Since we had passes to take the elevator up to the observation deck, that's what we did first thing this morning.
The passes also allowed us to go in the fast lane so we didn't have to wait at all.
There is big circular bar in the center with an aquarium all around that.
This is just looking at it from the other side.
There were sea creatures hanging from the ceiling with kind of a steam punk look to them.
There were mainly fish.
But there were a couple frogs too.
Then on one side there was seating for the restaurant with awesome views.
The other side was the observation deck.
We went out onto it and there were some great views - there was the bridge we'd seen all lit up last night.
Just few more views of the city.
Beale Street is over in this direction.
This is looking down the river.
Jason and I.
We took another walk around the Bass Pro Shop.
It's quite the store.
This is just one of the many live trees that are in there.
The ponds in there are full of fish, this one even had a couple of little alligators.
There is one in the water there then one up on the rocks 'sunning' himself.
This is a view from inside the store looking up at the 'cabins'.
This is the elevator in the center of the pyramid that we took up to the observation deck.
You can see a bunch of the fish in the water.
This is the entrance to the store, the hotel lobby is to the right.
Big Cypress Lodge.
There is a picture of the outside of the store.
I guess the pyramid was originally built as an entertainment venue for concerts and stuff but it just wasn't successful for many reasons.
So Bass Pro Shops turned it into what is is now and it's great.
The hotel offered a shuttle service downtown and even though we'd checked out by then, we still took advantage of that.
The driver said she could drop us off anywhere within a certain radius, we just asked her to drop us off somewhere near Beale Street so we could check it out so that's just what she did.
Basically she dropped us off right at Beale Street.
We took a walk down it, maybe it's just the time of day but it didn't seem to be anywhere near as busy as Broadway St in Nashville.
The first thing I wanted to do was get a coffee so we googled the nearest Starbucks.
It just happened to be across the street from The Fedex Forum and while we were standing there, I noticed on the ticker tape type marquis it said Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire May 29.
It dawned on me that was today - we could see that the box office was open so just out of curiosity we went over to see if we could get tickets.
We could.
I have loved Lionel Richie since my teen years - he really has some great ballads and I like Earth, Wind & Fire too so I was super excited.
It means we will be staying in Memphis another night but our flight doesn't leave until around 3 tomorrow afternoon so we have plenty of time to get to Nashville tomorrow.
We went to Arcade Restaurant for brunch.
it's been around for years, Elvis even used to eat here.
It does have the old diner look to it.
It's very retro looking.
I don't think anything has been updated in here in years.
Jason and I.
Because I'm in Elvis' neck of the woods, I decided to do the peanut butter banana grilled sandwich for breakfast with a side of fruit and bacon.
Jason did sweet potato pancakes with hash browns, bacon and eggs.
The food was just ok but it was a neat experience.
Memphis trolley station.
All these cities on the east side of the country have all these old brick buildings and I'm a sucker for those.
They just look so interesting and worn but in a good way.
There were lots of them - and I love those old looking signs too.
The details on this one were so ornate.
I love murals in urban areas too.
Love the door - especially those corbels.
Like the arched windows and the fancy trim on them and on the top of the building as well.
Another mural on the side of a parking garage - what a great use of space.
This bush had leaves on it like the holly that you get at Christmas time - I've never seen a bush like this in real life before, I've only ever seen the fake stuff for decorating.
The Orpheum.
The bottom of Beale Street.
Beale Street trolley.
Memphis is a music town too.
The actual Beale Street sign.
There goes another trolley - this one passing the Beale Street sign.
We found an ice cream place so stopped for ice cream.
We had passed a riverboat on the way here this morning so I checked to see if they had any cruises today and they did so we booked one.
Then we just kind of wandered our way over there (it was back toward the hotel)
We stumbled upon this nice street that runs perpendicular to Beale Street, there didn't seem to be any cars driving on it and it was full of trees and shops and restaurants.
Another mural.
And another.
Eventually we made our way down to the river boat just in time for boarding.
Memphis Riverboats.
