Weekend recap

Not getting out until 4 this afternoon. By coincidence, the Saucer opens at 4. If anyone is looking for a place to get out earlier, the Brass Door is already open and is showing the Arsenal-Man City game. I’m going to get this post up, then do laundry and taxes.

I started Friday evening at the Saucer. We had a friend in from out of town, and it was just like old times, hanging out on the rail, watching the Grizzlies and discussing the BBQ team. About 9 I headed south to The Warehouse. The Warehouse is the green building at Front and G.E. Patterson. It’s the private residence of our friend Kris Kourdouvelis. Occasionally he opens up the back part of the Warehouse, where he has a stage, and invites his friends in to mingle and hear some of the best music in Memphis. Friday was his birthday party. His actual birthday was March 16, but he allowed a few extra weeks to make sure the word got out. There was food from Double J SmokeHouse and Saloon, and music by The Mudflaps, RT Scott, Al Kapone, Mixbreed, and Jason James.

Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl eating at the Warehouse party.

Al Kapone rocked the Warehouse like you wouldn’t believe. Great show.

The Nuh-Uh Girl working on another plate of food.

Thanks Kris for a fun-filled Friday evening, and for all you do for Downtown Memphis and the local music scene. Great party.

Saturday I woke up debating whether or not to go to the Overton Square Crawfish Festival in Midtown. I was about 50/50 on going. I don’t drink and drive, so the trip to Midtown would cost me cab fare out there and back. I posted to Facebook that I was thinking about it, and I might as well have a beer at the Saucer while I decide. My friend Terry responded, “I’ll drive?” and met me at the Saucer not long after I got there.

One of the reasons I wanted to go to the Saucer was that it was the starting point for Urban Dare, a fun race/scavenger hunt in which teams of two run around Downtown in search of clues. I thought there’d be maybe 10-12 teams. Was I ever wrong! I forgot that they sold a Groupon for entry. I was told 120 teams brought the Groupon.

The Saucer about 20 minutes prior to the start of Urban Dare

Here’s a video of the racers stampeding out of the Saucer, after it was announced that the first clue was at the Statue of Elvis on Beale. Special appearance by Jessica and Katie near the end of the video.

In my opinion the smartest Urban Dare participants were these two:

They asked the Saucer girls if there were any locals in the place. Since all the clues were about Downtown locations, it made sense for them to seek expert advice. The girls directed them to Terry and me. The questions were HARD! I didn’t know about half of them.

The race started at noon, and we were still there at 1:25 when the first team reappeared with all the clues solved. More teams poured in over the next half hour. People who did the race told us it was a lot of fun. No doubt they learned a lot about Downtown too.

We told the Saucer girls we were on our way to the crawfish fest. “The Downtown one is next Sunday [April 15],” one of them said to the others. “It’s a lot of fun. You have to be careful what you wear though. The sun is bright and you’ll get bad tan lines. So wear something that won’t give you tan lines, like a tube top.” YES YES YES!!!! Wear a TUBE TOP! What a great idea! Everyone else who plans to attend Rajun Cajun on the 15 (well, females anyway) needs to make a note of this.

About 2 we got in the car and headed to Midtown. The Overton Square crawfish festival was much better than I remembered! I stopped going around 2008 because it wasn’t fun anymore. They tried to pack too many people into too small a space, and it seemed like they ran out of crawfish too early. Not this year. They blocked off Madison and there was a lot more space! More room for vendor booths as well.

Terry and Aubrey

The Nuh-Uh Girl eating crawfish

They still had crawfish when I ordered about 4:00. The crawfish were $15 a box. They were at best average. Not as spicy as last week’s crawfish at Mudbugs in March, and no corn or taters. Plus, I was still hungry after spending $15. I went back and bought a muffaletta for $5 which was really good and a much better value. Next year I’m going to stick to the other menu items at this festival – muffalettas, gumbo, red beans and rice.

After I ate, I walked around and looked at the vendor booths. I bought this shirt from Hoop City Memphis:

That’s right, I traveled to 38104 to buy a 38103 shirt! This immediately became my new favorite shirt. I’m going to have to start doing laundry more often so I can wear this more than once a week.

I didn’t want to impose on Terry for a ride back Downtown, so I walked down Madison and caught the trolley just past Cleveland. I give MATA a lot of grief on this blog, but this time I have to pay a compliment. The trolley driver was super nice to me and to the other passengers. Whether they realize it or not, the trolley drivers are in a sense ambassadors for Memphis, and the driver I had yesterday helped build a fine image for our city. Great job!

Rested at home for a few hours, then back out. The running order was Saucer, Bear, Goose, Saucer, Bardog. I haven’t been spending enough time at Bardog lately. It’s a great bar and the closest one to my front door. When I saw friends check in on Foursquare, I went right over.

One thing I didn’t do last night was find the Flying Saucer’s Easter keg. Every year they hide a keg somewhere Downtown, and post clues as to where it is on their chalkboard. This year there were 7 clues, and they got no farther than clue 2 before I figured out its location. First one to retrieve the keg and return it to the Saucer gets a $100 bar tab. The three previous years, I’ve either found it or helped the person who retrieved it figure out clues. You have to wait until Easter to find the keg, but both the Saucer and the keg’s location were still open at 12:01 AM, so it could be had last night.

So it got to be about 11:40 and I was trying to decide whether to go get the keg. I decided not to for three reasons. 1) If I won it four years in a row, people might think the contest is rigged, which it’s not; 2) the bartender told me there are other people, who the folks at the Saucer really like, who have tried unsuccessfully to find the keg for the past 3 years; and 3) I didn’t feel like walking down there! Since I’m not sure it’s been found yet, I won’t reveal the location. I’m 30 beers away from my sixth plate, so I have a $150 party coming up even without the Easter keg.

Plan for today: Laundry, taxes. The Blind Bear opens at 3, but for me it would be a break with tradition to make any bar other than the Saucer my first stop on a holiday. Happy Easter and RIP Mike Wallace.