The ride home. It was smooth, easy travel. We had fun in Memphis, would do it again if we could … only this time we would do something like an Extended Stay America or something like that. We rolled into our hotel on the first day and saw a sign for a joint like that saying “$179 weekly rates.” PLUS, at our place, we had 2 double beds for the four of us … but, as we were pulling out to head home, I noticed the sign said “Hotel and SUITES!!!” seriously?! oh well, it was fun.

Jordan was SO off his sleep schedule he just crashed almost immediately when we hit the road. We decided to stop by Lambert’s in Sikeston on the way home. It was just a few blocks off I-55. we’ve always gone to the one near Springfield since that’s where I grew up. This one was a bit different, and as you can see we let the boys burn off whatever energy they had left outside on the wooden train set.

I’m surprised he’s not drooling in this photo. Earlier in the week he was leaning the other way, and had a nice big drool spot on his seatbelt.

Our last full day in Memphis was reserved for day 1 of the Memphis in May BBQ Festival. We walked around and saw some great setups and team names (see below), we got a “Cooker’s Caravan” tour of some of the team tents and we participated in the People’s Choice tasting contest. It was all a lot of fun, and right in the middle of it all … a massive downpour for about 20 – 30 minutes which the boys just couldn’t stay out of (again, see below). I’ve also got some great video of them inching out the tent and into the rain.

Before we hit the festival today, we stopped by the Fire Museum of Memphis. They’ve got some cool interactive exhibits – trucks and ambulance to play in and on, an animated fire horse that tells the story of the Memphis FD in its early days (Jordan was amazed at the talking horse), and they have a crawl-through exhibit where it’s dark and a fire alarm is going off and you have to crawl through and feel the doors to see if they are hot or cool, then open the right door … open the wrong door and there is a loud blaring (scary) siren that goes off. This was definitely not something fun for little kids. But, the boys had a fun time crawling and playing all over the fire trucks and putting on the firefighters’ suits and helmets.

Memphis dinner #5 – Memphis in May World Championships Barbecue Cooking Contest

Day 4 was an even much more easy-going day. We again slept in, watched a movie in the hotel (Are We Done Yet? w/ Ice Cube), then headed out for lunch.

Memphis dinner/lunch #4 – Huey’s. Touted as Memphis’ favorite Blues, Brews and Burgers since 1970 … and I will have to say, some very tasty burgers. NOTE: if you ever stop by, fries and onion rings are HUMONGOUS!!!!! so, order with caution.

From there we spotted a Putt Putt family entertainment place … well, we saw the sign anyway. The sign was a couple of miles east of our hotel exit. We begin following the signs and end up backtracking to just 1/2 mile WEST of our hotel!!!!! Anyway, we played some mini-golf and some video games and just had kind of an easy relaxing time. We each even got a hole-in-one (except Jordan, but have some video of him hitting his ball about 20 times on one hole until finally just picking up the ball and throwing it in the hole!).

From there we headed over to Forest Hills Community Church (where Rayden is on staff) where I did the music for the youth worship service (video of music and Rayden’s message to come), and the boys got to go out and play on the playground.

The boys were TOTALLY worn out tonight … just tired beyond control. I understand they came back to the hotel and crashed almost immediately.

Tomorrow (Thursday) is the day of days … our trip #1 to the Memphis in May B-B-Q Festival … people’s choice taste-testers here we come!!!! This is what it’s all about. I’m tired of watching these barbecue festivals on Food Network, it’s time to put their bbq where my mouth is!!!!

Day 3 (Tuesday) in Memphis wasn’t too active in terms of planned activities. We all slept in a little, then went and had some sushi for lunch with Rayden and Donnie.

After lunch we headed downtown for some fun at Mud Island (where all these photos were taken). It was a fun time … most of it being the monorail to and from the island (minus the Tom Cruise action in The Firm).

Memphis dinner #3 – Jim ‘n Nick’s