Memphis - Tuesday October 14, 2019
To be perfectly honest, we were knackered after yesterday.
I was the first of us to resurrect from sleep this morning, and the first job I did was find a dentist for Jenny who had broken one of her teeth while chewing on a pork rib on Sunday night. It was Christopher Columbus Day here - a public holiday - but the funny thing is, some people celebrate it and some people don't (According to a Blackfoot Indigenous lady we met the other night, it has the same connotations here for the indigenous people of the USA as our current Australia Day date does for Australian Indigenous people.) So, not all dentists were shut - but some were. The first dentist we rang was open .... but all booked out! The second dentist had a receptionist attending, but no dentist. But the receptionist was very kind and rang around and found Jenny an appointment at 1.45pm. That gave us enough time to enjoy a leisurely start to the day.
Catherine couldn't face the idea of going out, so Jenny and I walked to the local pharmacy - Walgreens - which ended up being quite an adventure in itself.
There are lots of squirrels running around the city. They look really cute, but they are well known for carrying rabies. So they are fun to watch, but we'd never try to touch one.
The goal of our trip was to buy a SIM card for our phones so we could call each other in the US. We just couldn't get our Telstra Roaming to do what we wanted.
As we walked around Walgreens we got a bit sidetracked by all the wonderful things available for purchase ... greeting cards by the score, dog and cat products, groceries, make up, washing powder, cool drinks, baby presents, every imaginable pharmaceutical product, art supplies (!) phones and SIM cards to name a few.
Shopping is quite expensive here. I keep thinking that the price on an item is what we'll pay, but then you get to the cash register and they add the GST - and then there's a tip to pay especially if you're in a restaurant. We're trying our best to be frugal, but it's really hard because there are so many things we can't get in Australia that we want to buy!
We thought we'd cruise down to the local cafe and have a coffee and install our SIM cards. They had delicious deli style sandwiches and salads for sale, so we ended up having an early lunch. It was delicious!
We didn't have much luck with installing the SIM cards, so eventually we caught the trolley bus back to the hotel so that Jenny could freshen up before going to the dentist.
Catherine was out like a light ... snoring even! So, we left her in bed and headed back to the hotel lobby with the hope that one of the young staff might be able to get us sorted out with our SIM cards. Even they were baffled, but eventually they got my phone going. Jenny's phone was a completely different story ... we're still working on it!
We caught a cab with a lady called Nita who was taking her 91 year old Mum out for a drive at the same time. She was an absolute hoot! It was a very entertaining trip down Poplar Avenue which is several kilometres long, until we got Jenny to the dentist surgery she was attending. I sat quietly and wrote some postcards and birthday cards, while Jenny had a temporary crown placed on her tooth.
After a couple of hours Nita was back. Along the way back to the hotel she decided to take us for a visit to the top of the pyramid that sits in the centre of 'downtown' Memphis (named after the ancient capital of Egypt which was located on the very long Nile River). We rang Catherine to see if she'd like to join us - but she was still sleeping.
Memphis is on the banks of the very long Mississippi River. The pyramid is the home of another comprehensive retail outlet focused on camping, shooting and hunting supplies. It also houses a 5 star hotel.
There were lots of animals that had been restored by taxidermists - I would rather see the live animals.
There were also amazing aquariums containing fish, live alligators, and the biggest catfish you've ever seen.
There were also magnificent metal replicas of the catfish
and a bowling alley that made you feel like you were under water.
We caught a lift to the top of the pyramid and watched the sun setting over Memphis and the Mississippi River.
The lift down from the top is not for the faint hearted and I reckon Nita would have partied on for ages ... but Jenny and I needed to get back to our room to rest. First though, we needed a Crowne Plaza special cocktail, and a small bite to eat. 
I was the first of us to resurrect from sleep this morning, and the first job I did was find a dentist for Jenny who had broken one of her teeth while chewing on a pork rib on Sunday night. It was Christopher Columbus Day here - a public holiday - but the funny thing is, some people celebrate it and some people don't (According to a Blackfoot Indigenous lady we met the other night, it has the same connotations here for the indigenous people of the USA as our current Australia Day date does for Australian Indigenous people.) So, not all dentists were shut - but some were. The first dentist we rang was open .... but all booked out! The second dentist had a receptionist attending, but no dentist. But the receptionist was very kind and rang around and found Jenny an appointment at 1.45pm. That gave us enough time to enjoy a leisurely start to the day.
Catherine couldn't face the idea of going out, so Jenny and I walked to the local pharmacy - Walgreens - which ended up being quite an adventure in itself.
There are lots of squirrels running around the city. They look really cute, but they are well known for carrying rabies. So they are fun to watch, but we'd never try to touch one.The goal of our trip was to buy a SIM card for our phones so we could call each other in the US. We just couldn't get our Telstra Roaming to do what we wanted.
As we walked around Walgreens we got a bit sidetracked by all the wonderful things available for purchase ... greeting cards by the score, dog and cat products, groceries, make up, washing powder, cool drinks, baby presents, every imaginable pharmaceutical product, art supplies (!) phones and SIM cards to name a few.
Shopping is quite expensive here. I keep thinking that the price on an item is what we'll pay, but then you get to the cash register and they add the GST - and then there's a tip to pay especially if you're in a restaurant. We're trying our best to be frugal, but it's really hard because there are so many things we can't get in Australia that we want to buy!We thought we'd cruise down to the local cafe and have a coffee and install our SIM cards. They had delicious deli style sandwiches and salads for sale, so we ended up having an early lunch. It was delicious!
We didn't have much luck with installing the SIM cards, so eventually we caught the trolley bus back to the hotel so that Jenny could freshen up before going to the dentist.
Catherine was out like a light ... snoring even! So, we left her in bed and headed back to the hotel lobby with the hope that one of the young staff might be able to get us sorted out with our SIM cards. Even they were baffled, but eventually they got my phone going. Jenny's phone was a completely different story ... we're still working on it!
We caught a cab with a lady called Nita who was taking her 91 year old Mum out for a drive at the same time. She was an absolute hoot! It was a very entertaining trip down Poplar Avenue which is several kilometres long, until we got Jenny to the dentist surgery she was attending. I sat quietly and wrote some postcards and birthday cards, while Jenny had a temporary crown placed on her tooth.
After a couple of hours Nita was back. Along the way back to the hotel she decided to take us for a visit to the top of the pyramid that sits in the centre of 'downtown' Memphis (named after the ancient capital of Egypt which was located on the very long Nile River). We rang Catherine to see if she'd like to join us - but she was still sleeping.Memphis is on the banks of the very long Mississippi River. The pyramid is the home of another comprehensive retail outlet focused on camping, shooting and hunting supplies. It also houses a 5 star hotel.
There were lots of animals that had been restored by taxidermists - I would rather see the live animals.
There were also amazing aquariums containing fish, live alligators, and the biggest catfish you've ever seen.
There were also magnificent metal replicas of the catfish
and a bowling alley that made you feel like you were under water.
We caught a lift to the top of the pyramid and watched the sun setting over Memphis and the Mississippi River.
The lift down from the top is not for the faint hearted and I reckon Nita would have partied on for ages ... but Jenny and I needed to get back to our room to rest. First though, we needed a Crowne Plaza special cocktail, and a small bite to eat. 
Tomorrow ... Nashville here we come ... and my first attempt at driving on American roads!!!!!
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