Oxford, Mississippi + Memphis, Tennessee
Did you guys see the latest video in our #10KForReels series? We did a weird food challenge, and the resulting video is hysterical to say the least. We asked you guys what weird food combos you eat, told you that if you told us about them and we would try them in a live video. We did not expect so many people to respond, or any people really. We thought we'd get away with not having to do it. But we did, and some of your suggestions were not bad! But some were really really, not good. Check out our reactions in our Weird Food Challenge video! In other news we are excited about getting better at social media, I mean we finally learned how to use polls on our instagram stories! We are going to be experts at social media by the time its obsolete, for sure! Lulu recently when to Hong Kong for work, and went to a bar and had a cocktail that she "did" in her recent 10K Day. Her story about finding this very secret bar is unmissable. Alison did not have such an exciting past few weeks, as she was not sipping cocktails in a foreign city, she was laid up with laryngitis and bronchitis. But guys, vocal rest meant no fights with her husband. So relationship advice is to lose your voice every once in awhile. Just kidding.
Kind-of.
Alison's facial steam inhaler has been a life saver with her vocal chord/breathing problems. Her obsession comes from the fact that daily steaming has actually made her make healthier choices, and she's feeling great! Lulu wished for this high-end MyPurMist steam inhaler in a previous episode, so she completely supports Alison's obsession and resulting forthcoming healthy habits. But stepping away from healthy habits, Lulu is obsessed with a snack she discovered while in Hong Kong. Golden Duck's Singapore salted egg crab seaweed tempura is giving her life! And she would like a pat on the back please, because she brought some home for family and friends and hasn't eaten it.
Alison's wishlist is very much not real. Yet. And a little gross. But she wishes for a portable bathroom for your car. She's been making healthier choices, one of which is drinking more water, and that comes with needing the bathroom more. So, yeah. Literally Alison wants "a way to relieve myself without having to stop my car." Eeeewwwww. I mean there are adult diapers, should we suggest Amazon Prime delivery for quick relief? Lulu is wishing for a new microphone. She's tried a variety of ones, and while she loves the reliability and transportability of the blue snowball mic she currently uses, it is heavy and she wants less weight to tote around.
Besides Ole Miss, what's in Oxford Mississippi, Lulu asks. Well there is this classic three story home on Airbnb located in the heart of downtown, "just a stroll to everywhere you want to be". With rows of French doors across three master porches, pine wood floors and 15 foot ceilings, you will find the home open and welcoming. With four bedrooms, Alison has room to spread out. She went to look for food, and found Queenissippi Catering, a southern food spot that sees food as storytelling and meals as time to be together. Alison loved that so much that she decides to hire them to cook for her all day at her Airbnb.
After a breakfast, she leaves the caterer at home to continue prepping food for the rest of the day and she heads over to The Oxford Skate Park. The popular park has a pavillion, a playground, a 4,000 square foot 7-9ft bowl and a 6,000 sq ft. street course. Alison and Lulu really aren't sure what a bowl is, it is the same as a half-pipe? A bowl is a bowl, and a half-pipe is a half-pipe. There ya go. We expect Alison will go pro any day now. Especially because she's buying the right gear. Right? Oh no, wait for this. She is going to buy a longboard…but an electric one. She gets the Vokul V2 Electric Skateboard which can go up to 14 mph and has a remote control. Alison says she could only find a 12 pack of skateboarding helmets. I mean, here's a 1-pack by OutdoorMaster...but she bought a 12-pack of this Triple 8 Skater Helmet. She's going to give away the extra 11 helmets to kids at the park who aren't wearing any. Safety first, kids! After her morning of skateboarding, she heads back to her airbnb where her caterer Queenissippi has her lunch prepared. Then she heads to the Suthern Oasis Spa for their SOS Take Me Away package, which includes a 60 minute massage, a 30 minute facial, a pedicure, manicure, and 15 minutes of "zen time". Curious what a Mississippi spa considers “zen time”. Whatever it is, surely after a morning at a skate park full of kids Alison could use it. Now for a 10K first, Alison heads back to her accommodation for a nap.
Trying to find places to spend money, she discovers the only thing really in Oxford where there is money is Ole Miss. She finds their student-run theater organization, Ghostlight Repertory Theater. Right now they are in rehearsals of Heathers, so she decides to invite the entire cast and crew over for a dinner party. But because she's been working Queenissippi so hard (that's not a persons name, it’s the company’s name, but wouldn't that be cool!) she's going to invite her to join the party. Her relief for the evening comes from hiring the most expensive restaurant in Oxford, McEwen's, to cater, and bring wine of course. Lulu wants to tell all college students to be weary of any woman that walks up to you and says, "come to my house, I have lots of wine." Admittedly, that does sound super sketchy, so Alison decides she'll give a masterclass or something before inviting them over. So now they know her, it's not a stranger danger situation. Which is good because after the dinner party she is inviting them onto a party bus.
On said party bus, Alison takes these 30 college students to The Library, no no, not to study, its the biggest and most popular bar in Oxford. Technically 3 bars, the main library (18+ club and live music menu) is flanked by the Library sports bar and the Library patio—both 21+ joints. She buys those of the legal drinking age their first round. While they are out she has Simply Clean Oxford clean the Airbnb after the dinner party. The party bus takes them all back, and Alison sends those sober enough home, and lets any that need to, crash in her extra bedrooms. Not as sketch of an evening as it could have been, but still. Alison clearly recaptured some youth what with the day at the skate park and the night on a party bus with college students. Hey, we get to do whatever we want with this 10K. And maybe the fountain of youth isn't a fountain, but an experience. Reaching, I know.
