I walked down to the “new, improved” Tom Lee Park yesterday. Going in, I had no idea what my reaction would be.
On one hand, I believe our main river park needs to be an amenity enjoyed by ALL Memphians, 365 days a year. Not just people who can afford an expensive music festival ticket 3 days a year. Not just people who have hundreds of dollars to spend to join a BBQ team for 4 days a year.
On the other hand, as someone who was on such a BBQ team – The Ques Brothers and then The Moody Ques – for 13 years, I realized it was the end of an era. A magical place where I had some of the best experiences of my life would never be the same again.
So, for me to truly approve of the new Tom Lee Park, Memphis River Parks Partnership would have to NAIL the renovations.
My verdict, having spent an hour walking through the park Sunday?
I LOVE IT.
The temperature was about the same as Saturday – upper 80s – but the humidity was back, making it feel close to 100 outside. As I walked down there, I wondered if the heat would be too much and I’d have to turn back without seeing the entire thing.
So I was thrilled when I got past Beale Street Landing and saw a set of misters blowing cool mist out of the ground. I walked through them and instantly felt 10 degrees cooler.
I marveled at the diversity of spaces in the park. There were, as promised, wide-open fields big enough to hold fans of Music Fest acts. There were smaller, secluded, more intimate spaces. There were lush meadows and rolling hills.
I was impressed by the quality of the vendors. Paper Plate Pavilion was serving meals. Vice & Virtue was serving coffee. Ben & Jerry’s was serving ice cream. MemPops had a trailer there.
And yes, there were several stands selling beer and other alcoholic beverages. I think those are important to have, considering Downtown Memphis is the day-drinking capital of the U.S.
There was basketball, pickleball, and some kind of stretchy bendy class (my guess would be yoga, but I’m not entirely sure) under a covered pavilion. There were yard games and hula hooping out in the open. There were hammocks. There were people walking their dogs.
I positively love it.
Now, I do admit, the naysayers have some valid concerns. Memphis has a history of not properly maintaining amenities. I pass along these questions the critics have asked, which I think are valid:
- Let’s say I take a book down to Tom Lee one Sunday in November, after the newness has worn off. What guarantee do I have that I’ll be able to read in peace, without being harassed and hit up for money? Or worse, robbed?
- How do we know those hammocks won’t become a homeless encampment? Will they smell so bad in a month’s time that no one will want to use them?
- For that matter, how do we know people won’t have sex in the hammocks? Happens in bar bathrooms Downtown all the time.
- There’s a guy in my part of Downtown (Main/Madison) who seemingly gets arrested for public indecency every other day. Stuff like masturbating in front of women. How do we know he won’t be allowed to find a new audience at Tom Lee?
But overall, Memphis River Parks Partnership, ya done good. Real good. 4.75 stars out of a possible 5. People were comparing Tom Lee to NYC’s Central Park. Never been there, but it reminds me a little of Balboa Park in San Diego (with different flora, obviously).
LSU’s playoff hopes were possibly ended last night, thanks to a 45-24 trouncing by Florida State. One more game left in college football week 1: Clemson at Duke tonight at 7:00 on ESPN.
I saw several people walk out of a popular Downtown bar after learning they were charging $9 for a mimosa on a Sunday afternoon. Unless you have a fountain with five ducks swimming in it, that’s an outrageously high price point.
I received a tip yesterday from one of my neighbors that Alfred’s has one of the best secret menus in town. Since my company does ticket sales from their patio, I will investigate that lead this week.
Local on Main has revised their menu. They’ve added some new items and have lowered the prices on some of their crowd favorites.
I had to visit A. Schwab on Beale yesterday to prepare for the 1:30 walking tour of Beale I am leading today. In particular, I needed to get familiar with items used in the practice of hoodoo -magical ritual items and stuff.
I wasn’t surprised to find a deck of palmistry cards, cards that explain how to read people’s fortune by looking at the palms of their hands. However, I was surprised to find this:
PAW-mistry cards. They show you how to read your dog’s fortune. The way people love their dogs, I wouldn’t be surprised if the dog cards outsold the human cards several times over.
Downstairs I found this:
Because, you never know when goat noises are going to come in handy.
Jaren Jackson Jr. and Team USA took a 110-104 loss to Jonas Valanciunas and Lithuania in FIBA World Cup action yesterday. But the news isn’t all bad. Team USA advances to the quarterfinals of the knockout stage, playing Italy at 7:40 AM Tuesday (TV: ESPN2). Also, yesterday’s showing qualified the Americans for the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Today is Eat an Extra Dessert Day.
Tuesday is the last day to register to vote in the October 5 mayoral and City Council elections.
For breakfast today: squid chips!
A friend of mine who recently traveled to Thailand brought me two bags of them: BBQ-flavored (pictured here) and original. Smelly but so good!
Almost time to give a tour. Back tomorrow with more news.