Me, Zach & Elvis - Roadtrip to Memphis

Zach and I have returned from our trip to Memphis!  I had a great time (I hope/think Zach did too).  Friday started off slowly and I do mean slowly - we sat on the I-40 parking lot for 3 hours!  It was the longest drive to Memphis I have ever made!  Saturday was a busy day - I visited with my wonderful college friend, Julie and her sons Will & newborn Frank in the morning.  It was so nice to get to catch up with her and the boys are cute as can be.  Will and I watched the fish at McAlisters. Then Zach and I were on to his first ever college visit and we, of course, started with the BEST!  There were a large number of students attending the open day and we took part in a campus tour (where I got to catch up with BSAO staffer Caroline), a discussion with head of the anthropology department and breakout sessions.  I would like to recommend that they offer a breakout session for "cousins of prospective students who are also alumni" but since that wasn't available, I joined a former Rhodes classmate for her talk to some of the parents.  Zach and I had time before dinner to explore Memphis so we went by the zoo, Brooks Museum of Art, Overton Park, and the Mississippi River.  We took time to take a walk down Beale Street where Zach met his first beggar who asked him for money and also his first group of crazy evangelicals who were shouting at everyone that the world was ending in 49 days (I guess we only have 47 now).  But Zach did get to see Elvis!

The Dean of British Studies (and my boss in the summer) hosted a lovely dinner for friends of BSAO.  Zach and I joined a group of senior professors from Rhodes and Birmingham Southern and their spouses.  The guest of honor was actor, director, and friends of British Studies, Nick Hutchison.  Nick's production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night opened Friday night at Rhodes' McCoy Theatre and we all walked down to the theatre for the Saturday evening performance which was excellent. 

We stopped and drove around downtown Nashville on the return trip.  We parked and walked through Vanderbilts' campus.  I wasn't much of a tour guide there so Zach will have to return for the official presentation on Vandy.   We bought US News & World Report Guide to Colleges so we are on our way to planning our next road trip!