Home of the Blues

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I flew in to Vicksburg several days ago to attend my best friend Derek's wedding. And like all good weddings, it isn't complete until you've done the obligatory bachelor's party. New Orleans was our first choice due to its close proximity to Vicksburg, a measly two hours drive away. Since the city, however, was still recovering from the Katrina disaster, we scratched it off our list and went to plan B. Thus all eyes shifted northward to the great city of Memphis, Tennessee.

I've never been to Tennessee much less Memphis, but I've heard a great deal about the place. It's home to the Blues, stumping ground of famed musician B.B. King, and has great BBQ to boot. But none of this really matters, because what attracts me to these legendary southern cities are their flavorful characters and rich history. And Memphis, surely, doesn't lack any of these.

We arrived in town by afternoon with the boys fully loaded on booze and pot. Derek was so wasted, he puked half of his guts out along with a few cheeseburgers the moment he stepped out of the car. But that didn't stop us as we headed straight for Beale Street, Memphis' own party district.

After a few hours of strolling up and down, I came the quick conclusion that Beale St. really wasn't much to look at on the surface. It's a relatively long street filled with mostly bars, blues clubs, and diners selling everything BBQ and ribs. You can find a street like this pretty much in any city down in the South. The locals were friendly enough but carried a hint of weariness due to all the rowdy tourists that packed the city during the summer. We even met a few rotund prostitutes claiming to be lost tourists from Miami!

All in all, the city was good fun for about a day. If you're here for a bachelor's party or just want to spend a day getting drunk in various bars and picking up wild southern gals, this is definitely the right place for you. It's not New Orleans, but it's got flavor!

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