Sign I saw on the way to the Farmers Market yesterday. If you go, I highly recommend the Mint Lemonade frozen pop from MemPoPS. They have a truck there every Saturday.
I noticed a new truck at the Farmers Market as well. It serves crepes, both entree crepes like Philly steak or chicken, and dessert crepes. The crepe truck reminded me a lot of the So Fresh juice truck to the point that I wonder if they re-branded the same truck.
I had my 2018 BBQ team T-shirt on, causing a man to ask if I was a member of a Moody Blues cover band. Of course, we’re not, but it’s a pretty good idea for a side gig. Other BBQ teams make money in the off-season by catering private events. We could make money by playing “Nights in White Satin” on stage. I’ll bring this up at the next team meeting.
Earnestine & Hazel’s is opening at 11 on Saturday mornings now. That really screws up my schedule. In past years I liked to hit the Market about 10 in the morning, maybe a little bit early if I wanted breakfast from a food truck. At 10:20 I’d pop in E&H and have a PBR at Clarence’s bar then head north at 10:40 to be at Bardog at 11 when they open. Now I have the triple whammy of E&H, Bardog, and Max’s Sports Bar all opening at the same time. That puts me to a tough decision.
All right… just went on my morning Mountain Dew run to City Market and I have a couple of announcements from there. First of all, for those of you with a sweet tooth, they have that yummy Tuxedo Mousse cake in the grab & go today. This is a chocolate lover’s dream. It’s $7.99 but they give you a piece big enough for two people to share.
Secondly, if you want to attain mindfulness and get in better shape, there are coupons by the register at City Market for two weeks of all-you-can-yoga at Your Inner Yogi. Your Inner Yogi is conveniently located in the Downtown core at 10 N. Second, making it walkable for anyone for which City Market is walkable. YOGA!
So anyway, back to yesterday. I headed north to Bloom’s bar at Bardog. I learned we’re going to have guest bartenders the next two weeks while Bloom spends some time away: Panda next Saturday the 16th, and a very rare Saturday brunch bartending shift by Melissa on the 23rd.
Later in the day, I went to Oshi Asian Kitchen for some sushi by Chef Minh. There I had the pleasure of running into B-RAD and his son. Rahul and Tony were also there. The bartenders were picking B-RAD’s brain on some great summer cocktails to offer. Minh’s sushi was excellent as always. Don’t forget that there’s bingo with Pattie O’ Furniture at Oshi tonight at 6. For those of you on the south end, there’s also Cerrito Bingo 5-7 at Loflin Yard.
From there I headed south to Max’s Sports Bar to watch Arkansas host South Carolina in the first game of the Fayetteville Super Regional. For a while it was back and forth: South Carolina scored, Arkansas scored. Arkansas scored, South Carolina scored. But then in the 7th inning Arkansas unloaded on the Gamecocks and dropped 4 runs, and then added one more in the 8th to put the game away by a score of 9 to 3. The two teams play again today at 2 and the Hogs are headed to Omaha for the College World Series if they win this one.
Okay. I’m going to have to figure out watch plans. The game is on ESPN so theoretically any bar should be able to carry it. However, it’s up against the final round of the FedEx-St. Jude tournament on the Golf Channel. At bars with only a few TVs I’m going to be outvoted on what to watch, and rightfully so. Max’s has enough TVs to show both events but they don’t open until 4:30. Not sure what I’m going to do at this point.
I noticed something very cool this weekend at Max’s. Members of Squeal Street who are regulars there leave their koozies, marked with their name, behind the bar, and the bartender hands them their koozie along with their first beer. I drink PBR out of a glass at Max’s so it wouldn’t make sense to leave a Moody Ques koozie there, but for the places I drink PBR out of a can (Silly Goose and Blind Bear primarily) I might want to think about this.
You know, I’ve been in an introspective mood lately, thinking that sometimes I am too much of a rebel. Friday night I was at Max’s and watched as all my friends went to the back patio. “Why are they going out there?” I thought. “There’s air conditioning in here.” So I stayed at the bar and watched TV… but I watched TV mainly by myself and probably missed out on some good times and great conversations. I need to go with the flow more and not be kept apart from my friends for the craziest of reasons. So this coming Friday I will go out on the patio and be with my friends… that is, unless they stay inside, in which case I will stay inside too.
I ended yesterday evening at Blind Bear, where whatever sporting event was on TV ended and the news came on and I just busted out laughing when a caption included the words “President Trump.” We as a society really did that. The same society that gave us Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln and the Roosevelts gave us the pussy grabbin’ machine.
The Redbirds host Reno at 2:05. Kids under 12 receive a free Prarie Farms ice cream treat and get to run the bases after the game.
The Skitch play Ghost River’s taproom tonight 5-7. These are three brothers who are said to have a rock n’ roll, doo-wop, indie style that keeps everyone dancing. This is part of Ghost River’s weekly Sunday Slowdown songwriter series. The show is free and family-friendly.
As a media source, I get copies of all the permits that are filed for Downtown, and I just saw an interesting one. There’s going to be an event called Tri-State Black Pride in Court Square next Sunday, June 17, from 4 PM to midnight. The purpose is to promote and celebrate the development of people of color in the LGBTQ community and allies within Memphis and the Mid-South region. What’s notable about this event is the expected number of attendees: THREE THOUSAND. That’s going to be a big event!
D-RANKS with B-RAD at Pontotoc Lounge is first on the agenda today. After that I’ll probably hit my other spots farther south. After all, after today I will only have four more weekends to enjoy South Main the way I prefer it! Back tomorrow with more news.