I gave in to temptation. I just couldn’t be at Beale Street Wine Race and not have a Call-a-Cab. For those not familiar with this drink, it is a daiquiri sold at Wet Willie’s made with 4 ingredients: Ice, strawberry Kool-Aid, cherry Kool-Aid, and 190-proof PGA. The effects of these things are devastating, the Large size having nearly the alcohol content of nearly a six-pack of beer. This is definitely not a drink to mess around with when you are driving.
Before the Queen of the Vine pageant, I commented, “The Tin Roof’s entrant is going to win. She’s got classy and sexy going on at the same time. That’s what the judges look for.” Sure enough, she won.
Tin Roof also took first in the Grape Stomp, with Zebra Lounge coming in second.
For the wine relay, Huey’s took first, followed by Lafayette’s Music Room, The Blue Monkey, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse. Congratulations to all the winners!
Thanks to the Call-a-Cab, the same thing happened that happens every year… not long after the wine relay started, I was so tired and hungry that I wanted to leave. My troll and I went to George Paul’s Last Call, the back bar of Blues City Cafe on Second Street. We ordered the skillet shrimp and a big bowl of turnip greens.
The shrimp can be made Cajun garlic broiled, BBQ style, or golden fried. I got them Cajun style. Just what I need to get my second wind. Excellent as always. Of course, a 16 ounce PBR rounded out my meal.
Speaking of PBR… I got some BBQ team business done at Wine Race. Saturday when I was down in Southaven, our team treasurer mentioned that she had looked at team koozies but hadn’t ordered them. Yesterday morning I realized, those would be really good to have. I drink PBR in cans or bottles at Blind Bear, Silly Goose, Belle Tavern, Majestic Grille, Pontotoc Lounge, and Earnestine & Hazel’s. Wrapping those cans or bottles in a Moody Ques koozie would be great advertising for the team and would very likely lead to me recruiting members and maybe even sponsors. So I talked to our team vice-president at Wine Race and he said he’d look into it. He found a site that had a 20% discount for the month of April and put in an order. We’re gonna have koozies!
I’d like to give a Corporate Downtown Beautification Award to Old Navy. A friend of mine had yoga pants with pockets on at Wine Race yesterday. “They were only a few dollars at Old Navy,” she told me. “Since they have pockets, I don’t have to carry a purse, and since they’re yoga pants, guys can ogle my ass.” Old Navy needs to be a vendor at the Memphis Farmers Market. I know they’re stuff isn’t locally sourced, but for yoga pants I would think an exception could be made.
The trolleys are back! The Main Street route is operational and accepting passengers as of 11 AM today. Ride them free for the first two weeks.
Carol Coletta, president and CEO of the Memphis Riverfront Parks Partnership (formerly the Riverfront Development Corporation), will be the featured speaker at the May meeting of the South Main Association. The meeting will be at Beale Street Landing Tuesday, May 8. Coletta will talk about the future of your riverfront; her company manages six miles of riverfront including five public parks. 6 PM social, 6:30 presentation. Free for SMA members, $10 non-members.
Important note for those attending Beale Street Music Fest this coming weekend: Do not buy tickets from third parties including scalpers. Oftentimes those tickets will be copies, and once the bar code on the ticket has been scanned that ticket cannot be used again. Buy tickets directly at the gate, or from a person you know and trust.
Time to slog through the rest of a “what was I thinking getting that Call-a-Cab” Monday. Back tomorrow with more news.