Arkansas/Tennessee 5/24/08

This morning we went to the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. It only cost $7 and we spent about 4 hours there. I was amazed how much I learned about the Clintons and how it has changed my feelings towards them. I think this library humanized them and I got to learn about them on a more personal level. The museum store was not at the library and we took a shuttle to the store in the pouring rain. In fact, it was raining so hard, we stopped under the underpass until the rain let up. I ended up buying a DVD showing the Clinton’s humor and some skits they did that practically had me rolling on the floor. I don’t know any other president that felt as comfortable laughing at themselves. We had lunch in the Café 42 which was a buffet that cost about $10 per person.

We left there to go to Memphis, TN and didn’t seem to have good luck. We tried a few hotels only to find out that they were sold out. We finally tried a Motel 6 on Pauline St. that didn’t feel very safe. In fact, we both had that gut feeling that it wasn’t a safe place to stay so I got a refund and we left about 5 minutes after checking in. We decided that we weren’t meant to visit Memphis when we passed a Scottish Inn on the way out of town and decided to try one last time. We got a room for $60 and the room was pretty big and nice…and safe feeling. When I asked where we should go to eat, the desk clerk immediately stressed that we should go to Beale St. He even drew a map and showed us where to park (on Union St, pass the “Lit” store and go into King Scott Parking Lot for $10) only the lot was full. So we turned the corner and got the next lot for the same price. It so happens that the lot was right at the start of Beale St. so we were in a perfect spot.

We walked down Beale St. and listened to music when I decided I was hungry. We found the Rendezvous restaurant which was an alley off Union near the Peabody hotel but the line was so long (hours wait) that we ended up at Hooters. After 20 wings and a pitcher of beer, we went and listened to more music. All in all, it turned out to be a fun night!