
An enjoyable, yet tiring weekend is coming to an end. Friday afternoon, my friend Kelly picked me up at 3:45 p.m. and we left for Memphis. Our husbands and two other couples were already there. We stopped in St. Genevieve for dinner at Olive Garden, which was relaxing (and a decidedly wonderful change from the quick fast food pit stop on a road trip). Following dinner we treated ourselves to Starbucks hot chocolate.
We arrived in Memphis at 10 p.m. and our husbands helped us unload our stuff from the car. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Downtown. Our room had a view of the river and the Pyramid.
Saturday morning came early with a 5 a.m. wake-up call. We rolled out of bed and put on layers of clothes in preparation for the race. Steve (my husband), Daryl (Kelly's husband), Nan, and Ruben (my brother-in-law) were running the 1/2 marathon; Nan's husband Doug was doing the full marathon; Kelly, Sandy (my sister-in-law), and I were doing the 5K. The temp at 5:30 was only 24 degrees.
After a small breakfast at the hotel, we walked the 6 blocks to the start for the 5K, which began at 7:15 a.m. The other events started at 8 a.m. We walked to try to stay warm (although my toes were numb the whole time) and only jogged at the beginning (had to look cool) and the end. For someone who doesn't compete and train much, I did fine: 55 min. 28 seconds. I even got a medal and a T-shirt (which I gave to my husband; it was much too big on me).
We then darted through a throng of marathoners to cross the street to get to Starbucks (my reward for a job done). Then we went back to the finish area (at the baseball stadium) to watch everyone else finish. It was still cold and we had to move around to stay somewhat warm. Once Doug finished (nearly 4 hours), we finally headed back to hotel for hot showers.
We went to Grill 83 for lunch (had a bowl of spicy seafood gumbo--yummy). Then I took a well-deserved nap. That evening we had dinner at Majestic Grill (on Main St.), an old theater converted to a restaurant but still had the big screen where they show movies). Excellent food all around--ribs, pasta, burgers), and I had a glass of Spanish wine that was smooth and delicious. Following dinner, we walked around downtown and headed to Beale Street. We found a place to listen to live Blues music and have dessert (blueberry cheesecake for us).
After breakfast this morning, we headed back home. A good weekend--cold and tiring but worth it to spend time with family and friends. I know this next weekend will be busy with grading papers and some Christmas decorating.
I love Memphis, but I need to visit in the late spring or summer. I still haven't been to Mud Island.
What!?! a 5K run? Congratulations!!! Even just entering is honorable let alone finishing AND getting a medal. I volunteered for the gingerbread run in Belleville and all I had to do was stand outside and point where the runners should go and cheer of course. I'm glad you had fun. Memphis is awesome. I hope you had a chance to check out the legendary Sun Studios. That was my favorite part of the trip. I keep saying I'm going to go back and do a recording there. I'm not even in a band, I just want to be able to say I recorded in the same place as all the great music icons.
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good time but sounds could. :)
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