The Peach Pilgrimage - Day 3

This post is part of an ongoing tale of my trip back home to Mississippi to visit my family. To start the story at the beginning, begin reading from October 30, 2007.

The last day of a gathering is always the worst. You know it has to end sometime but you dread it.

At the last Peach Pilgrimage we ate our final breakfast at Martha's Menu and this time was no different. I suppose this now means it's a tradition. Service has gotten a bit slow there since my last visit but it's a comfortable place and the food is good. I got my usual - scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, hashbrowns and a biscuit. Robin, after I assured her that the fried bologna was real bologna and not just some flimsy slice of Oscar Mayer got that and the tenderloin biscuit she got was declared to be the tastiest thing she'd eaten all weekend. My breakfast was served last and I was informed that they'd just run out of grits. The outrage! I'm the one in the group that can't get grits on any sort of regular basis and I'm the one who got ripped off. Damn that Martha! Offers to share the others' grits were given but I declined and suffered in silence - for about 3 seconds until the next topic of conversation popped up and I was engaged once again with talking with some of the most amusing, clever, interesting women I've ever known.

Everyone came along when it was time to take me back to Sister's house. Unfortunately Sister and Sam and my BIL were still at church and I couldn't remember the code to use to get in the garage door. I was about to offer the 18 acres on which Sister lives for the relief of coffee stressed bladders when Sam and my BIL drove up and we could get in the house.



A, S and Lisa waiting for someone to come let us in.

Not to generalize but I think most fifteen year old boys wouldn't want anything to do with a bunch of ladies two and three times his age, but Sam's never been like that. He loves people, he really loves me and when my friends come around he likes to hang out with them if he can. We visited with him while everyone got geared up for their long trips home and he loved hearing our stories about the weekend. I feel confident that if I could have gotten him out of school he'd have gladly gone to Memphis with me. Sam simply has good taste in women.

The afternoon was passing by so finally we had to face saying goodbye. Hugs and strict admonitions not to cry were given but I am not always very good at taking direction. I also had to say goodbye to Lottie, my sock monkey, as she was going home with A to visit her horse farm and to take trips with her. Lottie's quite the world traveler and much like Flat Stanley, she can show up just about anywhere to be photographed. S will be taking Lottie as well for a while (I'm demanding that Lottie be photographed at the Rotunda of the University of Virginia) and then she'll be sent back to me safe and sound. I can only wish one of the Peach Pilgrims would deliver her to me in person.



Thank you, Peach Pilgrims. You gave me one of the most wonderful weekend of my life and I cherish each of you. Your friendship and love means the world to me.

Tomorrow: The week winds up but not before I have cornbread salad.

The Peach Pilgrimage - Day 2, Part 2

This post is part of an ongoing tale of my trip back home to Mississippi to visit my family. To start the story at the beginning, begin reading from October 30, 2007.

Lisa was counting on seeing my mom, Miss Virginia, when we were together in Mississippi and I knew Mama was wanting to see her and Michele again and meet Robin, A and S again. So we loaded up in the cars once again and headed over to The Plantation, the care facility where my mother lives.

At the time of the last Peach Pilgrimage Mama lived in an apartment but now she has just one large room that has her bed, her dresser, a few tables and a couple chairs. When we came in I commented that it was a shame she didn't have her couch anymore and Mama replied "Yeah, but if you have a couch then everyone wants to come visit and they want to stay and you can't get rid of them.". Thanks for the welcome, Miss Virginia!

It's that sort of thing I hear and think "It's the Alzheimer's talking.".

Seating was scrounged up but Lisa insisted on sitting on the floor next to Mama. She didn't want to miss a bit of anything and wanted to be as close to Miss Virginia as practical. We told Mama was we'd been up to in the past 24 hours and she was appropriately impressed and happy that we'd been having a good time together. Mama knows that when I'm in Germany it's hard for me to have girlfriend time so she was thrilled that I could be with my friends for a weekend.

The conversation continued and casually I said "Hey Mama, do y'all still play bingo? You haven't mentioned anything about it.".

Mistake.

"Oh I used to play but you know some of these folks cheat. They'll call out five numbers and one of 'em will yell out "BINGO!". You know that can't be. That would mean they got every number drawn! That can't be! So I said to Edgie (who is the lady living in the room across from Mama's and who is actually rather close with Mama) 'Edgie! You're cheating! Let me see your card!' and she said to me "You just mind your own business! I can tend to my own card!'".

"Hmmm...I reckon the number caller doesn't check the cards when someone yells bingo, huh?"

