Tuesday, May 24 –

While on our trip to Tennessee, we took a day trip to Memphis to visit the zoo. We were impressed with the size and style of the zoo and the exhibits. It was so special to be with Marian and Alan as they saw many new animals in person for the first time.

I think we all agreed that Alan’s favorite animal was the elephant. Marian says she likes these wolves the most. Atlanta has been reading to her out of the Little House on the Prairie books and she’s keen on wolves right now. (In solidarity with little Laura Ingals and her special fears) After the zoo, we were very hot and tired so we found a place downtown to get something cool and refreshing.

When I say downtown, I mean downtown. It was the famous Beale Street that so many jazz and blues music stars made famous (including Elvis). Live music was already blaring out of several interesting looking establishments, but we stayed away from the clubs and finally found our intended destination, an old department store called, A. Schwabs, that had been operating since 1876. It had an old-fashioned soda fountain, lots of souvenirs and gifts, and other interesting things. They were just moving out a lot of ladders and lights and cameras as we arrived hot and tired. Apparently, they had just shot some kind of movie or TV show there that day. They told us that the store was open EXCEPT for the soda fountain due to the filming. I think they must have noticed all our faces falling in unison, because they quickly changed their minds and opened it all back up for us. Thank you, A. Schwabs!

If you’re wondering if the kids liked their treats, watch this video: