Memphis Vacation: Trains, Planes & Automobiles

Friday, March 25th

The train

After giving Symphony’s dad a ton of last-minute instructions and giving Sym and the dogs a million hugs, Taylor and I left to catch our train to Seattle. I have to say, taking the train was AWESOME. We don’t have a car, so when we’ve gone don before we’ve had to rent one, and the train was cheaper, there was no wait at the border and it didn’t take much longer than driving would have.


cars waiting at the border crossing- suckers!

Amtrak Station in Seattle

the dilapidated Seattle train station
We got to Seattle at around ten and went straight to our hotel out by the airport. Even though it was late we were hungry so we had something to eat at this nasty Denny’s and then back to the hotel where Taylor slept, but I was super anxious/wired so I stayed up reading half the night.

Sea-Tac Holiday In

Saturday, March 26th

Tanie, waiting.

I still managed to wake up bright and early the next morning, and after having a lightning-quick shower we hopped on the shuttle to the airport (which was across the street).

Airport Dog Walk

the airport dog poop room was Taylor’s favorite
After the infamous wedding-postponing flight cancellation of Christmas 2008, I’ve been paranoid about some sort of vacation disaster derailing my plans, but everything went off without a hitch! Our first flight was from Seattle to Salt Lake City was less than two hours, although here were some annoying kids and a screaming baby on board. All I saw of Utah was the airport because our layover was on an hour. Our second flight from SLC to Memphis was annoying kid & screaming baby-free AND we arrived in Memphis early!

My friend Amy was there to met us at the airport, and she is as awesome irl as she is on the internet. She and her husband Zach live in a small apartment downtown, so she’d arranged for Taylor and I to stay at her friend Amy N’s house in Midtown, which is adorable and comes stocked with a dog for Taylor and I to use as a Dougal/Georgie/Kichou surrogate. That first night however, we were supposed to stay at Zach & Amy’s on an air mattress so after a quick tour of the house we headed downtown.

lovely Ada (Aida? idk) the dog in the living room of the Midtown house. Amy’s N’s shady neighbor’s at her old place left Ada chained up and abandoned when they moved out, so she went over with a pair of bolt cutters and rescued her

We met Zach and had some drinks at their apartment and then headed over to Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken for dinner. We had to wait about forever for a table but it was worth it since it was delicious!

not pictured: all the extra chicken tenders they brought for Amy and me since these ones were skimpy

After eating we went over to a neighborhood bar where Amy & Zach sang some karaoke (Taylor & I are not karaoke people). It was funny, people kept mistaking Taylor for Zach and someone asked if they were brothers. What are the odds that two Sweet Valley-obsessed internet friends would both marry bearded, bespectacled giants?

Now, earlier in the evening Zach had turned on the fan to blow up their air mattress for us to sleep on, but unfortunately the motor burned out while we were gone and when we got back sometime after four it was still flat as a pancake. Luckily, Taylor wasn’t drunk (unlike me) because he had to drive us (in Zach’s car) back to Amy N’s house in Midtown, using Amy’s hand-written directions and my spurious navigational skills. Amazingly, we made it back without incident and after a long, long, long day of travel, we were both happy to pass out.

Coming up: Grizzlies & Graceland
Taylor took way more pictures than I did but won’t be uploading them until we get back to Vancouver.

3 Replies to “Memphis Vacation: Trains, Planes & Automobiles”

  1. Man I wish I were having an awesome vacation like you, sister! I will live vicariously through your tweets and blog postings…..have extra fun for me!

    1. PS I just found this place that has a mother lode of SVH books…when you get back you should let me know what you are missing and I will peruse for you….I work right beside it.

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