How cool is this?
After dinner, we spent the rest of the evening walking around Beale Street. After the sun went down, it had gotten really chilly inside the Hard Rock because of the air conditioning. So when we stepped out onto the sidewalk, the warm summer night felt really good. To me that will always be part of the atmosphere of the city itself - warm night air, just a touch of humidity, along with the relaxed vibe of the people wandering past the storefronts and street vendors. Neon signs blazed everywhere, and music spilled out from the clubs and saturated the air, as if the rich tone of blues surrounding us was actually creating the warmth of the night. There was a texture to the music that was almost tangible, warm and enveloping like the night air. We strolled around enjoying the moment, even commenting on how cool it was to be able to hang out with friends who had come together from one end of the country to the other, just walking around and buying tacky souvenirs.
We even found a shop that had a display case of guitar picks, not for sale, just for display, and they had several Styx picks! They didn't have one of Glen's, so Debbie graciously donated her "Bonaduce" pick to the shop owner, explaining whose pick it actually was. The owner offered to give her one of his duplicate picks in trade, and we looked through his collection, but there was nothing we were really interested in. We're so picky! (No pun intended but inflicted anyway!)
Driving back to the area where our hotels were, our two cars got separated in traffic and we ended up each taking a different wrong exit. We got in touch on our cell phones and kind of figured out where we needed to go. Now to figure out where we were! Debbie pulled into a gas station and I went inside. Before I even tried asking for directions, I looked around to see if they sold maps. We didn't have one, and I figured it couldn't hurt. I didn't see any, so I asked the woman at the counter, "Do you have any maps?" She gave me a glare and snapped at me, "Not of Memphis!" Holy cow, did I look like I was going to burn Memphis down once I found it or something? I hadn't even mentioned Memphis! I was about to say, "No problem, what do you have back there - Juneau, Alaska? Butte, Montana? What?" But probably luckily for me, before I could put that thought together, another clerk came up and volunteered the information to me that they did have a map of Tennessee. Well last I heard, that's where they keep Memphis, so I bought that and scooted back out of there. We found our way back to Memphis and found Cindy and Jerry and our hotel, and I promise we didn't hurt anyone!
Once we got up to our room (to which I was still not allowed a key card despite my explaining that the hex doesn't apply when I'm only staying one night), I went online again and we found Tommy's note about the Tunica show. Take a look if you want to just confirm that I'm not exaggerating about the lingerie storm and the impression it made on the band! I called Cindy and Jerry to tell them about it, and when Cindy answered the phone, I asked to speak to Tommy Shaw. I know; you all envy me my sophisticated sense of humor. But we laughed. When she claimed he wasn't there, I read her the note he wrote. Have to share these things! After a short re-viewing of last night's pictures, we finally got to sleep.