Month: November 2021

Sunday update

Today is the last day of Downtown Dining Week, and some of the restaurants have 3-course Sunday brunch specials for $20.21. For those of you who are fans of the extremely popular chicken & waffles at Blind Bear: You can get them with a soup or salad or biscuits & gravy and apple moonshine bread pudding for $20.21 today 11 AM to 3 PM.

It’s also the last day of Fieldaze, celebrating the many things to do outdoors.

Pleased to see Arkansas and Memphis upset ranked teams yesterday: Memphis topped 23 SMU and Arkansas beat 17 Mississippi State. Arkansas became bowl-eligible with that win. Memphis needs one more.

Congratulations to all the kids who participated in the World Junior Barbecue League Championship at AutoZone Park yesterday.

Here’s a link to James Aycock’s COVID Week-in-Review that he posted yesterday. This tweet is the one in the conversation that stands out the most:

If you’re a Downtowner with kids aged 5-11, you have to drive for miles and miles to get them vacc’d. Actually, that’s not my biggest concern, because most Downtowners are affluent enough to afford transportation. But what about our friends two miles to the north at KIPP Middle School? What about our friends two miles to the southeast at Larose Elementary? Why don’t they have the same access to vaccines as kids who live near Kirby Parkway or Poplar Pike or Germantown Road? To quote James, seriously, WTF?

Memphis 901 FC’s season has ended. They lost to Charlotte in a road playoff game last night. Congratulations to the Memphis squad on their best season yet.

Urevbu Contemporary, the gallery at 410 S. Main, hosts Art, Cocktails & Conversation for the Art Curious this afternoon at 5:00 (which by the way is sunset today). Participants will receive an introduction to the gallery, a tour, and information on how to get into collecting art.

Rumba Room hosts 90s vs. 2000s karaoke tonight 6 to 11.

Grassfire Bluegrass Band plays Loflin Yard at 12.

Louise Page will perform a pop-up concert Friday at lunchtime at Edge Plaza at Monroe and Marshall. If you get hungry, the Stick’em and Smurfey’s Smokehouse food trucks will be there.

Here’s an event with a name that is so Memphis: Brews, Breakfast, & Bullets. You can grab breakfast, get your concealed carry weapon permit, then celebrate with a beer. It happens at Grind City Brewing at 8:30 AM Saturday.

Veterans, you can receive a free Legendary Burger at Hard Rock Cafe all day long Thursday (Veterans’ Day).

Downtown Local has $3 tacos and live music every Tuesday.

College GameDay will be in Oxford on Saturday for the Texas A&M-Ole Miss game.

ABC 24 has a look at the history of Daylight Time, which ended for 2021 this morning at 3 AM/2 AM.

Please support your local Jack Pirtle’s this week. Its Bellevue store was heavily damaged by fire but its kind, wonderful owners made sure that the Bellevue employees were relocated to other stores and no one was put out of work. The closest Pirtle’s to Downtown Memphis is at 890 Thomas.

That’s it for now. Back tomorrow or possibly Tuesday with more news.

Saturday update

Tonight is the latest possible night on the calendar, November 7, that the clocks can fall back an hour. That means:

  • Today’s sunrise, at 7:26 AM, is the absolute latest sunrise Memphis can see
  • Today’s sunset, at 6:00 PM, is the absolute earliest Daylight Time sunset Memphis can see

I don’t normally wish for individual players on other teams to have bad seasons, but it’s of note to Memphians that Portland point guard Damian Lillard is in a slump right now. That could allow Ja Morant to jump into the All-Star conversation even more than he already is.

Those of you who frequent bars and restaurants on the southern end of the Downtown core (approximately Union to Beale): Keep an extra close eye on your belongings when you’re out this weekend. We have a homeless guy who has been coming to the restaurants and looking for anything he can take. He mainly looks for cigarettes, but he has been known to pick up and chug a beer a customer left unattended while using the restroom. I don’t know for sure that he’d take a phone or a laptop, but I wouldn’t advise finding out the hard way.

The thing about this guy is, although he asks for cigs/money/beer, I don’t get a “professional panhandler” or “bad guy” vibe from him. I get an “off his meds and doing the best he can under those circumstances” vibe. I’d like to get him information about the Hospitality HUB, but it’s about a mile walk from where I’ve seen him. I get the feeling he wouldn’t remember what I told him, even if I drew him a map. This is a problem a friend of mine was talking about on Facebook last week – how do we safely reach out to people in need, where they are, and get them connected to resources?

