you found us
We went to The Arzate’s Annual Halloween Party last night and had a BLAST. The kiddos and adults all dressed up … and we did a terrible job of taking pictures! Everybody will be coming here on Wednesday to trick-or-treat on our street, so hopefully we’ll get more pics on Halloween! Here’s what we did get:
Ruby as Olivia (she’s obsessed with the books!)
Carrie as Rosie the Riveter
And Ed rocking “Gangnam Style” as PSY
An homage to the sweet (and sometimes sad) soft sounds of the 70s. And wagons. We love wagons. Available on Spotify now!
We’ve said time and time again…Ruby STRONGLY favors old music. Early rock n roll, classic country, rockabilly…that’s Ruby’s music. It clearly still holds true today. No Katy Perry for Ruby – and she feels VERY strongly about this!
Our last day in Tennessee was filled to the brim as we left Memphis to head back to Nashville. We logged 28 hrs., 14 mins. in the car and drove 1093 miles total across Tennessee – it was an amazing trip and we were sad to say goodbye to some of the most heartwarming places we’ve visited in America!
The highlights:
#1: Arcade Restaurant (Memphis)
The Arcade is the oldest diner in Memphis and a place that Elvis himself used to dine at quite frequently. It was the ultimate diner, in the “old” downtown, and we loved it! We managed to sneak into The King’s favorite booth too, for a little photo op.
#2: The Lorraine Motel, Room 306 (Memphis)
As we sat around the breakfast table, my mom reminded us that the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination was somewhere nearby, and we should try to see it on our way out. Upon pulling out our phones and checking google maps, we realized it was just around the corner! It was a surreal experience to look at Room 306 with the wreath near the door in memorium of MLK, Jr. and think about that day so long ago.
#3: Ryman Auditorium, aka The O.G. Grand Ole Opry (Nashville)
We made it back to Nashville in time to get one last tour in. We saw a lot of major music stuff at the Ryman – including dressing rooms of Johnny + June, Patsy + Hank and so much more! We were glad we had the chance to see such a legendary performance venue knowing all of the tremendous history behind it!
#4: Robert’s Western World (Nashville)
The nightlife on Broadway in downtown Nashville GOES OFF, and although we aren’t the hugest country music fans, we were told that they do VINTAGE country right down at Robert’s Western World. 
We were lucky enough to have my parents offer to babysit so Ed + I could experience what a real honky tonk bar is like in Nashville on our last night in town. It was awesome! Brazilbilly is an amazing band that does all old school songs – with a latin/country twist, if you can even imagine! They blew our minds – they played everything from “Girl from Ipanema,” to the Batman theme, to old Hank Williams, and they had everybody out there dancing! Young rockabilly chicks were getting spun around on the dance floor by old white dudes with cowboy hats. We had the best time and wish Brazilbilly would come out and play at Alex’s Bar in the LBC … they’d be AMAZING!
And that concludes our tour! We love you, Tennessee!
Graceland was a trip. We both expected to laugh the whole time and marvel over how cheesy (and awesome!) 70s it was, but truly – we were way more moved by the whole visit than we’d ever expected. Yeah, there was a lot of kitsch — but I’m not gonna post a zillion pics of the mansion out of respect for The King. There’s always google, and hey – you should plan a trip yourself to Graceland one of these days, I think you’ll like it!
Just a few fun pics:
As if Graceland wasn’t huge enough, Ed + I fit in a visit to Mecca — er, Sun Studio. To say we were excited about this is a grotesque understatement. They don’t let kids under 5 take the tour so Mom + Dad were awesome to watch Ruby while we got to visit sacred ground.
“X” marks the spot where Elvis stood to record in the studio
The Million Dollar Quartet
While Ed + I both agreed that Memphis itself wasn’t exactly our favorite city in the U.S., we cannot deny the amazing history there and are humbled by its significance with regard to the music we love!
p.s. We had the best BBQ meal ever at Cozy Corner! Ever had a BBQ Cornish Hen? Didn’t think so. If you’re ever anywhere near Memphis, you have to stop in, eat the food, and say hi to Ma Robinson. (She and Ruby became pretty good friends)