"No...they can't do that. You know some of these folks don't know any better 'cause they've got Alzheimer's."

Right, Mama. Check, please!

The evening shift nurse came by not too long afterwards to hand out evening medications so I figured it was probably time for us to be heading on. As we were saying our goodbyes somehow Britney Spears got mentioned and Mama immediately piped up "Oh don't mention that hussy to me! I don't have any use for any woman who doesn't wear panties!".

I suppose in Miss Virginia's world if you go commando while cheating at Bingo you'll be given the rickety metal chair by the kitchen to sit in as you roast in Hell.

And as expected, the ladies loved Miss Virginia. You gotta admit, she's quotable.

Since we weren't 100% sure we had enough junk to sustain us all evening, a trip to Walmart was in order. We bought lipstick. We bought crackers. We bought cheese. We bought spray on cheese. We bought a peach scented candle. T-shirts and ball caps supporting local high school teams were bought. And since I love those crazy pink SnoBalls snack cakes, Lisa bought a box of twelve.

"Lisa! That's too many! Twelve is too many!"

"But you love them. Trust me, twelve won't be too many."

I shouldn't have doubted Lisa. If there's one thing she knows, it's what sort of stuff you really need for a girls weekend and the SnoBalls weren't in any danger of going to waste.

We left Walmart in search of some food that wasn't pork oriented and included some vegetables and as we sat in the restaurant watching UVa play Maryland on TV, getting updates from the LSU game from Michele's brother-in-law via text message I talked to Darling Mollie on the phone and got from her the story of how she met Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe and how he smiled at her. Mollie's had a crush on Nikki Sixx for about twenty years so this story was a treat for me to hear.

We returned to the hotel and got settled in for the evening but not before Michele had to press the alarm bell in the elevator. A lot. I finally had to slap her hand and call her a shit ass for doing it and we all just howled with laughter. I told you - Michele is the best sport in the world.

Snacks were dug out of bags, cheese was sprayed on crackers, SnoBalls were cherished (and by Robin, picked on for being fake, no-name SnoBalls) and I was given by Lisa a pedicure of epic proportions. Feet soaked in fragrant, warm water, washed, massaged, toenails trimmed and filed and when it came time to slough off the rough skin, Lisa became disappointed.

"You don't have any callouses."

"Well...I wear shoes all the time. I don't go barefoot anymore. It creeps me out to walk barefoot on dirty floors and with the dog my floors are bound to be dirty."

"I wear shoes all the time too but I have callouses. You don't."

"You sound disappointed."

"I am."

She still gave me a polish job that was (and still is...three weeks later and this polish isn't even chipped or rubbed off!) perfect. And it's peach colored.

I can't even describe how lovely that evening was. Being with good friends, eating complete crap and not caring it was complete crap, having my feet massaged and pampered, talking and laughing and feeling completely at ease. I hope y'all have times like these. An evening like this makes up for a lot of hard days when everything goes wrong. It's like having new life breathed into you.

Tomorrow: The Pilgrimage ends but not before fried bologna is served, I'm cheated out of grits and Sam meets (and charms) the Pilgrims.

The Peach Pilgrimage - Day 2, Part 1

This post is part of an ongoing tale of my trip back home to Mississippi to visit my family. To start the story at the beginning, begin reading from October 30, 2007.

If there's anything better than lounging in a beautiful hotel suite for an evening it's lounging in a beautiful hotel suite for a morning. A had arranged for our checkout time to be 1:00pm so us girls could take our time getting up and getting ourselves beautiful.

Ever had the experience of wishing for something then suddenly having it come true? Robin can say that she has. As she was waking up in her fluffy, comfortable bed she wished that she had some coffee and as if on cue the newly-repaired door knocker sounded and in came a wonderful gentleman from room service bringing us not only three carafes of coffee but two different juices, ice water, sliced cantaloupe and honeydew melon, strawberries and a large array of delicious pastries. A had called down to have some coffee brought up and they brought breakfast. When Robin wishes for something, she does it right!



Michele and I say, "Why rush through your morning when you can have a lovely continental breakfast in your suite and peruse a few knitting magazines?" Photo by Robin.

All good things come to an end and our stay at the Peabody was no different. It was time for us to leave the hospitality and service that was threatening to spoil us rotten for life and head on to more adventures. Hmmm...what to do next? I know! Let's go eat some more pork!

Corky's is another famous rib place in Memphis but it's different than the Rendezvous and as far as we were concerned that's enough reason to go eat barbecue again. Plus Lottie didn't get any ribs the night before and she was anxious to try a little pig.