Lulu stays in the Presidential Suite at the Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They welcomed their first guest in 1869, and are celebrating their 150th anniversary this year. To celebrate they recently renovated every room and suite with modern updates and amenities while retaining elegance and southern charm. All of that sounds just lovely, and while that and the daily duck parade definitely make this spot worth the visit, Lulu’s favorite fact is that this is where Elvis had his senior prom. To get around for the day, Lulu decides to rent a 1967 Cadillac Deville from Morrie's Heritage. Do you know Marc Cohn's Walking In Memphis? You probably at least know the chorus - "Then I'm walking in Memphis, Walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale, Walking in Memphis, But do I really feel the way I feel?" Not many people know the lyrics to the verses, but we will put them here, because you can just read them and already know everything Lulu does in her day. Because she decides to live that song. Literally and figuratively. This is going to be good.
“Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the plane
Touched down in the land of the Delta Blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
W.C. Handy, won’t you look down over me
Yeah, I got a first class ticket
But I’m as blue as a boy can be”
Lulu puts her best foot forward and purchases these Valentino Rockstud Suede Sandals, in blue suede of course. She buys a year's worth of Sky Lounge access from Delta airlines. Then she purchases a little souvenir for herself - a framed photo, plaque and inscribed sheet music of W.C. Handy's Saint Louis Blues, which she hangs up in her hotel room, you know, to look down over her?
“Saw the ghost of Elvis
On Union Avenue
Followed him up to the gates of Graceland
Then I watched him walk right through
Now security they did not see him
They just hovered ‘round his tomb
But there’s a pretty little thing
Waiting for the King
Down in the Jungle Room”
Lulu hires Elvis impersonator Brian Lee Howell to do a 15 minute singing telegram. He knows almost 600 Elvis songs from memory, and has a 5 octave vocal range (just like Elvis). Lulu's hotel is on Union Avenue, so she has him sing for her there. Then she heads to Graceland, and takes the Ultimate VIP tour, which is $174 with a maximum of 12 people. Now usually on 10K Dollar Day we buy out tours, but Lulu decides she'd be fine with some company on this one. This tour includes a mansion tour, access to Elvis' custom jets, automobile museum, discovery exhibit, and an exclusive VIP exhibit including a meal voucher for the on-site Vernon's Smokehouse.
She's going to be the pretty little thing down in the Jungle Room, as she describes The King's tropical man cave, with its American mid-century kitsch aesthetic. There's a built-in rock waterfall, green shag carpet, ferns and a tiki bar. This Rolling Stone article on the Jungle Room describes the changes to it during the span of Elvis' life.
“They’ve got catfish on the table
They’ve got gospel in the air
And Reverend Green be glad to see you
When you haven’t got a prayer
But, boy, you’ve got a prayer in Memphis”
Lulu grabs fried dill pickles and a catfish fillet basket at the Catfish Cabin, then she goes in search of the church that Reverend Al Green is pastor of, but there wasn't a way to donate online. So, since she's Catholic, she found St. Peter Catholic Church. She decides to make a donation in the name of each of our Patreon sponsors, you know, so that they have a prayer in Memphis?
“Now Muriel plays piano
Every Friday at the Hollywood
And they brought me down to see her
And they asked me if I would
Do a little number
And I sang with all my might
She said
’Tell me are you a Christian child?’
And I said ‘Ma’am, I am tonight’”
A little history Lulu discovered - In 1986, Marc Cohn visited the Hollywood Cafe and saw Muriel Wilkins play. He was then invited to sing Amazing Grace with her, and that "baptism" into the world of blues and gospel music inspired him to write Walking in Memphis. So Lulu heads to The Hollywood Cafe to nosh on some fried jalapeños and a slab of ribs. Here's hoping someone asks her to sing. Now Lulu has to do one more thing, inspired by the chorus.
“When I was walking in Memphis
I was walking with my feet ten feet off of Beale
Walking in Memphis
But do I really feel the way I feel?”
Alison thought the chorus was "walking with my feet ten feet off a pier", like a suicidal stroll. Yeeesh. Lulu's interpretation leads her to google "handyman+Memphis", which leads to Pepe’s Handyman. She hires him to build her a twenty foot deck. On Beale Street. Ten feet in the air. Lulu's friend shares his opinion that the line means he was walking ten feet off, as in ten feet away from, Beale Street. Lulu's interpretation is the most exciting and entertaining, so let's go with that one. Maybe ten feet off of Beale is ten feet up, like walking high, from a mood, or a feeling...kind of like being ten feet off of Beale is the blues-equivalent of being on cloud nine?
Well, I doubt anyone has ever lived a song so well. So after that great accomplishment, she heads back to her hotel to eat dinner at Chez Philippe for a seven course dinner with wine. She particularly likes that their course titles you choose from are "garden", "ocean", "land", and "confection". And that wraps up her day, which may just be our most creative 10K Day yet!
CHECK OUT THE CHARITIES WE FOUND IN THE CITIES WE VISITED:
HEY, FRIEND! IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, FOLLOW US!:
Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. For a full understanding of how we use affiliate links on our site, please visit our Policy Disclosures page. Thank you!