Auld Lang Syne'ing on the River

HAPPY NEW YEAR  from Yours Truly In Memphis!  It's hard to conceive that it's already ANOTHER new year!  West and I had a wonderful NYE full of fun....despite the sloppy, rainy, cold weather!

We started out by hopping on the GE Patterson Trolley headed North.  We rode it up to Beale Street where we then sloshed our way to Wet Willies, aptly named given the weather conditions, to hear my girl Patty Harper & Faultline for a little while.  We were lucky enough to score a couple of seats front and center and got a warm welcome from Patty who promptly handed over the tambourine!  We caught them near the end of their first set but got to enjoy several songs.  With quick good-bye's, we headed on to destination #2, Double J's. 

So back to the trolley we went, making a quick pit stop at the Casa so that West could change out his soaked jacket and Yours Truly took the opportunity to dry her hair a bit and fluff up a little more.  This all done, we headed around the corner to Double J's.  We had plans to meet West's friend, Chip, and listen to a band from Nashville, Karen Waldrup.  She started shortly after we arrived and while the girl has a great voice, it was just her...no band.  Not exactly the riveting NYE party band we had anticipated.  We stayed through a few songs, visiting with Chip and decided this was NOT where we wanted to spend the rest of the evening.  Sorry Karen....again, great voice....great music.....but I didn't want to risk falling asleep on the spot!

Again....back to the trolley and north we headed disembarking at S.O.B.  The good seat gods were once again smiling down upon us as we walked in and snagged a table right away.  No band but always good music and lots of laughter at S.O.B.  We decided to try the caramel apple jello shots - you know, just to get the NYE party going and boy were these things good!  A slice of granny smith apple hollowed out with the caramel jello in the center...whoever put this together has SKILLS!!!  Our waiter, Eric, promptly brought a bowl of the crack...er, I mean MAGIC POPCORN they serve there and we ordered a beverage.  I had the caramel martini and West had the Lazy Magnolia Sweet Potato Stout.  I have to say, this LMSPS...it looked like he was drinking a glass of motor oil...it was dark, thick and was not appealing in the least bit to me.

We decided to order the fried avocados and cheese plate to nibble on since YT had made turkey soft tacos at home for dinner.  The bar filled up pretty quickly and was full of laughter and people having a nice evening.  West and I took some time to contemplate 2012 and had a really good visit.  We decided that we did not want to venture on the trolley any more that evening and actually made our way home at a very reasonable hour. 

New Year's Day has been quite nice.  The rain has cleared up but it's very cold out.  We decided since we only had 1 egg in the frig that we would venture forth in search of breakfast, and we had our sights on The Arcade Restaurant.  Sadly, they were closed.  What did we do?  If you guess jumped on the trolley and headed north, well you have been paying attention!  North it was and we jumped off at Peabody Place and walked a few blocks ending up at a place we have been wanting to try, Automatic Slims.  What a great little establishment!  Awesome artwork graced the walls and it had just a funky vibe to it. 

We were seated and greeted promptly by one of the best servers I recall to date, Dennis.  They were offering $2.50 mimosas and bloody Marys so we had to have 1 of each.  The breakfast selections all sounded so good and it was difficult to make a decision but I decided on buttermilk biscuits with Parmesan gravy....yes, PARMESAN GRAVY and some of the BEST cheesy grits I've had since crossing the Mighty Mississippi River.  West had lump crab eggs Benedict with potato hash.  Every bite was scrumptious and we've made plans to visit Automatic Slims soon for dinner!

Now, our final trolley trip of the day (hopefully) dumped us off a half a block from home and I'm sure there is a New Years Day nap somewhere on the horizon.  I am wishing everyone a happy, prosperous, love filled, fun filled 2013 and as always remember....be nice to people, tell the ones you love how much you love them and until next time....

Love, Yours  Truly