Memphis

The City of Blues and Barbeque has lived up to it's name! Despite the sweltering heat and humidity yesterday, Leslie and I have hit a lot of the main attractions of Memphis.  I got in yesterday afternoon around 1:30 PM CT to Leslie's well decorated and cozy house.  We sat around and talked for a bit and then headed towards the River (the grand Mississippi!).  We walked around by the river and I couldn't help but think of Huck Finn and the fact that I'll be crossing over to "the West" very soon!  We walked through a little development called Mud Island and got some water at a small grocery.  Then we headed downtown to catch the Peabody Ducks.

This may sound odd but at the Peabody Hotel every day at 11AM a group of live ducks is marched in to "King Cotton March" by John Phillip Sousa and marched out and back to their rooftop home at 5PM.

From there we went back to the house and relaxed for the first night of Summer RUF (Reformed University Fellowship) at Rhodes College where Leslie is an intern.  We got to eat some pizza and cookies with the students, have a short worship and sermon, and then play a little ping-pong while watching the San Antonio Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder.

This morning I was treated to some local coffee called Ugly Mug before heading off to Graceland!  We said hello to Elvis, saw the "jungle room" (which made "Walking in Memphis" start playing on repeat inside my head), and then finished off the afternoon with some fabulous Memphis BBQ at Central.

Billard Room...Yes the walls are covered in fabric.

Awesome Staircase up to the King's private quarters

Central Barbeque

Music City

Yesterday was a wonderful adventure around Nashville.  After a relaxing morning of yoga, Lady Grey tea, and a homemade yogurt parfait (with homemade strawberry jam, courtesy of Alison), I drove to East Nashville where Alison and I went to The Pharmacy Burger Parlor.  The Pharmacy is well-known as the "Wurst-Burger Joint in Nashville" serving both bratwursts and burgers.  Not to mention they have a wonderful beer selection and, my personal favorite, an old fashioned soda bar! We tried the Strawberry-Ginger soda and the Kentucky-Mint (my favorite of the two), quite refreshing in the mid-day heat.  Alison got "the Farm" burger which included bacon, egg, ham, with maple mustard and I decided to create my own with lettuce, grilled onions, and beer mustard.  The burgers themselves were cooked to perfection and the buns were a soft and slightly sweet and would have been wonderful by themselves.  Both of us went for the sweet potato fries as a side.  Overall we had quite a feast!

The rest of the day was punctuated with small amusements including watching "All About Eve" and making Mudslides as an early evening snack.  Most mudslides involve Bailey's Irish Cream, Kahlua Coffee Liqeur, and some combination of chocolate and milk or cream.  Alison and I made ours with Blue Bell Vanilla Ice Cream, Mini Oreos, a few Espresso grounds, milk, and (of course) Bailey's and Kahlua.  It served as the milkshake we had to pass on at The Pharmacy.

After mudslides we decided to walk around Hillsborough Village and go up to Love's Circle to watch the sunset.  The view from Love's Circle was quite pretty with a view of Vanderbilt University and the city beyond (including the "Batman" building).  The sunset was a brilliant orange and walking back we were able to watch the fireflies come out, making it the start of a perfect summer night. 

Lastly we showered, had a little dinner at the house and then went into Downtown.  It was amazing to walk past every bar and hear a different live band playing from inside.  We decided to go to Tootsies, a famous Nashville lounge where we sipped on a Johnny Vegas and listened to a band play country hits from the past twenty years.  We then went on to Bailey's, more of a sports bar with pool tables, golf video game (?), and several plasma screen TVs with basketball, hockey, and news.  We shared a Blackberry Long Island Iced Tea, very sweet and quite tasty, and I think I was the only one listening to a pair of guitar players.  They were quite good but most of the audience was wrapped up in talking to one-another or playing pool.  They wound up playing some Sister Hazel, to which I couldn't help but sing along, and, since we were (at this point) the closest table to the artists I think they noticed that I liked 90s music and continued to play 90s hit after 90s hit to which I dutifully mumbled along to.  It was far from a crazy, let alone "typical", Nashville nigh scene experience but it was fun for my tastes.

So now it's off to breakfast at Fidos where I have every intention of getting some good coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and then I'm off to Memphis!

