Travel Reports

We arose at the ungodly hour of 3:30am to get into the car and go to the airport. The only thing that could rouse us is the promise that, in a few short hours, we’d be in sunny Mexico, on the Mayan Riviera, sipping frosty Banana Republics out of large glasses at the Barcelo.

We made it to the airport with no problem — it is always amazing to see the amount of traffic on the streets at that hour — after stopping by McDonald’s for a breakfast of McGriddles (God smiled the day McGriddles were invented).

Our plane was on time and full. The young man in the seat next to Drew smelled like he hadn’t been home all night, and his actions (getting up to puke three times before we even took off) confirmed the suspicion.

The carrier, USA3000, is quite impressive. They provide a juice service, a full breakfast (a sausage-egg-and-cheese muffin with a fruit cup), beverage service, delicious snack cakes near the end of the flight, and free headsets for the in-flight movie (HOUSE OF D on the way there and HOOT on the way home). The fact that our headset jacks didn’t work did little to dampen our impression of the airline. We rested as much as the puking row-mate would permit until the plane landed.

At the baggage claim, we met Buddy & Jenny when Buddy asked if Drew worked at Keebler (Drew was wearing a thrift-store Keebler shirt) and we struck up a conversation. Customs was a breeze and we were on the bus in no time. After a long wait, during which we met Dawn & Jon and ran into Jenny & Buddy, our bus took off for our resort. An uneventful 90 minutes later, the bus arrived at the Barcelo and we stepped off into the tropical beauty of the place. There are loads of photos in our gallery of the resort and grounds from our previous trip to Mexico.

Our room wasn’t going to be ready until 3:00, so we accepted our wristbands (which identify us as guests of the resort) and wandered around the resort. We had lunch in the buffet and took a walk around, finally ending up at the dive shop where we were happily surprised to see Edgar, who had been our dive guide when we were there two years ago. He was preparing to go on vacation (to answer the question I’m sure you’re asking — “Where do people who work in paradise go for vacation?” — the answer is Scotland), so we didn’t get to dive with him this time.

We finally got our room, room 5388, around 3:00 — the third floor of Sayil, which is the best building to be in if you’re a diver because it’s the closest to the dive shop in the ‘low rent’ district (the old section of the resort), so it’s inexpensive and convenient. I think even more ideal might be something in the 5120-30 range, but 5388 is still good — it’s at the far end away from the beach and walking the length of the building time & again each day gets tiring. We learned that the resort was only 4% occupied this week (a nice surprise for us since we really like low season without the crowds), and in fact one of the new buildings was completely closed down and without any occupants — the lights were off and everything — so we wondered why it took so long to get our room ready. Ah well. Once we got in, we found the room to be cold and comfortable, just like usual. We called down for a mattress topper (the resort will throw a 2-inch foam pad on their rock hard mattress if you ask) and set to getting settled in.

After unpacking and getting organized, we headed back to the dive shop to plan our dives. We planned to do a total of four dives in two days — not a lot of diving, but we had something else in mind, too… We watched a Whale Shark video and, in a staggering display of spontaneity, Wendy & I decided to sign up to snorkel on Tuesday with Whale Sharks. We then headed to the newly-reconstructed pier (it was a rickety wooden thing before and is now a concrete beauty) for a bit of swimming, then to the lobby bar where I had my first-and-last michelada, an awful combination of beer, lime juice, worchestershire sauce, and salt & pepper. If you think it sounds bad, it tasted even worse than it sounds. Truly nasty.

We had dinner at the Italian-themed buffet with Buddy & Jenny, then hit the sack by 9:30.

Home from Memphis. The trip home was pretty good — we made it in less than 8 hours, including a leisurly stop fo r brunch at Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store at Casey Jones Village (the best whistlestop between Memphis & Nashville, if their website is to be believed) in Jackson Tennessee (we were listening to a Johnny Cash CD and it happened to play “Jackon” just as we were pulling into town!).

While everyone else ordered brunch items, I took advantage of the buffet. The buffet was huge. It was really, really big. I enjoyed sampling their Beef Tips n’ Mushrooms, Chicken n’ Dumplins’, Meat Loaf, Collard Greens, Turnip Greens, Green Beans, Mac n’ Cheese, Mashed Potatoes n’ Gravy, Banana Pudding.

Once we got home, Wendy & I ordered in for dinner — LaRosa’s for dinner — sausage & cheese pizza for me, Deli Cibatta for Wendy and set to unpacking and relaxing.

Tonight was HAPPY MOUTH! Ron, Ted, Tracy, Angel, Jay, Dave, Robin, Wendy, and Drew met for barbecue at RUM BOOGIE CAFE on Beale Street in Memphis Tennessee. It was Wendy’s selection (though not her month to pick — she swapped months to make this happen).

