Memphis & Beale Street

Day 14, Tuesday, April 28, 2015

I went to bed well past midnight last night and I had set my alarm for 6:30 AM.  I was not sure if I was going to get up at that time because Chuck had told me that they were going to the Laundromat in the morning.  I figured that I would have breakfast, clean my Motorcycle and then go back to my room and take a nap. 

My alarm sounded at 6:30 AM as did Ken’s.  We both got up and laughed at the fact that our alarms went off at the same time.  Ken said that we have been roomies for two nights and both mornings the alarms went off at the same time.  That’s 100% of the time.  WOW!  Now you have to wonder about our weird sense of humor.  We are probably punch drunk or have been on the Motorcycles for too long.  Anyway…we got up and got dressed.  We packed our bags and I was moving slower than normal.  Ken left the room before I did.  I couldn’t get motivated this morning.  I was looking forward to my nap later.  I went down to breakfast and several guys were there already.  I had finished breakfast and went to my Motorcycle and took the cover off.  I cleaned the Motorcycle and moved it out of the way.  It was parked behind Chuck’s Motorcycle.  I didn’t want it to be in the way when they went to the Laundromat.  I went back to my room and got my bags.  They were packed in the Motorcycle.  Ken was at his Motorcycle and told me that no one was going to the Laundromat this morning.  The guys decided to go later this day.  Crap!  There went my plans.  I dressed for the ride and was ready to go.  Since I was leading, Chuck came to me and told me that they weren’t going to the Laundromat.  He wanted to get to Memphis before the storm hit us.  He wanted to be northbound from Memphis by that time.  I told Chuck that I would not be leading very long because I was low on gas.  I’m sure that others were low on gas, also.  We left at 8:51 AM.

I led the Group north, about a block, and got onto I-40 West.  I set my cruise control on 80 mph and away we went.  I also set my heater on AND my seat heater.  My tushy was nice and warm.  We rode for 46 miles and at 9:24 AM we stopped in Stanton, TN to gas up at an Exxon Station.  We all gassed up, took a pit stop and we were ready to go.  We left at 9:39 AM.

Bruce got his instructions from Chuck prior to leaving.  Bruce led us back on I-40 towards Memphis.  We were headed to Beale Street.  Beale Street is famous for its parties and Jazz music; kind of like Bourbon Street is with New Orleans.  Bruce led us the 48 miles and at 10:26 AM we arrived in Memphis and parked about a block from Beale Street.  We parked on a parking lot next to Riverside Drive.  We all started walking to the Beale Street Party area.  It was two blocks away.  The street was barricaded closed.  One or two of the businesses was open.  Most were closed until 11 AM or Noon.  We walked up the street and back down.  C.E. stayed with the Motorcycles.  He can’t walk that far.  We took pictures and looked inside the stores.  When we got to the end of the street, what appeared to be a homeless female walked up to the Group and started talking to us.  She introduced herself as, Helen Hunt.  Funny, she didn’t look like Helen Hunt.  If it was, I would have talked to her!  She was asking for money.  She asked us for $10 to pay the Catholic Shelter to take her home.  Jake answered her and the more she talked, we all started peeling away from Jake.  Eventually, we left Jake alone with the homeless.  We later told Jake that we are no longer Police Officers and we are NOT required to talk to anyone, if we don’t want to.  Jake was heard to tell the Helen Hunt about our travels.  I thought that Jake was going to ask her to follow him to his Motorcycle and that he would take her anywhere she desired.  Anyway, the rest of us continued walking and site-seeing Beale Street.  We started to head back to the Motorcycles.  

Jan and I got back to the Motorcycles and C.E. was still sitting on his.  We told him that we were going to walk to the river.  The Mighty Mississippi River was only a block away.  There was a nice looking park.  We took pictures of this huge pyramid a distance away.  It was a Bass Pro Shop.  Jan and I agreed that we would have had more fun going to the Bass Pro Shop than walking Beale Street and its urine smell.  But, at least we can say, we have been to Memphis and Beale Street.  On a positive note, when we could smell it, the BBQ smelled very good.  We walked back to our Motorcycles and, soon after, we were joined by the rest.  We saddled up and got ready to ride.  We left at 12:22 PM.

