horns!

Jessica ordered pulled pork nachos…they were wonderful! I think you can tell how much she enjoyed them!

Needless to say, she did not go with her boyfriend, so this is what we saw from her for most of the weekend! After dinner we walked up and down Beale Street enjoying the evening. We took a carriage ride through downtown. Very interesting! (and it gave our huge dinner time to settle!)The girl that drove our carriage had a little (lol) helper. His name was Chopper and he took quite a liking to Jess.

We made our way down to Coyote Ugly….believe me, Jessica was the best looking girl in the place, so we took HER picture! :)

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We totally enjoyed our day!

After a long day of driving and hanging out, we were ready to turn in! Still VERY full!!!!!

The next morning we got up and headed to the Peabody to watch “the ducks.” Tonya and I were all up in the history of the ducks and making pictures…..Here is what Jessica and Sonya thought about the ducks…..(they were ready to eat…) not happy about the ducks! lol

We FINALLY got a few smiles out of them when we told them we were ready to go eat!

The King of Rock and Roll is ever-present in Memphis!

Then it was off to the Orpheum Theater for a great afternoon of entertainment!

We were not allowed cameras once the show started, and frankly, I wouldn’t have wanted to miss a second of the performance to take the time to make pictures. Although I did take a minute before the show started to take a picture of the scenery on the outside of the stage. It is just amazing to me to see the talent that goes into this stuff!

Here’s a little clip of the show…it’s a little long, so if you don’t enjoy musicals, you don’t have to watch it!!! lol I personally can’t get enough! I DID NOT record this myself! YouTube is full of things you need to access, without breaking the law yourself! lol

After the show, we walked around and found the Red Rooster! I saw a segment of “Family Jewels” a few weeks ago and Gene Simmons was leaning against this big red rooster! So, I insisted that I too have my picture made in front of the rooster!

This was like the third try of getting people to make a picture….the first girl (very questionable) made a great picture of us, but cut the rooster’s head off! Come on, girl! The rooster is the reason for the picture!!!

We crashed in our room a little before going to dinner!

We ate dinner at a Brazilian Restaurant. It was very interesting. I had not ever experienced anything like it. See the red disk on the table? You turn it over, it’s green, and they keep bringing you food….you turn it back to red when you’ve had enough! Fun! This amazing salad bar had 65 items on it!!!

This is the way the Gouchos brought you your meat….they would ask if you wanted any and you took it with your little tongs as they cut it off the skewers. They had the most amazing meats! loin, steaks, lamb, chicken, ribs, etc….

Good Times with Good Friends…

The next morning we visited Elvis’ home…

Again, Sonya and Jessica was not excited! I had to pay for Jessica to go. She said she’d rather sit in the car…..

She took every opportunity to make fun of Tonya and me. (we WANTED to see Elvis’ house!)

Then she gets on the phone with her boyfriend, and he told her that it was a treasure (Elvis’ home). She changed her tune “a little” and even admitted that she enjoyed it…some.

They look so excited, don’t they? The front of Graceland…. I was taking my time, listening to every detail of the recording as I walked through the garden where Elvis and family are buried….I looked over and this is what I saw. They were “hot.” Jess looks like Michael Jackson..RIP. lol

Well, I think Tonya and I were the only ones who truly enjoyed this leg of the trip.

We’ve decided to make this a yearly event….not Memphis, but getting together for a little mini trip every summer. We’ve already started planning next year’s trip!

I started this post many weeks ago and never published it…so better late than never! lol

We spent the Saturday of Memorial weekend on Albert Pike with our friends. This was our Plan B. We were suppose to camp, but our spots are still under water. They are dropping the lake about 15 inches a day until they tick off the people below the dam :-). It’s still a long way from being normal, but it’s getting there. I’ll post lake pictures later. We stayed in the cabins at Self Creek. They are extremely nice! We stayed in C5; as you can tell!