Lookin' for that Nashville Skyline

I spent my last night in Charlottesville celebrating the marriage of two of my dear friends.  It was a perfect Virginia evening complete with a sunset over the mountains, cool breezes breaking up the heavy humidity, and fireflies at dusk.

Also, I am happy to report my first encounter with the "disco" Virginia Reel.  It may sound odd...Ok it was odd...but we had fun with it.  There was a lot of "right hand star" with a disco finger pointing (renamed: "disco star", psychedelic baby!) and attempts at making do-se-dos "groovy".  Aside from "Burn Baby Burn" the tunes were generally a mix of Celtic Dance music and "Yanke Doodle," Irish-Americans everywhere were very pleased at this medley.  Needless to say, it was a lot of fun to swing around with friends on the grassy dance floor.

Now I am off to Nashville where I will stay with my friend Alison who I had the pleasure of living with for two years.  With 9 hours ahead of me on the road I think that I will finally "read" North and South by Elizabeth Gaskall.  The BBC miniseries (2004) has overtaken my love for Jane Austen's stories and I am interested to see if the book has the same effect.

Blog Title

Play while reading to get the full effect:

I'm putting off some last minute packing by writing to explain my attempt at cleverness.  "Coastal CArniVAl" is what I wanted my blogger address to be but capital letters don't really show up so I'll put it here.  As I was trying to figure out what to name this I had many ideas, some better than others.  Most of all I wanted something that represented both where I'm coming from and where I'm going, and not in just one direction.  I was thinking of the movie Penelope (I was rather surprised by this movie, as were most of my housemates.  If you haven't seen it and you like Tangled and Tuck Everlasting I would recommend it).  When Penelope leaves her house for the first time and enters into the real world.  She steps out of this menacing black iron gate and into a park complete with my favorite kind of string lights,

Susan Young Photography

carousel, bubbles, swelling music and laughing children.
         Thinking of my love for carnivals I realized that the word carnival has CA and VA in it (CA to the West and VA to the East, if you will).  Also, I have a great love for Coastal Carolinas, my name is Caroline, and I'm moving from one coast to another.  Aha! You understand.
        I have gotten my oil and transmission fluid changed. Cleaned my car outside and in. Washed my clothes (including dry cleaning my dress that I will wear to the Webster wedding tomorrow!).  Imported CDs into iTunes.  Downloaded audio books (North and South, Little Women, and Anna Karenina...that'll keep me busy). Now all that's left is packing my car strategically so that I can fit the contents of my life into it.  It's funny how moving always makes you realize how much you've accumulated over time.  I am happy to say that I've sorted my things and am selling/donating the majority of things I am not taking with me.  Now we'll see how much of what I want to keep actually fits in my car...

Caroline Cross Country

I'm giving in.  I'm starting a blog. Yes, I flirted with the idea before, even attempted a "sisterhood of the traveling" via blog...that failed.  But now, it's time for commitment.  What a better time to start than at graduation.  As of Sunday May 20, 2012 I am an official alum of the University of Virginia.  Some may say that technically I "graduated" from UVA in December as that is when I withdrew from classes, and, yes, I did get my diploma several months before the rest of my class but these are minor details.  You may ask what the newly graduated do with their time.  I am currently sitting comfortably at my mother's dining room table with a chilled glass of rosé as Norah Jones croons from the curry scented kitchen and a candle quivers into the coming thunderstorm.  This peaceful evening is the precursor to the slew of packing that will ensue tomorrow morning as I kiss my mother goodbye and leave for the first leg of my journey across the country.

I am moving to California.

Tomorrow I leave for dear Charlottesville, where I have spent the last four years of my life.  I have grown to love this town and the beautiful drive along 29 on the way there from "NoVA", the conglomerate of small cities and towns in the north of Virginia that acts as a large suburb to Washington, DC.  Now I am SoCal bound.  As my Dad said, playing off an old radio phrase, I am going "From the Capital to the Coast".  But, until I reach the City of Angels, Hollywood, the place where movie magic is made! I will be in the car for several hours.  Fortunately, I have always wanted to take a road trip across the country and I will be able to stop and see some dear friends along the way.  My route is Nashville, Memphis, Golden MO, Branson MO, Oklahoma City, Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Pagosa Springs CO, Sedona AZ, Los Angeles.  Wish me luck, I will try to keep you up to date about my travels and my new adventures.  Here's to California Dreamin'.