Mid South Music Memphis
Meet my good friend Eric. He is a musician, poet, bowler, social media guru, mexican food lover and all around cool dude. That's why when he asked me to go to Nashville with him to see one of his favorite bands, The Damnwells (and you should really click this link and check them out... they're latest album is a FREE download, and it is awesome!), play live, I was totally game. I love me a good road trip! Did I mention he has a convertible? 'Cause he does. Which helped when he added Birmingham to the road trip, to see the Damnwells 2 nights in a row! And while we're at it, let's hit Memphis on the way back to St. Louis! See? EPIC.
First Step, Nashville Tennessee. Eric was hoping to hit places that his favorite food network show, Diners Drive-Ins and Dives has been to, but they didn't seem to have been to Nashville yet. I did some research, however, and found this clip from a Bobby Flay show. Hot Chickens! Apparently a Nashville thing, consisting of fried chicken covered with scorching hot sauce, served on bread with pickles on top. The show highlights two places, Hot Chickens.com (which oddly is not an actual URL for the restaurant) and Prince's Hot Chicken. We tried to find Hot Chickens.com first, because they had a wall of fame, and I knew Eric could take the heat and get himself on it. We couldn't find it, though! It's either been replaced by a Mexican place or we had the wrong address. So we went to Princes.
When we arrived there it was about 5 minutes from opening, and there was already a line outside waiting to get in. Good sign!
The place is not the best-looking joint... in a run-down strip-mall, the decor consisting of a hodge-podge of cheaply framed chicken artwork hung haphazardly on the bright teal walls, and styrofoam plates signed by who-knows what celebrities stapled to the wall above the ordering/pick-up window. I grabbed an uncomfortable booth while Eric went to order.
I had a medium-hot thigh....
and he got the Xtra hot breast.
It was slow-going for me, as the spicy sauce combined with the warmth of the room and made it almost dizzying. Eric took down the extra hot like a champ, even though there was no wall of fame.... he did it... just to be macho? :) The boy is addicted to heat, for real.
Later when walking downtown we saw this ad that said exactly what Eric had been saying all day after Prince's Hot Chicken. Ha! So, It was good fried chicken... I would recommend milder than the medium-hot, though, for maximum chicken enjoyment.... although getting sweaty while eating is fun, too.
For dinner in Nashville, our friend Woody insisted that we hit up Swett's. Woody is an eater and a drummer who has traveled, so we trust his advice and go to this soul-food cafeteria. A place with lots of seating, where you grab a tray and go through a line where a woman who calls everyone "honey" serves you up your choice of southern favorites...mmmm... greens. Good call, Woody!
That night the Damnwells put on a damn fine show in a small basement venue (called the Basement, of course). The next morning we hit the road for Birmingham, Alabama. About 45 minutes on the road, we prepared to stop for gas, and noticed signs directing us to none other than the Jack Daniels Distillery. It was about a half-hour detour, and completely unplanned, but we could not resist! Worth it! Our tour guide was so southern and so awesome.
The distillery is on very pictureque grounds, rustic yet clean... streams, woods, old old buildings. And oh the smell. Even the super-strong vapors from the mash had us craving a sip of whiskey.
Unfortunately, the distillery is in a Dry County... as in they are not allowed to serve alchol. Crazy! We did find an ice cream place in the quaint, though tourist-trappy historic ynchberg that had Jack-Daniels and raisin ice cream and Jack Daniels whiskey sauce... something I will be recreating because... yummmm.
I will never stop laughing about this.
And whiskey-less we headed to Birmingham!
For dinner in B-ham we took Rachel's advice and hit the Fish Market downtown. The Fish Market is an interesting place... Part gourmet grocery store, part fish market, part restaurant. The restaurant part took a sec to figure out... there are no waiters... you order and sit down and wait for your pager to go off to pick up your food. However, there are busser-type people who will take your pager from you and bring your food to the table for you. And the food? We were expecting Greek, but it was more of a mix of Greek and traditional southern. My greek Scallop soup came with hush puppies! All in all a fun place!
and more damnwells...
The next morning we visited the Birmingham Civil Rights museum, (recommended!!) then hit the highways again for Memphis. Finally, we would get to go to a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Destination.
Uncle Lou's! Another run-down strip mall place with big eats. I got some fried chicken in the 3 different flavors, the most famous being Uncle Lou's Sweet and Spicy Love sauce. Eric got a hot fried Balogna sandwich with was quite intimidating! Sweet corn fritters rounded out the meal.
Everything tasted great, and we even got to meet Uncle Lou! Oh, Uncle Lou is all about being famous. He was LOVING it!
This was our only Damnwells-free night of the trip, so we basically hung out on Beale Street all day. Over-priced too-sweet drinks, but GREAT people watching! Some good music, too!
For dinner we couldn't resist a trip to Neely's BBQ. Yup, another Food Network favorite. We ordered a sampler meal for two that had the smoked turkey, ribs, and brisket... a huge plate of meat basically. The best part of the meal was the peach cobbler.... soooo buttery. I'm not a huge cobbler fan... rather I wasn't until I had this one.