The Grizzlies took a bad road loss to the Washington Wizards last night, 115-87. Next up: At home vs. Minnesota Timberwolves Monday at 7.

Memphis Tigers on national TV alert: Tune into EPSNU at 11 AM for the football Tigers’ home game vs. SMU.

Two of the DMC’s programs won awards from the International Downtown Association this week. The programs were the BuildDowntown Master Plan, and the South City Good Neighbor Grant.

New York Times: Will world-class architecture bring civic pride back to Memphis?

Local 24’s Eryn Rodgers visited Cupcake Cutie as part of Downtown Dining Week.

Ditty TV has a tour of Wiseacre Downtown’s brewing facility.

Today is National Wine Tasting Day, although I have one friend who did plenty of celebrating of that holiday Wednesday and Thursday.

Rumba Room celebrates Dia de los Muertos tonight. Authentic decorations, free salsa lessons, photo opportunities, free makeup artist.

Impala with The Turnstyles plays the Harbor Town Amphitheater at Maria Montessori School 2-5 this afternoon.

Bass Pro at the Pyramid kicks off its annual Santa’s Wonderland this weekend. Today’s 5-7 PM event is strictly outdoor with reservations required. Santa starts appearing in the store tomorrow.

Feelin’ Groovy Fest happens today starting at 1 PM at the Ghost River taproom on Beale Street. Jeffrey & The Pacemakers, The Bugaloos, and Pam & Terry play soft rock classics all day.

Black Cream plays a free concert on Wiseacre Downtown’s outdoor beer garden stage tonight 5-7.

The Memphis Youth Symphony Program’s Fall Orchestra Concert happens today at 1 at the Cannon Center.

Nashville country act Lazy Jane plays a free show at Tin Roof at 3:15 this afternoon. Chase Wright, also from Nashville, plays at 7.

7-day rolling average of new COVID-19 cases in Shelby County has dropped to 79. I wonder if the average will rise a bit next week as we begin to see cases that developed after the mask mandate was lifted.

That’s it for now. Heading out to either Bardog or Blind Bear to watch the Memphis-SMU game. Back tomorrow with more news.

Friday update

Everyone in the Downtown core and South Main areas, please be on the lookout for an English cocker spaniel named Oakley. She was in a car that was stolen earlier this week, and she was dumped out of the car on Pontotoc Avenue Downtown. She’s been seen in the area of the Hyatt Centric and also around the intersection of Tennessee and Huling.

Fieldaze, the festival that introduces you to all there is to do in the great outdoors in Memphis, kicks off today and runs through Sunday. Offerings include half-marathons, 5Ks, bike rides, dance classes, walking tours, kayak races, yoga classes, Zumba classes, a Grizzline performance, scavenger hunts, and much much more.

New business to follow on Facebook: Downtown Hookahs. They sell disposable hookahs that eliminate the need for cleaning and are travel-friendly.

This would never happen at Bardog: A bar in Dallas has banned playing Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” on the jukebox before December 1. After December 1 it is limited to once per day.

Downtown’s federal office building may soon be getting a new name. Rep. Steve Cohen got a bill passed in the House to strip the building of the name of Clifford Davis, who at one point in his life was a klansman.

From the DM: The Brooks Museum, which will move Downtown by 2026, could be the crown jewel of riverfront development

Michael Donahue has a look at the cashew crunch at Dinstuhl’s. Get it at the shop on South Main next door to the Majestic.

Here’s a list of the 5 best fishing spots near Memphis.

Black Violin plays the Orpheum tonight, blending classical music with hip-hop.

Arlo McKinley will have an in-store performance and album signing today at 4 PM at River City Records.

There’s a tree tour of Elmwood Cemetery tomorrow at noon. Learn about the 1400 trees there, many of them older than the cemetery itself. Cost is $20 and comfortable walking shoes are recommended.

Tomorrow is Dollar Dalmatian Day at the Fire Museum on Adams. For only a dollar, you can tour the museum and meet the Memphis Fire and Life Safety Dogs.

If you go to the Memphis-SMU game at the Liberty Bowl tomorrow, stop by the Tennessee Valley Authority’s November 6 tailgate party at Tiger Lane. It’s free and open to the public and there will be food, drinks, and giveaways. November 6 is the only day of the year to have a Memphis street named after it, celebrating the day citizens voted overwhelmingly to receive public power from TVA.

Yesterday was a great day for several reasons. Number one, my friend Jason told me, “I saw something and had to get it for you.” It was a PBR beanie.

