i recently returned from a whirlwind two-and-a-half weeks in memphis. the impetus for the trip was to celebrate katie and craig’s wedding, and i wound up squeezing in quick visits to both nashville and little rock as well. it was fun and exhausting and i would love to share some highlights with you today.

katie and craig’s wedding.

katie [or walshie, if you’ve known her long enough] and craig threw an incredible weekend full of events, and i had a great time celebrating the two of them while also catching up with the myriad of people who were in town. because katie and i went to undergrad together and then overlapped for many years in memphis we share a lot of mutual friends, and i have also gotten to know much of her extended family well over the years, and i was so happy to have so many people i love in one place.

between the rehearsal dinner friday night, the wedding and reception and private after-party saturday, and the day-after lunch on sunday i got to spend a little time with a lot of people, including some i hadn’t seen in a decade or more. it was one of those weekends that really filled my bucket, and i will be talking about it for a long time to come.

seeing amos lee at the ryman and then getting to meet him after.

about a month before my trip dillard got an email from the ryman that amos lee was playing two shows during the time i would be in memphis. the ryman has long been on my bucket list of venues so the timing felt too good to pass up, so one thursday we drove over and enjoyed a phenomenal show.

since the venue is so intimate dillard was able to snag a set list as soon as things wrapped, and we decided to hang around outside for a bit to see if we might be able to snag some autographs and/or photos. we made friends with a few ushers and security guards and other attendees, and as luck would have it we were able to get autographs from each of the band members as they left — including an autograph from and a photo with amos lee himself. he was very nice and it was a great way to cap off a fun night.

family trip to hot springs.

growing up we would always spend the second weekend of our spring break at the horse races in hot springs, and a few weeks before my visit my family experienced a strong bout of nostalgia and asked if i would like to go and i immediately said yes. we hadn’t all four been there together since my brother was a senior in high school [28 years ago!], so it was quite a treat to make it happen.

we of course had friday night dinner at la hacienda, we studied the racing forms and tip sheets, we placed our bets and mostly lost [only mama swami came out ahead of course], we simultaneously watched basketball, and we generally had a great time. i realized when we got back that i had driven 700 miles in 4 days and then immediately took a 2.5-hour nap, but it was well worth it.

as always, lots of family and friend time and lots of delicious food.

visits to memphis are always a fine balance of spending time with my family and catching up with friends, with some trips being more successful than others. this trip felt very hectic which i am going to keep in mind for the next one and make sure it is a bit more relaxed.

in terms of food i managed kwik chek [three times lol], india palace, gus’s, petals of a peony, sunrise, good fortune, central, bar-b-q shop, the arcade, earnestine & hazel’s, and folk’s folly. the only real mainstay i missed was maciel’s which i will make sure i get to next time.

and there you have it!

xx