Before Leaving Memphis and concluding our Epic Road Trip, we were DETERMINED to find a good breakfast place. When we asked the front desk at our hotel in Birmingham for a good local place, were told IHOP or Waffle House!! Outrageous! Luckily in Memphis we found Bob's, and got a proper Southern breakfast finally to the trip!
How does one wrap up an epic blog post about an epic road trip in the South? Hmmmm...
ya'll come back now y'hear? Main Street Journal January 2010 Issue:Publisher and Editor in Chief Jonathan Lindberg holds his nose to look into the health care reform political process. The Table of Contents is here.
NEW! Main Street Journal: Commissioner Mike Ritz looks at The MED and offers some ideas on what to do.
Shelby County Schools: Millington Central and Houston High Schools will go to a trimester system in the next academic year.
School Menus: The school menus for Memphis City schools and Shelby County schools.
Tipping: The first in a series on tipping at Mid-South restaurants, from Fredric Koeppel and the Memphis News. This part focuses on how tips are distributed.
State Education Reform: Governor Phil Bredesen’s package of education reform bills was passed by both the full House and Senate late Friday. More from Fox13, WMC. Bredesen has a “mule team” to finish the State’s application for Federal “Race to the Top” money. Changing the emphasis of higher education from enrollment size to graduation rates.
National Civil Rights Museum: They have a new exhibit called Soul Soldiers that looks at the role of African-American soldiers in the Vietnam War. More on the exhibit from Fox13.
Memphis Police: New digital license plate readers are proving very, very successful at catching criminals unawares and now the Shelby County Sheriff’s office is hoping to get some, too.
Bartlett: With Judge Freeman Marr assuming extra duties in Municipal Court, ex-Criminal Court Judge Fred Axley may be providing help.
Politics: A number of NW TN pols were present for the MLK breakfast in Jackson.
State House Speaker Kent Williams wants any legislative action to wait until an appeals court judge rules on the “gun carry in restaurants” bill. A new bill being introduced may keep many prisoners behind bars longer.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam has now raised $5.72 million. Another Republican, Bill Gibbons, is proposing to use lottery money to give students four year scholarships if they agree to teach in the state.
Nursing Institute of the Mid-South: They will host a reception this week to kick off a million dollar grant to “develop better clinical nurses”.
Red Light Traffic Cameras: While Memphis seems to be enamored of RLTCs, nationwide, the tide is against them. Millington is preparing for the installation of RLTCs along Navy Road and Highway 51.
West Tennessee: Dyersburg police will now be carrying tasers. (via the Dyersburg State Gazette)
Harold Ford Jr: Ford calls NY US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand a “weak puppet”. He goes to Harlem to meet local bigwigs, makes stops for the Martin Luther King holiday, and has now embarked on a “listening tour”. Is the Rev Al Sharpton switching sides? Brooklyn Dems about to come around? The New Republic’s Marty Peretz says Ford isn’t “easily dismissed”. The Commercial Appeal says he’s “fleeing Tennessee record”. The Hill puts Ford’s chance of running at 80%. The New York Times interviews Memphians on Ford’s past and future. In an election today, Gillibrand would crush Ford, but would a Coakley loss in nearby Massachusetts help him?
Agriculture: Expect fresh fruit prices to rise after the last deep freeze has damaged or killed a lot of crops.
Tea Party Nation: More critics of founder Judson Phillips are coming out of the woodwork. The New York Time’s Frank Rich picks up the story. And more from the Nashville Scene and the Tennessean.
Real Estate: Smith & Nephew completed acquisition of the property for their new $14 million HQ. The Downtown condominium market had a strong rebound in December.
DeSoto County: The Hernando Public Library will host an exhibit on WWII POW camps. Part one of a series from the DeSoto Times Tribune on the County’s animal shelters; this part is on the Hernando Animal Shelter. The County Democratic Party had a voter registration drive; more in the Commercial Appeal. More on Southaven’s restaurant tax to improve local sports parks. The governor lauded the DeSoto County schools for their effectiveness. The County’s highway scales will be replaced, beginning next month.
Millington: Police Chief Ray Douglas is proud to have reduced crime on his watch by 27%.
NAACP: Memphis executive director Johnnie Turner is on leave while she’s in Nashville and that leaves a leadership vacuum.
Financial: First Tennessee has agreed to cooperate with a Federal Housing Administration probe of their mortgage lending practices.
University of Memphis: The Memphis Literacy Corps enlists college students to teach to third, fourth and fifth graders in Memphis schools. A new program on the school’s jazz radio station, WUMR, aims to keep thing fresh. (stories via the Daily Helmsman) School president Shirley Raines’ compensation package is ranked in the bottom half among her peers.
Commercial Appeal: Mediaverse: Memphis is reporting that another round of layoffs is imminent at the daily paper.
Previously Posted: Comtrak Logistics CEO Mike Bruns is retiring.
West Memphis 3: A judge will announce this week whether to grant retrials to two of the three men convicted.