Lisa and Lottie. They're fast friends and Lottie's a big fan of beer and the onion loaf appetizer they serve at Corky's. A little barbecue sauce on it is divine. Photo by Robin.



This is what happens when you eat delicious barbecue. You get like me, Robin and Michele with a big, happy grin on your face. It's no wonder Robin calls it "Piggy Prozac".



Lisa and I outside of Corky's. We have a tradition that after eating at Corky's we sit outside the restaurant for a while and just let the barbecue vibe do it's thing. Photo by Robin.

After stuffing ourselves full and getting more than a few looks from the other patrons (Honestly, you'd think they'd never seen a sock monkey eating pulled pork before!) we set off for some yarn shopping and Michele's next opportunity to scare the hell out of me.

It was inevitable. Six women in three different vehicles were going to get separated at some point and when Lisa called Michele to find out where we were, Michele first had to grope in the back seat to find her cell phone. Oh, did I mention we were hurtling down I-240 at the time? Michele found the phone, we got our directions straight (with more gesturing from Michele) and when Michele hung up I glared at her and said "Give me that fucking phone! Don't put it in the back seat again! And keep your hands on the wheel!".

That's what I really love about Michele. It's the sort of situation we get ourselves into and we laugh ourselves sick over it. She's such a good sport about everything. I swear, you couldn't ruffle her feathers if you dangled her over a flaming pit of lava.

Now while Robin, Michele and I are avid knitters, Lisa and A and S are not. Well, S is - she's still a bit of a beginner still but she does lovely work - but she wasn't interested in prowling around a yarn store with us and chose to go with Lisa and A into the other shops in the vicinity. So while Robin, Michele and I were finding luscious new yarns, what were the other three doing? Well one was doing something and the other two were egging her on.

Here's S while we were at Corky's:



and here's how S looked two hours later (photo by Robin):



Those three just found a hair salon that was still open, walked in, and S got six inches cut off her hair. Doesn't she look so pretty? I don't know if I would have the nerve to walk into a strange salon and have six inches cut off my hair but S does love an adventure and it paid off. Her hair looked great.

By now it was late afternoon and we decided to head back to my hometown in Mississippi where we'd stay overnight. We checked into our rooms - yet another suite and two other adjoining rooms - and then it was time to go visit my mother at The Plantation. Lisa adores my mother and she was so counting on getting to visit with her again and the rest were dying to meet her. Well, Michele had met her during the last Pilgrimage so she was in for a repeat performance. For my part I was hoping Mama wouldn't tell any truly embarrassing stories.

Tomorrow: We'll finally get to those pink SnoBalls as well as bingo cheaters, Britney Spears, and a fabulous pedicure.

Friday Shuffle - Peach Pilgrimage, Day 1, Part 2 Edition

This post is part of an ongoing tale of my trip back home to Mississippi to visit my family. To start the story at the beginning, begin reading from October 30, 2007.

After our date with a bucket at Silky O'Sullivan's, Robin, Lisa, Michele and I made it back to The Peabody to wait for A and S to arrive. After getting our luggage situated until we could check in we found a table and got another round of drinks, albeit alcohol free ones. All of us except for Lisa. She was still on Diver Duty.

Twenty or thirty minutes later - it was hard to keep track of time at this point - A and S breezed into the hotel lobby and found us. More squeals, more hugging, more laughing. A was the one taking care of our accommodations so she did her thing at the registration desk. I was still somewhat in the dark regarding where and how we'd be staying. I figured we were getting a couple rooms to share. Boy, was I wrong.

Our bellman gathered together our luggage and as we were getting the girls together to go up to our room or rooms or whatever it was going to be, Robin told the bellman that we were not only together to celebrate my trip to America but that it we were also celebrating Robin's birthday. The bellman, being as he was a wise man and practiced in the art of schmoozing, claimed that she must be turning sixteen years old. Evidently this bellman was a master of the schmooze because Robin and I nearly fell in love with him at that point.

We rode up together, the six of us, the bellman, the luggage cart and our stash of beer and trashy snacks and when we arrived at the door the bellman unlocked it for us and that's when I found that we weren't in a regular room - we were staying in one of the celebrity suites plus two rooms that adjoined the suite. Plenty of room for us, our luggage, our Cheetos and the bucket!

Of course since it was us we had to have something ridiculous happen immediately. I'm not pointing any fingers and I don't have any proof but Michele someone broke the knocker on the suite's door. The bellman was properly horrified - not that we broke the knocker but that the knocker broke at all. Before he could get our luggage put away he was on the phone to maintenance to have someone come put this knocker back and now.

