I have a lot to talk about so I will get started and see how far I can get. Hubby decided that we were going to go to Memphis for my birthday. He got back from Phoenix on Wednesday, took off on Thursday, Friday and Monday. We got a lot of stuff done for the trip on Thursday and left around noon on Friday. Our friend Rob went with us to get away too. We got to Memphis around 5 that night. We stopped at an outlet mall that had a scrapbook store on our way down there, which was awesome. Once we got to Memphis we ate a restraunt called Houston's. It was INCREDIBLE. I had the BEST pan seared crabcakes I have ever had in my life. Hubby and Rob both had steak. Robs has bleu cheese slices on tomatoes that was delicious ( I had to try it) and hubbies was a hawaiian steak that was melt in your mouth yummy. The kids had chicken strips that they loved too. After that we dropped Rob off at his hotel for the evening and went to ours. Our hotel was booked by the time Rob decided he was going to go so there was not space at ours. Then we got to ours and just relaxed for the evening. Rented the movie Madagascar for the kids, which hubby and I thought was cute too.
Got up early on Saturday morning (which was my birthday!!) ate at the only frekain McDonalds we could find and headed to the zoo. We got to the zoo around 9:30 and headed to the panda bears!!! It is not that big of a zoo but is a pretty zoo. And for the first time in my life I saw panda bears. I was soo excited. The panda has been my favorite animal all my life and I absolutely adore them. So to see them for the first time was incredible. The boy, LeLe was outside in the play area and YaYa was up in a tree inside sleeping. We went around the zoo and managed to make it back to the pandas several time, along with seeing them being fed. LeLe was the only one that got down to eat. YaYa stayed up in her tree. It was really an awesome experience for me, and I have the best husband in the world to take me to see them. After the zoo Rob wanted to rest so we took him back to his hotel for a while then we went to Elmwood Cemetary to look around. It has a Confederate Soldiers area, a lot of ppl that had died from yellow fever, the first black millionaire is also there. It is a very interesting cemetary. There is also a section for Masons that is very interesting. Hubby and I got out by the Confederate area. There is a beautiful memorial there that hubby wanted to look at. Now, this part of the story gets interesting. I was walking around lookin at the graves, I cleaned a few off that had a lot of growth on them. I was reading the large memorial that had a bunch of stuff on it when I felt a drop in temp. I would say it was about 15 degrees. The sun was out, there was no breeze, it was a calm HOT day. As I was standing there it felt like an A/C was hitting me. It was that one spot. I had my hubby come over to me and he felt the same thing I did. It really was very strange. We left shortly after that and I guess all I can say about it was it made me feel calm. Maybe I am being over imaginitive, but in my mind I feel that it was a Confederate soldier there with me. I have always believed in OTHER things, not ghosts in particular, but spirits just other things other than the living. Hubby was disturbed by it, but I was at peace. It was just an awesome experience that I hope to never lose.
Anyways, that was our adventure to the cemetary. It was an experience I wont ever forget. We went to get Rob from his nap and went back to our hotel to get ready for our dinner. We went to a restraunt called The Pier. It is known for its seafood down by the river. It was a beautiful place with a great view of the river. I had lobster, hubby had another steak ( hes not a seafood eater) and Rob had seafood. The kids had a variety of things. Oh and a bottle of Clos Du Bos Merlot. Hubby got me a cybershot digital camera for my birthday. I wanted something smaller than the big one that he uses. Something more simple than our big one and SMALLER. Along with our trip to Memphis it was an almost perfect birthday. After dinner Rob watched the kids for us at our hotel so that hubby and I could go to Beale St and play. We went on a horse drawn carriage ride through downtown Memphis that was so incredibly romantic and sweet. Our driver was extremely knowledgable in the area and told us about the history of the place and interesting tidbits. We then wandered around Beale St for a while. It was awesome to feel the life in the area. Hubby is not a drinker and I did not drink, so it was awesome to just walk around. We went to a few of the gift shops and just enjoyed one another.
On Sunday we went to the Mud Island Museum out on an island on the Mississippi. We had to ride a monorail to get there. It was a really neat place. It was a small scale model of the Mississippi. They started it in Cairo, IL and ended it at the gulf. The kids had a blast playing in the water. Hubby also got rubber duckies for the kids and they raised em down the Mississippi. It was a lot of fun for everyone. There was also a museum that was a lot of fun. It had a small Ironsides from the civil war you could walk through, stuff on Elvis, the Blues and lots of other things that was a lot of fun to see. We also took the kids to Beale St to play around during the day and also took them on a carriage ride. Which they LOVED. We also had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. The kids had a wonderful time playing. We got back to the hotel that night and they passed out. On Monday we went to the Peabody to see the duck walk. The kids thought that was really neat too. And on our way out of town we drove by Elvis' place. I was not willing to pay the outrageous amount they wanted to see his stuff. So we took pics from the outside, signed his wall and went on our way home. We got home Monday evening, grabbed the dogs and that was our weekend :o)
We also got the kids disposable cameras for the trip. They each got 2. One for the zoo and then another at the Mud Island. They could do what they wanted with them. But once they used them up that is all they had. We got the pics developed and they did a lot better than I thought they would. They are going to do albums once I put some stuff together for them. It was a wonderful idea and they had a BLAST with them.
As for Rita the hurricane, I am so glad we do not live in Houston anymore. They evacuated the area that we lived in along with so many others. All of our friends are evacuating, some may end up this way. Which would be awesome. Our prayers and thoughts with all our friends. We love you guys!!!