The Langstraats

Fun on the Island

Saturday morning once everyone woke up, we drove to downtown Memphis to watch the famous Peabody ducks march. They begin in their penthouse on the top of the hotel. They stroll to the elevator and down to the lobby where the red carpet is waiting for them. They then march single-file to the fountain in the middle of the lobby. It was fun listening to the 'duckmaster' welcome us to the greatest show on "this earf' and all the other earfs" even though it lasted for about 30 seconds.
The five of us then took a walk down Beale Street before heading to Mud Island. The riverwalk at Mud Island was a fun experience. The River Walk is one of the most unique representations of the Mississippi River in the world. It is a 5-block long replica of the lower Mississippi river, from Cairo, IL, to New Orleans, LA. Each 30" stride is equivalent to one mile on the actual river. Along the journey, we revisited historical events and learned about geographical transformations. The "1,000" mile journey concludes at the Gulf of Mexico, a one acre enclosure that holds 1.3 million gallons of water. There, we could have enjoyed a leisurely pedal boat ride around the Gulf area with the Memphis skyline in the background. We instead chose to eat very fattening ice cream sandwiches in the air-conditioned eating area. (a lot of this information made available from mudisland.com)



We also had the opportunity to visit my work, take a few pictures of the bridge, and get directions to Elvis Presley’s house before going back to Peabody place for a round of cosmic miniature golf. It was a close competition that came down to Sharlene (my mother-in-law) and me. Beauty did not prevail :)

Our next stop was more of a drive-by-shooting. As we listened to “The King” on the radio we drove by and waved at Graceland so everyone could say they saw where Elvis lived.
Now it was time to eat! We went a little whole-in-the-wall joint called The 3 Little Pigs. The Gardners had the chance to experience some real southern bbq. I heard no complaints whatsoever about the coleslaw on the sandwich. We headed home to sleep and watch movies.