Like I said, I'm not pointing fingers, but I find it funny that Michele is proudly displaying her knockers...err...knocker...while Lisa show us that if you're in the Celebrity Suite they'll let you bring in as much trashy junk as you want. Photo by Robin:



While the bellman, who by then had told us his name was Marvin so we could ask for him any time we wanted something, finished getting us settled in we discussed what we'd do for supper. It seemed a shame to leave that gorgeous suite that we'd just entered to go out to eat and someone said half jokingly "I wonder if the Rendezvous (which is located across from the Peabody) delivers?". Marvin was taking his leave of us about then and we piped up and said "Marvin, does by chance the Rendezvous deliver to the Peabody?" and he replied "They do if I go pick it up for you.".

And that's when we declared Marvin to be the greatest bellman in the history of bellmen.

Marvin went to fetch us a menu and a few minutes later we were surprised to find room service at the door with two bottles of champagne accompanied by strawberries and cream. Oh it seems that someone out there knew just how to thrill us. Want to see six happy women who were well on their way to being spoiled rotten? Photo by Marvin, the greatest bellman in the world:



From left to right: Michele, Robin, me, A and S and Lisa is in front.

Before we could get into the second bottle of champagne Marvin was back with our six large orders of ribs and we proceeded to get the dining room of our suite smelling like a back yard grill party. And I don't know if champagne makes one extra hungry but I don't think there was one leftover rib. There certainly wasn't any leftover champagne and as we talked and laughed and ate the miniature cheesecakes that Robin and Lisa brought with them another two bottles of champagne arrived. It's amazing how that can happen in such a magical place.

I was overwhelmed. It was hard for me to take it all in. I would walk around the suite and the adjoining rooms and marvel at how lovely they were. I was so touched and thrilled that these five women put their jobs and families and lives on hold to come to Memphis just to see me. And I couldn't believe how A, who is such an accomplished and talented woman, could arrange for us to be spoiled in that hotel. In a world where people put strings on everything, here was a friend who made that magic night happen just because she knew I loved that hotel and she wanted to give us all a treat and the only thing she wanted from it all was the joy she'd receive by watching us enjoy it. And so we enjoyed it to the hilt.

After eating ribs out of styrofoam boxes in a fancy hotel suite's dining room we grabbed our champagne and went into the living room to relax and do what we do best - talk openly and honestly and from the heart. And laugh. That's what we really do best. Laugh.



Lisa and A in one of the truly few quiet moments of that weekend.



This was more typical of us that weekend - Lisa, A and my sock monkey, Lottie. You didn't think Lottie would miss the Peach Pilgrimage, did you?



Robin desperately trying to get online just in case we could find online someone we know so we could tell them where we were and rub it in.

As the evening grew longer and the Pilgrims grew more tired we eventually drifted one by one off to bed. Robin, A, S and Michele each got a queen sized bed while Lisa and I shared the king sized one. The one with so many pillows on it I would have had to cross them in an SUV if I wanted to find Lisa on the other side. And I slept like the dead 'cause that's what a Diver, a lot of grilled pork and champagne will do for you.

It's Friday and that means a shuffle. Bixente the iPod, do your thang.

1. This Year's Love - David Gray
2. Misirlou - Dick Dale & His Del-Tones
3. Sweet Baby James - James Taylor
   
4. Radio Nowhere - Bruce Springsteen
5. Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine - The Killers
   
6. Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) - Robert Plant/Alison Krauss
7. One - U2
8. Roll With It - Oasis
9. Twist Of Cain - Danzig
10. Fool In The Rain - Led Zeppelin

Tomorrow - Day 2 of the Peach Pilgrimage: The power of telepathy, more pig, yarn and hairstyling, pink SnoBalls and Michele breaks bad. Again.

The Peach Pilgrimage - Day 1, Part 1

This post is part of an ongoing tale of my trip back home to Mississippi to visit my family. To start the story at the beginning, begin reading from October 30, 2007.

Today we take a break from Mississippi and travel west to Memphis. And for those of you keeping count, this is Day 10 of my trip to the US.

Three years ago when I was last home for a family visit, friends of mine from all over the country came to see me in Mississippi and it was dubbed by my friend, Lisa, to be the Peach Pilgrimage. When I said I was coming back to Mississippi this year it was clear that we'd have to have a second incarnation of the Peach Pilgrimage.

