I <3 sleep

I'm in Memphis.

MEMPHIS!

Did you know it takes 14 hours to drive from Chambersburg PA to Memphis TN non stop? Did you know it's IMPOSSIBLE for three people to drive non stop for 14 hours, so a 14 time table is RIDICULOUSLY INADEQUATE?

I love road trips. They are, quite possibly, the best part of the spring/summer for me. I like going new places, learning new things, and seeing new sights. I'm an avid history buff, so any museum-esque display catches my attention. And while I love road trips, I came to the conclusion that all of my road trips up until this point pale in comparison to driving to Memphis. Let me explain.

I woke up on Friday morning at approximately 7 am, after only 5 hours of sleep because I was excited about the trip. I went to work, and all I could talk about was going to Memphis (even though 60% of my coworkers were not there and I was under extreme pressure to get out at a reasonable hour.) I left work and drove to Chambersburg to meet my cohorts, Trey and Negley, and I literally giggled like a giddy school girl the entire way.

The original plan involved us leaving once I arrived in Chambersbug and driving through the night to Memphis. We decided to forsake this plan because I'd worked all day, and sleep would probably have been a good idea. I still think sleep would have been great, but in the excitement of the trip, OF COURSE I didn't sleep. I laid in bed at Trey's, waiting for sleep, praying for sleep, knowing full well I wouldn't sleep. Trey could have slept through the bombing of Dresden, so of COURSE he slept, and Negley sleeps half the day anyway, so he wasn't close to tired. So we watched Silent Hill, and I screamed "WTF is that?!?" while Trey was comatose on the couch, waiting for 4 am when we would leave.

Did I say 4 am? I really mean 5:30, because Trey is a primadonna who has to primp before driving for 14 hours, and while he CLAIMED to have everything ready to go, it still took a half an hour to get his stuff from the house to the car, even though the car was EIGHT FEET FROM THE DOOR (we also had to finish watching Silent Hill, but as that only took an additional 20 minutes from the time Trey regained consciousness, I don't attribute it to the lateness of departure.) We got everything in the car, we got in the car, we stopped for gas and super glue (to afix the GPS docking station to the dashboard, because the suction cup doesn't work worth shit) and FINALLY got underway.

We drove across four state lines in 40 minutes, because I-81 does that. We reached Virginia, and the real fun began. And by fun, I mean the 6.5 hours it takes to get to the Tennessee border. We stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel (Best Place EVER) and to pee a lot (because Trey has the bladder capacity of a small squirrel) but eventually made it to Tennessee.

For those of you not familiar with US geography, Tennessee is a WIDE state. While it took us 7 hours with stops to reach Tennesse, it took us 8 hours with only two brief gas stops to cross Tennessee and reach Memphis. By the time we reached the city, I'd been awake for 40 hours, my eyes were blood shot and glaring, and the call of a shower was a Siren's song I could no longer resist. Once clean again, and feeling marginally alive, we decided to call it a night in, got some truly wonderful ghetto Chinese food, and promptly fell asleep at 9:30.

But today began the first real day in Memphis. We were up by 9, ready to find out what secrets the city could impart upon two traveling musicians and an over zealous blogger from the North. We started at Graceland, because if you go to Memphis and don't stop by Graceland, you have no soul. We looked at the Kings house, considered paying $30 each for the tour, and decided, since he wasn't home anyway, that we'd pass. We did roam the over priced gift shops, bought memorabilia, and ate fried peanut and banana sandwiches and cheeseburgers at the diner.

Sun Studios came next, and my GOD, it was amazing. I actually put on my best rockstar face, kicked a leg in the air like Steven Tyler, I posed for a picture with the microphone Elvis used to record "All Shook Up." We bought CDs, more memorabilia, and jumped onto the shuttle to hit the Rock and Soul Museum.

The Rock and Soul Museum is a self guided tour, and I tend to like those better than guided tours, because you can move at your own pace without a group of strangers blocking all the good photos. While you can't take pictures in the museum (which SUCKS) you can see every exhibit for as long as you want without feeling left behind, which is nice. That place was PACKED with artifacts from the early days of Memphis music, and I still didn't see everything in there (because my feet were tired!) But oh God, what an experience.

Did you know that the only reason Wurlitzer juke boxes have colored lights around the faces is because of a Dr. Pepper advertisement conveniently placed atop a juke box in Memphis? NEITHER DID I! But we do now! I also got to listen to the theme from Shaft six times while in there, which is always awesome.

Now we're back at the hotel, getting ready to get some southern BBQ for dinner. Mmmmmmmmm, pork!

Catch y'all tomorrow.