So…. how do YOU choose a vacation destination? For a whole year leading up to our 30th anniversary, I agonized over this question. Vacation…. or at least the thought of a vacation is a bit overwhelming to me. I don’t want to make a bad vacation decision and wind up regretting it for the rest of my life! Maybe this is a bit of an exaggeration…. but still… it was our 30th anniversary and we wanted it to be great!
Our anniversary is in December and I had imagined somewhere warm or at least a great tourist town. You are probably wondering if we went to Key West or Orlando or San Diego or Waco or Charleston or Miami or Savannah….. To answer in a clear and concise manner, the answer to all of those locations is a big NO. In a round about way, partly resulting in needing to visit family and partly resulting in being in the general area already, we wound up in Memphis, Tennessee.
Did we go see the ducks at the Peabody…? Unfortunately, no…. Did we go to the lookout point at the massive Bass Pro Shop….? That would be no…. So what did we do…. ? We researched the city and discovered three great restaurants and in so doing, we learned a lot about ourselves. After 30 years of marriage, we should have already realized how much we are drawn to food that is “well done”. By “well done”, I’m not talking about a steak that has been overcooked…. I’m talking about food done right! I learned something about ourselves as a couple upon reaching this milestone in our marriage….. I learned that we like to discover restaurants in new places…. and experience life as the locals!
For our first meal in Memphis, we discovered Babalu’s with a tag line of “Southern Cuisine with a Latin Flair”. This completely drew us in. You see, we are completely Southern having grown up in the deep South of South Alabama, but we have a Latin flair because we spent 5 years living in Central and South America. Cavin ordered the Baba Burger and I chose the Roasted Chicken Taco. Cavin raved about the burger for days. The Angus beef patty with white cheddar cheese melted atop served on a sourdough roll was the perfect combination for my Southern man. The Roasted Chicken Taco with fire-roasted corn pico de gallo brought out my Latin flair. The restaurant was abuzz with what appeared to be mostly locals. The table next to us ordered tableside guac and I have to admit, it looked delicious!
The next day, we set out to find the best barbecue in Memphis. I had done my research and narrowed it down to two restaurants. I presented my evidence to Cavin and we settled on Central Barbecue. With our mouths watering in anticipation, we left The Memphian Hotel where we were staying… and by the way…. I highly recommend this new and modern hotel in Overton Square. Central Barbecue was a short drive from our hotel. We arrived before noon so luckily there was not a long line to order.
At Central, Cavin and I both ordered barbecue sandwiches. However, we chose different sides. The barbecue was tender, juicy, and just plain out delicious. The bun was fresh and lightly toasted. There was an array of flavorful sauces to try, and you can be sure we tried them all. As for the sides, Cavin chose his favorite – fries; and I chose baked beans. Both were right on target for our Southern taste buds. As we left the restaurant, the line to order was out the door. It’s advisable to arrive early if you don’t like long lines!
After lunch, we took a walking/driving tour of Memphis and saw a lot of interesting historical sites including the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, the Mississippi River and the Riverwalk, the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge, and even drove into Arkansas since I had never been there before and wanted to add another state to my list of states that I have visited. We found Memphis to be a historically rich city that is working hard to build bridges and not tear them down.
We were not too hungry that evening since we had eaten a very filling lunch at Central Barbecue. Since we were on vacation and all normalcy is meaningless on vacation, we decided to visit Gibson’s Donuts. In our age of technology, I’m thankful for a GPS that took us straight to the 50-year-old establishment. There was nothing elegant or fancy about the building, but I knew there was something special about this place from the moment we walked in the door. There was a menu on the wall, but we later learned it didn’t really mean anything. Most people don’t even look at it. They know exactly what they want before they even walk in the door. When it was time to give our order, we made an attempt, but it was obvious we were first-timers at Gibson’s. The order taker said all first-time guests get a free glazed donut. She also suggested a few others and before we knew it, we had ordered a dozen donuts of all different kinds. There were blueberry glazed, apple cake, lemon filled, chocolate dipped, and of course glazed! As we sat down in a booth to begin sampling our donuts, we noticed the door was opening continuously as patrons came into the donut shop. It may have been our first time to visit this 50-year-old business, but it was obvious that Memphians loves Gibson’s and Gibson’s loves Memphians!
We sure loved our time SAMPLING THE SOUTH in Memphis! Now on the road again…. to our next stop in Birmingham!