Bruce had his conference with Chuck and got his instructions as to where to ride.  Bruce led us onto Highway 51.  It was a “green dot” road by the atlas.  Green dot means that it is a scenic road.  We rode for 18 miles and at 12:52 PM we stopped in Millington, TN at a Subway for lunch.  We went in and had lunch.  Chuck was being nice to us and bought a dozen cookies for us to share.  Hmmmmm, what does he want from us?  We took our time and then returned to our Motorcycles.  Bruce got his instructions from Chuck and we left at 1:59 PM.

We continued on Highway 51.  We went through a few cities and we stopped at a few red lights.  There were a few lights where Bruce and a couple of others made the green light and some of us had to stop for the red.  Bruce and others had to pull over and wait for us.  We rode for 63 miles and stopped in Dyersburg, TN at 3:15 PM.  We stopped at a gas station/mini-mart for a pit stop.  J.B.’s Garman showed a Best Western hotel very close by.  We were going to check it; however, Chuck walked back of the mini-mart building and saw some construction/demolition on a property not far from where we were.  There was a pole with what used to be a sign on top.  The sign was that of a Best Western.  Chuck checked his phone for a close hotel.  He found a Holiday Inn Express about a mile north of us.  We left at 3:33 PM. 

It didn’t take us long to get to the Holiday inn Express.  One mile away and we parked on the parking lot at 3:36 PM.  Bruce entered the lobby and found that the Holiday Inn Express was booked.  He was told that people were being referred to the Sleep Inn, about 300 yards away.  I rode to the Sleep Inn to check and, as I entered the lobby, I saw Bruce talking with the clerk.  He had “made the deal” and told the clerk that he was going to go and check with the guys.  I told Bruce that the deal was good and that we would stay here.  The rest of the guys arrived and we all checked in.  I went to my room with my bags and dropped them off.  If you remember yesterday’s blog, last night I went solo to the Laundromat and did my laundry.  Everyone else needed to go to the Laundromat.  They didn’t even unpack.  I went back to my Motorcycle and moved it from the front of the lobby.  I parked it and cleaned it.  It was now ready for our ride, later, to go to dinner.  The guys rode off to the Laundromat.  Jan and J.B. stayed at the hotel and did their laundry in the guest laundry room.  

OK, the line up for tonight.  J.B. told us that this would be his last night with us and that tomorrow, he would head for home.  Chuck decided that we would go back to the “Day 1” rotation.  So, that means:  Chuck/J.B., Ken/C.E., Bruce/Jake and Jan/Me.  It just so happens that the guest laundry was next door to Jan and My room.  Jan and J.B. did their laundry while I went down to the lobby and started the blog.

The guys returned from the Laundromat at 6:00 PM.  Jake and Bruce were walking through the lobby and told me that the Group was thinking about walking to a nearby Applebee’s for dinner.  With that said, I went out to my Motorcycle, put the cover on it and tucked it in for the night.  We all walked a short distance to Applebee’s for dinner and C.E. rode his Trike.  We had a good dinner and it was cold inside the restaurant.  When we were done, we walked back and then met up in the lobby to drink more coffee.

Today, we rode 176 miles and we stopped and walked Beale Street in Memphis.  Thinking about it, I would have had more fun going to Bass Pro Shop.  Did I type that out loud?  Sorry.  We had a good day and didn’t get wet.

Tomorrow, J.B. will be leaving us and riding home.  Susie, he should be home by the afternoon.  Be good to him, Susie, believe it or not, he was a good boy while he was with us.  Really!  I just learned that we will be accompanying J.B. to his home.  We will be riding to Hollister, MO and maybe spending a night in Branson.  We shall see.  So, until tomorrow…