Back in 2009, I was given a PBR hoodie. I thought, “I appreciate the gesture, but I’ve never worn a hoodie in my life. I’m not gonna use this thing.” Of course, we all know what happened. I put the hoodie on and immediately loved it, and ever since I’ve worn it half the days between November and March every year. I suspect the beanie is going to be the same way.

The second reason yesterday was a good day was that the beanie brought me good luck… I played Bad Bear Bingo at Blind Bear last night and scored a BINGO in the second round! I got to spin the prize wheel and landed on a gift card for $10 off food. I’ll probably cash that in today toward either the shrimp scampi or the arancini.

Shortly after I bingoed, I overheard a bartender say words that were music to my ears. “We’re not having our Thursday night drag show tonight.” YAAAAAY! I stayed a couple of hours longer than planned after bingo ended. So nice to be able to watch Thursday Night Football without queens wanting to know why I’m looking at the TV and not them.

That’s it for today… hoping for another A-plus kind of day… back tomorrow with more news.

Thursday update

In November, the days get shorter… and so do my daily update posts. There’s just not as much happening as there was in September and October.

The Grizzlies defeated the Denver Nuggets 108-106 last night at FedExForum. They improved to 5-3 and are tied with Dallas and the Lakers for third-fifth place in the Western Conference. Two pieces of good news coming out of the game: Jaren Jackson Jr. looked like his old self, and rookie Ziaire Williams looked like a solid contributor with 3 first-quarter threes. Next for the Grizzlies: A trip to Washington for a 6 PM Friday game.

The Shelby County Health Department will begin administering Pfizer COVID vaccines to 5-to-11-year-olds today at its walk-in clinic at 814 Jefferson. The parents must provide legal documentation of the child’s birth date either in the form of a birth certificate or shot record. Kids will receive a smaller dose than adults. However, like adults, they will need to come back 3 weeks later for a second dose.

Walgreens has announced that appointments for kids’ doses could be rolled out as early as Saturday, November 6. More info

The DMC announced six finalists yesterday to redevelop the 100 N. Main tower. Two of the finalists (Kevin Woods/Billy Orgel and Chance Carlisle) are experienced Downtown Memphis developers. Also, two of the finalists are minority and/or women-owned businesses.

Today is International Stout Day. If you want to celebrate this style of beer, you’ll find multiple options at the Flying Saucer or Aldo’s Pizza Pies. Of course, any of Downtown’s craft breweries would make an excellent option too.

MATA will test a modern streetcar on the Madison line in the next 3-4 months. The Madison line has not had a real trolley since the fires of 2014 shut the trolley system down. The modern streetcars would have heating and air conditioning, unlike the historic trolleys. Whether the existing infrastructure can handle modern electric streetcars will determine the future of the Madison line.

As for the Riverfront line, Paul Young who runs DMC said they are looking at purchasing three historic trolleys to cover it.

Grind City Brewing Co. will host an all-day event called Grind City Groovery Saturday. Participating DJs will include

  • TREE
  • dudecalledrob
  • Scotty B
  • DJ A.D.
  • DJ Juice
  • DEFCON ENGAGED

There will also be food trucks, art vendors and live art. After the sun goes down, there will be fire art performances. $10 admission gets you this fun day of music, art, and beer.

Troubadour Bill Bloomer will play a concert tonight at South Main Sounds, 550 S. Main. Harris and Fitz will open.

DJ Mike performs a 3-hour set at the Moxy tonight 6-9. No cover. The event is presented by Old Dominick Distillery.

Worth a Lyft or an Uber: Memphis Japan Festival is this Sunday at the Botanic Garden.

There’s a Wild Game/Wild Cider Dinner tonight at Cimas in the Hyatt Centric. $110 per person.

Makeda’s Cookies is back Downtown! They’ll have a grand opening at the new warehouse at 301 Jefferson Saturday at 1.

Well, this post wasn’t as short as I first thought it would be. Looks like there’s some good stuff coming up this weekend too. Back tomorrow with more news.

Wednesday update

Leading off today’s post with news of a sophisticated art exhibition coming to Downtown Memphis on Sunday, November 14.

