Our Caravan to
Vettes On The Rockies (VOTR) 2006
Day 1: Saturday, July 15, 2006
To Memphis, Tennessee
We arose bright and early this AM, made tiny final packing arrangements:
It started like this..
.. and now, ready to go!
Both CEs are ready to roll:
.. so we headed over to the Cracker Barrel on I-20W in Douglasville:
to meet Ron and Robin. Surprise! Friend Winston showed up to join us for breakfast and to take departure pix:
Ron and Robin were already there to meet us. We did the requisite milling about:
BTW, Ron and Robin's 2006 Monterey Red Coupe has the coolest tag:
..standing for "Ron and Robin" or "rest and relaxation", take your pick..
We rearranged things so that the cars were parked safely together:
..and then had a lovely breakfast:
..before hitting the road for Memphis (our first layover). The order of march is: Buzz and Jackie:
| Left Home | 8:06am EDT |
| Left Cracker Barrel | 10:00am EDT |
| Alabama State line | 10:40am EDT |
| Mississippi State Line | 2:30pm CDT |
| Tennessee State Line | 3:50pm CDT |
We had a pretty uneventful 400 mile ride today ending at the Clarion Hotel near the Memphis Airport:
..where we found compatible group parking:
Our cars weren't the only cool ones there:
We met to review today's ride and to plan dinner:
Gael had read about the Rendezvous Charcoal Ribs in downtown Memphis so we called a cab and went to dinner. "Larry" came to get us in his minivan and provided an entertaining ride downtown. He's a Memphis native and made the ride interesting; so much so that we asked him to return to bring us back to the hotel after dinner. He gave us his cellphone number to make that happen.
The Rendezvous is about a half-block away from the Peabody Hotel (more about the Peabody tomorrow) and is a nifty place with really good barbecue - HIGHLY recommended:
We thought about taking in a blues bar or two but we were just too tired. Early to bed; Peabody Hotel ducks and Graceland tomorrow!