The players this time around were slightly different. Some of those who came the last time weren't able to make it this year but Michele and Lisa had attended the original Peach Pilgrimage and were back again. And this time Robin, who had been saying for years that she would be damned before she missed this Pilgrimage, was in attendance as well as two more new Pilgrimage attendees. They don't blog so for the sake of anonymity we'll refer to them as A and S.

Now that we have the players clear, let's get on with our tale.

Michele was driving up from Baton Rouge and so she swung through Mississippi to pick me up before heading on to Memphis. Robin and Lisa live in the same area near St. Louis so they drove down together. And A and S were flying in from Carolina but wouldn't be there until early evening. Our destination? The Peabody in Memphis. I adore the Peabody and would live there were it possible and A knew this. And so what did A do? Through some connections she has she arranged for us to have accommodations there for Friday night.

Before heading west on Highway 72 Michele stopped for some lunch in town, gassed up her car, made a call to Lisa and Robin to find out where they were and then we were off. It was a good day for a 90 minute drive - sunny and clear and warm and there wasn't much traffic. Michele and I talked and laughed and in general had a great time. We reached Memphis about the time Friday rush hour was getting cranked up so the cars on I-240 were building up quickly. And that was the time that Michele's brother decided to call her, repeatedly I might add, to get directions around Baton Rouge. Michele was holding her cell phone in her left hand and while giving him directions she would gesture with her right. Seeing a problem here? It's Friday rush hour, we're on an interstate highway in a city were good driving seems to be optional and she's steering the car by telepathy evidently because she sure as hell didn't have a hand on the wheel. I said nothing but inside I was screaming with terror.

I should stop and explain something. Michele is a Cajun. Born on the bayou and all that. Talking with her hands is genetic. If she tried to speak without gesturing her tongue would probably unsnap from its roller and fall to the floor.

We reached the Peabody, both the car and our bodies unscathed, parked it and went do the lobby in search of Lisa and Robin who had arrived shortly before us. And it wasn't too hard to find them. Hugging, squealing, giggling and shrieking ensued and then we settled in at our table to enjoy the first drink of the Peach Pilgrimage - appropriately a peach martini.



That's me on the left, Michele in the middle and Lisa on the right. Photo by Robin, who within five minutes was wearing the remainder of Lisa's martini.

Since A and S wouldn't be arriving for another couple hours we decided we'd walk over a couple blocks and see what was happening on Beale Street. We went into Tater Red's, walked past a couple more bars and then settled on Silky O'Sullivan's. Lisa wanted a bucket of beer but they didn't sell beer by the bucket. Instead we ended up with a Diver.



A Diver is a specialty of Silky O'Sullivan's that, according to our waitress, contains beer, white wine, red wine, rum and grenadine. There may be more in it but they like to keep such things a secret. Officially all they'll say is that it's a full gallon of booze. Think of it as Hawaiian Punch that actually will punch you. It's tasty and a bit fizzy and you drink it from straws that are nearly as long as your arm. And you look like this doing it:



We had a table outside on the street so every tourist who was even remotely intrigued by four women drinking out of a yellow bucket with long straws would stop and ask just what in the world were we drinking and we'd reply it was a gallon bucket of hooch. I was slightly surprised at the amount of people who acted as though we were drinking a bucket of rat poison. Lightweights.

But being that Lisa and Robin and Michele and I are wise, experienced hooch guzzlers we knew we'd better eat something to suck up all the alcohol we were downing before our livers and stomachs staged a revolt. And the perfect remedy for that is a sausage and cheese platter - a Memphis specialty - and seasoned fries. You'd be surprised at how fast you can sober up if you eat some smoked sausage, cheese, hot peppers, crackers and french fries. At least enough to stagger back to your hotel without tripping or needing to be carted back by one of the horse drawn carriages that lines the streets in that area.

Lisa was determined to bring the now 2/3 empty bucket o' hooch back to the Peabody. A and S would be arriving shortly and they needed to see what they'd missed while on their flight. We went to our respective cars to unload our luggage and when we arrived to the front of the hotel the lovely bellmen were happy to put our luggage on a cart to await our check in. And it wasn't just suitcases but grocery bags of Cheetos and beer and cheesecake and goodness only knows what else. Oh yes. We are a classy bunch. But the Diver? It stayed with Lisa.



Now don't get me wrong. I don't want to make it seem as though Lisa is a lush because she certainly isn't but she did love that bucket and we had great fun making her pose with it. Eventually that bucket did get emptied. And the waitress said she didn't think we could do it. She just doesn't know the power of the Peach Pilgrimage.

Tomorrow, Part 2: A and S arrive, we find the greatest bellman in the world and we have a pig delivered.