Falling Through Time, an exhibition by Weyes Experience, will happen 6-9 PM Sunday the 14th at Brickwood Hall at 391 S. Front. There will be live art, music, custom curated cocktails, and food. There will also be an after-party 9 PM to midnight. There are 2 ways you can enjoy this show:

The Full Experience ($50)

  • Complimentary glass of champagne
  • Choice of one complimentary craft cocktail
  • Unlimited access to snack bar (assorted fruits and vegetables, assorted meats and cheeses, chicken salad, crackers, and a salad bar)
  • Unlimited access to hot bar (grilled chicken, grilled shrimp, alfredo noodles, sauteed broccoli, garlic bread)
  • Entry into art show
  • Entry into after-party

General admission ($25)

  • Complimentary glass of champagne
  • Unlimited access to snack bar (assorted fruits and vegetables, assorted meats and cheeses, chicken salad, crackers, and a salad bar)
  • Entry into art show
  • Entry into after-party

Formal attire is the dress for this event.

The second annual Grind City Coffee Xpo comes to Wiseacre Downtown 10 AM-3 PM Saturday. It’s a day when all aspects of coffee in Memphis will come together in one place. Attendees will get to sample various brewing and roasting methods. There will be roasters, shops, and educational talks, and they even have a coffee farmer traveling from Colombia to attend the event.

A man died after being hit by a vehicle yesterday at 78 E. E.H. Crump Blvd.

It’s National Sandwich Day. River Time Market & Deli and Backlot are two ways you could have a quality celebration of the holiday while supporting local businesses.

There was a Dia de los Muertos march yesterday in Downtown Memphis to remember those lost to gun violence in the city.

Let’s take a look at this coming college football week’s games of interest to Memphians. All of these games will be played on Saturday.

  • Army vs. Air Force, Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, TX, 10:30 AM, CBS
  • Missouri at 1 Georgia, 11 AM, ESPN
  • Liberty at 16 Ole Miss, 11 AM, SEC Network
  • SMU at Memphis, 11 AM, ESPNU
  • Appalachian State at Arkansas State, 1 PM, ESPN+
  • Tulsa at 6 Cincinnati, 2:30 PM, ESPN2
  • 13 Auburn at 14 Texas A&M, 2:30 PM, CBS
  • 17 Mississippi State at Arkansas, 3 PM, SEC Network
  • LSU at 2 Alabama, 6 PM, ESPN
  • Tennessee at 18 Kentucky, 6 PM, ESPN2

I had my first Downtown Dining Week experience yesterday, at the Blind Bear:

Course 1 – Wedge Salad

Course 2 – Lasagna

Course 3 – Apple Pie Moonshine Bread Pudding

Sold separately, these items would cost you more than $30, so it’s quite a deal at $20.21 this week.

The State of Downtown address happens at 11 today. Watch it here. One highly anticipated piece of news will be the announcement of finalists to redevelop the 100 N. Main office tower.

Oregon in the top four? Really, CFP committee?

That’s it for today. Back tomorrow with more news.

 

Tuesday update

The annual Downtown Memphis holiday tree lighting has been set for Saturday, November 27 from 4:30-5:30 PM. The tree will be at the corner of Main and Peabody Place.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association will host its November membership meeting on the 18th at the Renasant Convention Center. They’ll elect officers for the coming year, hand out awards, and there will be a “State of Downtown” address. There will be live music, food, and drinks. Doors open at 4:45, social hour 5-6 PM, and then the meeting/presentation 6-7 PM. Free for DNA members to attend, $20 for guests.

As your number-one source of news and information about The Edge District, it is my pleasure to inform you that David Quarles will lead a free outdoor Zumba class Saturday, November 13 at 1 PM at the Edge Motor Museum. Register here. The first 30 registrants will receive a free Edge District giveaway at the class.

It’s the beginning of the month, so let’s have a look at non-basketball events coming to FedExForum in November:

The Blind Bear has announced that its Friday night burlesque shows will now start at 9 PM. Previously they started at 8. The Albert King Jr. Band plays 8-midnight on Fridays.

The New Wing Order food truck announced its special for November yesterday: They’re bringing back the Jerk Chicken Nachos. These loaded nachos include house-made queso, crispy chicken, our Mud Island Jerk sauce, black bean and corn salsa, pico de gallo, shredded cheese, pickled jalapenos, cilantro, and Caribbean Heat seasoning. The truck won’t be Downtown this week but you can catch them Saturday at the Memphis Made taproom in Cooper-Young.

From ABC 24: Downtown Dining Week is underway

Caught on camera: Driver slams into 8 parked cars on South Front Street. It happened outside Bar Ware. The female driver admitted she had been drinking. She passed a field sobriety test but refused a Breathalyzer. She was cited and released.

Louise Page will perform her solo piano album “Play Nice” at Mollie Fontaine’s on Saturday, November 13 from 7 to 10.

That’ll do it for this post. Back tomorrow.