  So, we're finally back! Yes, tj and I set out to conquer the South and it was putty in our palms. It was great - in what other part of our fine country can you find things like urlLink roosters made out of car parts? I dare you to find one. Within the confines of a week, we traversed Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Southern Illinois, Missouri, and Georgia, and ate more biscuits, potatoes and homemade pie than we could stand! We started with a jog up to Orlando to see a good friend of mine, then onto urlLink Memphis , TN to visit my urlLink grandma ,who I haven't gotten to see in a few years, and worship to Elvis statues. I took TJ downtown, as he had never been there, and we started at the original and stately Peabody hotel downtown (you know the one where the ducks swim in the urlLink fountain .
We had urlLink lunch there and walked down to urlLink Bealle St., where jazz and blues greats alike got their starts. Several of them (like BB King) own clubs and bars there now and it's still the swingingest place to be in Memphis. After the stay in Memphis, we headed accross the great urlLink Mississippi to southern Ill. to visit TJ's extended family. We stayed at his grandma's house, which I must say is the quintessential urlLink grandma's house , and had just a lovely time.
We played darts at the local bar Chevies, we went tubing at Crab Orchard Lake, we drank Stag Beer... There's nothing better. Glad to be back home. Miss seeing everyone. About 10lbs. fatter from excessive Cherry Delight pie. Oh, and from approx. 24 collective hours of highway driving experience, not to mention several more of in-town trips, I highly recommend books on cd. We finished 2 of them. 