Walking up the deck onto the boat.
It was a gorgeous day so I knew I wanted to sit outside so we went straight up to the top deck and found seats.
There were all these shirtless guys there lathering sunscreen onto themselves and each other.
They had English accents - Jason thought gay at first, I thought rugby team or something.
They were from England because I heard another passenger ask them.
I do think they were a team of some sort but don't really know for sure.
It was a narrated tour so the guide was telling us all kinds of information about Memphis and some of the stuff we were seeing along the way which I enjoy.
Some of the homes along the river were massive.
We passed a couple of bridges.
Downtown Memphis.
Another selfie of us.
There's the Bass Pro Shop Pyramid.
There's all the boys.
More of them.
I think there were even more of them on the other decks.
They were drinking and having a great time - they drank the place right out of beer.
American flag.
The center of the bridge is the border between Arkansas and Tennessee.
My handsome honey.
The water is really brown - looks kind of gross.
Our guide told us that the water has everything in it from raw sewage to garbage to strong currents to poisonous snakes so he recommended NOT swimming in it.
Not a chance would I dip even a toe in that water.
This is the bridge we could see last night that has a light show on it in the evenings.
Just some random buildings along the side of the river - the Memphis side.
The other side is Arkansas and there is nothing on that side, the guide said there aren't any buildings there because it floods often.
More buildings.
This Memphis sign is on a little island that you have to cross a bridge to get to.
I would have liked to walk over there to take a picture but we just didn't have time.
We spent about an hour and a half on the water and then it was back to dock.
We walked back over to get the car but popped back into the store to get a drink and saw this shooting gallery so Jason gave it a try.
They had these benches in the entrance that we liked - would love to try to make one.
We had a couple hours before the concert so we decided to take the shuttle again back downtown to get something to eat before the concert.
We found a pizza place that looked good so got the driver to drop us off there.
It was called Little Bettie.
It was inside of a brewery, Wise Acre Brewery.
I don't even like beer but I do like brewery's, they usually have good food.
It was a huge place inside - I liked the vibe.
There was an outdoor area with games then this seating section which we sat in because I just want to soak in as much of the sun as I can before I go back home.
It was 28 and I was loving it.
This is the menu.
We got two pizzas, Jason picked the Table 55 which had red sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, chili flakes and oregano.
I picked the Thud Butt - it had mortadella, ricotta cream, black pepper honey, pistachio and Stracciatella cheese.
The pizza was fantastic - I couldn't eat a lot because it was so hot and I was so bummed that we had to leave our leftovers.
We were heading straight to the concert from here and so we had nowhere to put it.
This is the side of the brewery.
Fedex Forum wasn't far so we headed over there, people were lining up but the doors weren't open yet.
This was just across the street.
This was the ticker tape marquis I saw this morning.
Lionel Richie - woo hoo.
Jason acting like he'd rather be anywhere else.
He was just joking around, he's not a big Lionel Richie fan or anything but he was looking forward to going.
It's always great to see entertainers that have been at it for years - there's normally a reason for that - they are good at what they do.
I got quite a bit of sun today.
Awww so sad.
Just joking.
Our seats were right by the stage but on the side but that was fine, we did have a pretty good view.
Earth, Wind and Fire started things off.
There are a lot of members in the band.
Only 3 of them are original members one of them being this guy - Verdine White.
There he is on the screen just rocking it out.
The screen was right beside us.
The audience.
Then it was time for the main attraction.
Lionel Richie.
He was so good - pretty much every song he sang I knew and loved.
When he spoke the the audience in between songs he was very personable, entertaining and funny.
The only song he didn't sing that I thought he would was Ballerina Girl but that's not a favorite of mine anyway.
The show was awesome and I'm so glad I got to see him.
I did take lots of videos but I can't upload them on YouTube without copyright strikes so I won't do that but I have them for myself at least.
We booked a room kind of at the outskirts of Memphis on the way to Nashville just to give ourselves a little less of a drive in the morning.
That's all for today, until next time, be happy!
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