We arrived at Rum Boogie Cafe expecting to have to wait and were pleasantly surprised to be shown directly to a table. Appetizers included fried pickles; a sausage and cheese plate (which seems to be a Memphis tradition); and fried green tomatoes. The entrees were mostly barbecue — wet barbecue, which is more familiar to us than dry ‘cue. I had pulled pork with a half-slab of ribs, barbecued beans, and mustardy cole slaw. Everything was delicious!

This article was submitted by fellow traveller, Ron (who selected “Ronnie Lee” as his Memphis name). Thanks for submitting it, Ronnie!

The tour took us all through the house (with the exception of the upstairs). I was tempted to sneak up the steps when no one was looking but I decided against it when I considered the fact that security would probably kick me out. The tour ended, after taking us through numerous rooms and additions to the house, at the Mediation Garden where the King, his parents, and grandmother are buried. We then moved to the front of the line when we heard “All VIPs come this way” to the VIP shuttle. Before getting on the shuttle we posed for a picture in front of the mansion.

We then explored Elvis’ private jets, one of which is called the Lisa Marie, and checked out his extensive car collection before enjoying some fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. And man oh man, they were tasty. We then explored, and made many purchases, at the gift shops. There were only seven (7) shops to choose from so we were somewhat limited in the memorabilia department.

From there we headed to Sun Recording Studios, the “birthplace of Rock-n-Roll”. This was my favorite part of the trip. I mean, this little recording studio is literally where it all began.

It was in this little studio that Sam Phillips, with a meager budget and a staff that consisted of one person (a secretary named Marion), produced the most influential records in history. Mr. Phillips encouraged local talent to come record in his studio and encouraged their innovative and novel approaches to music.

The studio itself was built by Mr. Phillips in an effort to attain the best acoustics. The room is filled with musical instruments, some used by the original Sun artists. There are also black X’s on the floor marking the spots where a young Elvis and his band stood while recording. In fact, our tour guide informed us that Bob Dylan, while visiting the Studio, kissed the spot where Elvis stood. This prompted Drew to do the same.

It is simply astounding to think that, for whatever reason, the confluence of country, blues, jazz and gospel created a new sound, a uniquely American sound, within these four walls.

VEGAS PICTURES ARE HERE. 

Wednesday February 22 was another early day, dropping Wendy off at her conference before heading to Cravings, the buffet at the Mirage Hotel & Casino. I met “Big Al” on the tram. Al is an elderly gentleman who was a dealer for 25 years and now spends his time navigating his walker around the casino as a self-appointed goodwill ambassador. He showed me the shortcuts to getting to the buffet (not all of them were successful) before unceremoniously ditching me in line while he zipped in the VIP line. I greeted him inside the buffet and it was as if he’d never seen me before. Since I was in Vegas, I figured I had to eat at a buffet, and Cravings has been highly reviewed, though since I arrived while it was in ‘breakfast buffet’ mode, I felt like I didn’t get the full ‘buffet experience’. Still, my breakfast (pizza, Eggs Benedict, cottage cheese, cereal, juices, and more) was fresh, hot, and tasty and fueled me for a day of walking around the Strip and into most of the casinos, just for a visit.

Some observations about the Strip at Las Vegas… The older casinos have lower ceilings and are somewhat smokey, close places. The newer casinos do not have these issues. Everything in Las Vegas is huge. The scale is just incredible. Wendy’s convention — 12,000 veterinarians — was in one wing of the Mandalay Bay (along with a realtor’s convention (6,000 people) and a couple smaller (approximately 2,500 people each) conventions in the same wing!). Buildings in Las Vegas look close together, but they’re not — they’re just huge. It’s critical that you wear good walking shoes. I wore gym shoes and they were fine and comfortable for a week’s worth of walking. Vegas is clean, well-lit, and not at all seedy. I’m sure there are seedy spots, but we didn’t see any of them. To go to Vegas and do anything except fine dining or gambling is pretty affordable, and only tourists pay list price for anything. There are ALWAYS ways to get discounted or free tickets to anything.

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From Saturday, February 18 through Friday, February 24, 2006, Wendy & I were in fabulous Las Vegas Nevada. Wendy went to attend the Western Veterinary Conference, the largest veterinarian convention in the United States, and I tagged along with her. Our friends Doug & Kelly generously offered to put us up at their house, so we saved the expense of a hotel room.

Wendy was in conference all day most days, so this article is mostly about Drew’s experiences in and around the Strip. Because I did so many different things most days, this won’t be a chronological recollection, but rather a bunch of impressions and thoughts. Please read on for the whole story…

VEGAS PICTURES ARE HERE.

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