…Now I’m in Memphis chronicling our last March Madness trip. 

The drive down started slow, but the five hours flew by, especially after I kicked on the Memphis playlist (Stax & Sun compilations). The highlight was the Theme from “Shaft” popping on as I was driving through Covington, TN - the birthplace of Isaac Hayes!

I got into town about an hour before I had to pick up Mark & Ezra, so I went to the JCC to set up guest passes. Mike gave me a tour and charged $20/ea. For guest passes thru Sunday. Very nice. Then I picked up the boys and made it to our airBNB - an OK building/apt, but a good location, so worth it. Ezra went for a run (and saw Roy Williams). Mark and I went for a walk to explore and ended up sitting along the riverside eating Gus’s Famous Fried Chicken. Awesome!

We regrouped for dinner and the first night’s games (Gonzaga beat UWV; Oregon beat Michigan; Kansas beat Purdue, Xavier upset Arizona). Food was good - nothing special, but our waitress was very nice - cute with a strangely calming smile.

We woke up slowly Friday and drove out to the JCC. Messed around on the court for awhile (I felt much better playing indoors than I had outside the past few weeks). There wasn’t anyone else there, so we played some shoot-around games. I was so concerned about my foot and low back that I was extremely frustrated when I came up lame with a pain in my left calf. It took a while to work through it, but it’s getting better. Oh, there was also a teenager there filming himself dunking. We all agreed that if we were his coach we’d be telling him to work on his game, but if we were him we’d be doing the exactly what he was doing!

We stopped at Corky’s BBQ on the way back for lunch. It was pretty good, but not the best of the weekend.

Then we made our way to the Civil Rights Museum. It is built into and around the Lorraine Motel where MLK was assassinated. The hotel front, along with the room and balcony - from that famous photo - are intact. It was so profoundly sad to stand on that spot that I fought back tears the entire time I was there. I see that spot - along with Dallas and Ground Zero in NYC - as being the locations that have changed US domestic history the most (based on a single event) in the past 100 years.

The rest of the museum was very modern and well organized. It takes you through each event and episode that had an impact on the movement - and it reminds you of the struggle and resilience that generation had - bus boycotts, sit-ins, Selma, freedom rides, school integration, March on Washington, and on and on and on! Unfortunately, I didn’t make it across the street to the section that preserved the warehouse where James Earl Ray was perched - so I’ll have to come back.

Then it was time to get tickets and go to the games. Mark and Ezra did their normal schtick and secured us 3 tix that got us in the building. Then we began the ritual of trying to find better seats. We moved around some while UNC blew out Butler, but Ezra was able to secure a good spot and then borrowed a couple of guys ticket stubs to get me and Mark in the section. Great seats for Kentucky-UCLA match-up which UK ended up dominating thanks to 39 points from De’Aron Fox and a seemingly hobbled Lonzo Ball for UCLA. Meanwhile, South Carolina manhandled Baylor and Florida and Wisconsin was tight when we left FedEx Forum, so we headed back to the Local to watch the end. They went into OT and Florida won on a buzzer-beating three, because Wisconsin left too much time on the clock before taking the lead.

Saturday morning we drove over to breakfast at the Arcade Restaurant - oldest in Memphis. Good, but not special. We went to the Blues Hall of Fame, which was limited but interesting. We rented bikes, but immediately brought them back to the apartment, because Ezra and I had scheduled massages. Mine was pretty good, but didn’t really “fix” anything. Ezra’s masseuse was a blind girl who talked his ear off. She told him she wanted to be an astrophysicist, but was discouraged by others because of her blindness.

Meanwhile, Mark took an Uber out to the Stax Museum of Soul Music and then texted that we should join him if we could. Ezra stayed behind, but I drove out into deeply impoverished South Memphis to meet him. It was a great museum - modern and interactive, but well integrated with American history - it’s given me a whole lot to add to my Memphis playlist!

We regrouped for dinner at Central BBQ - THE place to go. We gourged ourselves on ribs, brisket and more while Gonzaga earned their first trip to the Final Four over Xavier. Then we walked over to a nearby sportsbar to watch Oregon upset Kansas. “Isaac’s Mom” chants go silly, because apparently Elissa has Oregon in the Gurka pool.

We followed that up with a stop at Earnestine & Hazel’s - which used to have a brothel upstairs and, for some reason, I had to have a hamburger. We listened to live music for a bit and then headed home. I had eaten and drank too much throughout the day, so I felt pretty lousy. (Have vowed that this weekend will launch a new food/sleep/workout regimen that starts today!)

Sunday morning we jumped on our bikes and rode down to the riverside. We crossed the mighty Mississippi into Arkansas and got a photo to prove it. Ezra’s bike had a flat, so it took a while to get back, but it was a beautiful day. After returning our bikes we made our way to Gus’s (or maybe we had Gus’s first?). Anyway, we ate again while South Carolina took it to Florida.

Then it was off to the FedEx Forum again to check for tickets. We bought some on StubHub and then had to go back past our hotel to get them. Right back down to the forum for UNC/KY.

It was a good game, but neither team played their best. It stayed close and after Malik Monk tied it with a three, Luke Maye was the recipient of a pass from a driving Theo Pinson and he hit the game winner.

We stuck around Beale Street after the game and stumbled upon a few great clubs with awesome music. The first was the Rum Boogie Cage (?) with and African-American male septet - all in white formals and one gray-haired white woman smokin’ it on electric guitar. The place has guitars hanging from the rafters presumably of famous folks who have visited and/or played there.

Connected to that spot was a small bar (Handy Hall Blues?) with a great blues band - a great singer who did everything from “Mustang Sally” to “Purple Rain.” Ez and I bought CDs and took a picture with her.

We hit one more bar for a bit with another good band and Mark needed more BBQ. I think we called it a night after that.

The drive home was not memorable, but painless.