Give me Memphis, Tennessee

We have owed our old Maryland friends, Josh and Melissa, a visit to their new home in Memphis for quite some time. But we weren't sure if, practically speaking, we could manage it this year. Well, after hemming and hawing for a few weeks, Mission Command of our family (Pater & Mater Familius) made the call: we all needed a vacation!

We set out at 6pm on Friday for the 625 mile journey. Logistically, this is the best way to take two little kids on a 9+ hour drive, since they sleep through most of it. And since Jon was willing to break his lenten fast from caffeine in order to keep us alive through the night, we had a fairly successful drive.

Adele tries to prove she can drive the next leg. We were charmed, but unconvinced.

Just over the border in TN. I enjoyed the spelling of this rural store.

For the first time, Jon and I crossed a time zone together! So it was 3:30 am central time when Josh let us in and, unlike our trip to Rochester in December, we were able to get everyone back to sleep for at least a few hours before morning.

Melissa & Josh love their city, so we got in as much sightseeing as was possible given the constraints of time, space, and 4 young children between us. This involved a lot of car tours and a lot of trips to kid-friendly places, but it was pretty awesome to tour Memphis even so.

First stop: public library.

Thomas & Miles pose in front of the Memphis Library.

Miles says "WOW" to the colorful, imaginative childrens' section.

Adele found her favorite view!

Clowns were posed all over the section. I want all their rainbow clothes. And now I sound like a weirdo who steals clothes from clowns...

Love this sign; it reminded me of Sesame Street

Stained glass house IN the library!

Miles & Thomas played in the courtyard outside.

From the library, we moved on to a car-tour and then stopped to take in a view of the Mississippi River! I don't remember seeing it before, or at least, not this close up!

This little guy was pretty excited to be out of the car.

Family shot at the Mississippi

And before going out for a delicious Mexican dinner downtown, we made a trip to Graceland, just to look at the outside.

This is Elvis' plane for his daughter. It says "Lisa Marie" in script on the side.

Graceland.

Sunshine! 70 degrees! In MARCH! It was the absolute perfect time, in my opinion, to visit Memphis.

This is only day one of four so.... if you don't like looking at pictures of my kids in Memphis, better skip the next few updates :-)