taking a trip on the Monster. leaving from Dallas, Texas and motoring to Memphis, Tennessee.
can anyone recommend places to eat at near downtown, that a good.
Also, interested in things to do away from the tourist stuff.
if you have a favorite ride, let me know.
thanks all.
The Commisary in Germantown!!!
Find a BBQ joint on Beale Street.
Commissary is good but if you want dry ribs go to Rendevouz next to the Peabody hotel. As for rides.......Natchez trace and anything SE'ward bound for some good roads towards Lexington. Why are you going there anyway? Make sure and stay off I40 from Little Rock to Memphis............simply SUCKS!
Quote from: NorDog on September 16, 2010, 01:12:21 PM
Find a BBQ joint on Beale Street.
Beale st. Has some of the best BBQ anywhere. They close the street down to trafic on the weekends, its one big party a must do
i grew up there. got plenty of heaus on speed dial if you want.. LOL
Quote from: muskrat on September 16, 2010, 01:59:01 PM
Commissary is good but if you want dry ribs go to Rendevouz next to the Peabody hotel. As for rides.......Natchez trace and anything SE'ward bound for some good roads towards Lexington. Why are you going there anyway? Make sure and stay off I40 from Little Rock to Memphis............simply SUCKS!
how do I avoid 40 and what makes it suck?
it's straight and flat. look at the map, I don't have the routes in my head right now.
+1 for the Rendevouz and then go to the Peabody and see the duc(k)s... if they are still there.
The Pink Palace is kind of neat, Mud Island too but it has been 20 years since I've been to Mud Island. They used to keep the Memphis Belle there.
Quote from: MM620ie on September 17, 2010, 07:30:18 AM
how do I avoid 40 and what makes it suck?
Ill just quote myself on this one
Quote from: El Matador on August 26, 2009, 07:44:02 PM
As is to be expected, the hardest part of the journey is also the most difficult to write about; that's why it's taken so long, we've been putting it off.
The route we took basically said one thing, take I 40 until you reach little rock, then turn left. That's exactly what we did. That was the only turn the entire time. It was make the beast with two backsing terrible.
We had a quick stop in Memphis to eat, we had some pretty good BBQ and kept on going, from now on it would be no stops until Forth Worth and Slag's place. I40 is the single road that I hate the most on this planet it goes on FOREVER, and there is not a single turn in the entire thing.
Mile after mile after mile after mile afer mile afder mioler aftrmile afmile asfmeirlsmafouashfiun.
That was the process of my brain's basic functions shutting off in order to be able to endure it. Everything became a thing of repetition: Stop, lift gas cap, put in gas, close gas cap, thumb starter, turn right wrist, get on highway, go 150 miles, repeat. It really was that simple. Have you ever had insomnia? I usually don't sleep. When I get to about the 3rd day without sleeping everything turn a little surreal. Chuck Palahniuk explains it best in his book: Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy. That is exactly the way this felt. It was scary to think of how much my brain was turned off.
At some point we entered Arkansas, but I'm not really sure when or where it was. There was a point where Lucrece was getting really tired behind me, at a gas station I offered to zip tie her to me so she could sleep. It was getting to the point where really stupid ideas start to sound good.
I swear to god it's like playing frogger at 80mph with semis that are all running retreads.
well, hopefully Memphis will have something to offer. However, from the dearth of advice, maybe not :)
Commissary BBQ Nachos FTW!!!!!!!!
And the gun range off whitten road has good barbecue and ... guns :)
Quote from: a m on September 19, 2010, 11:20:31 AM
Commissary BBQ Nachos FTW!!!!!!!!
And the gun range off whitten road has good barbecue and ... guns :)
well, taking a heater
if they've made banana pudding, you're golden
Taxi, ATM amd Credit cards, Beale St., Bar-b-que, and Blues - and maybe a caretaker.
Find out how late taxis run.
LA
haha. find out when bars "close". (they don't really - one closes, another is still open)
get a Diver at Silky O'Sullivans, Mario in the Oyster Bar is their top bar tender (you'll know you've got the right guy because he's got a boston accent)
and if you eat at Commissary in Germantown don't leave without banana pudding!
yeah, that's really true - their banana pudding is some of the best i've ever had, and when i lived in tennessee, i tried tons (its available all over)
in mid-town, there are a few restaurants and the like near Celtic Crossing that are fun/good.
Eat at Huey's at least once and shoot toothpicks into the ceiling. The West Coast Burger is delicious. A vegetarian friend swears by the black bean burger, and she has discerning tastes (uppity ny'er). get the onion rings instead of the fries.
Go see Shrek Village if you have time, most people call it Rhodes College.
The Zoo is nice, Egyptian themed. Pandas are super lame.
Drive by the Pyramid on the street its on and see the statue of Ramses the Great, which is pretty cool
Quote from: a m on September 21, 2010, 06:41:38 AM
(uppity ny'er)
i am trying to figure out this word.. did you leave some consonants out??
new yorker. she moved to nyc awhile back and began to view social things, like dining, quite differently
Quote from: a m on September 21, 2010, 10:22:04 AM
new yorker. she moved to nyc awhile back and began to view social things, like dining, quite differently
oh good grief. growing up, we called that "putting on airs." ask her which restaurants she likes in manhattan and how many rats their kitchen has. one thing i learned while living there -- the buildings are so close and everyone has a direct connection to the sewers that the rats just go from shop to shop picking up snacks at night.
right now, the 2nd Ave subway line is being built and my friends tell me the rats have come out of the woodwork to get away from the noise and disruption.
and if she's not eating at Daniel's or David Burke & Donatella's every night, I don't buy it. not that cuisine is dead in NYC, but unless you're spending $500/meal, it's not that big of a deal (except for the 24hour delivery, that rocks)
Rats Take Over KFC/Taco Bell (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su0U37w2tws#normal)
eeegadz
hahahahaha
where is that flute player to shuttle them out?
thanks for all the replies. dreading hwy 40 now.
g'luck. it sucks.
Quote from: MM620ie on September 22, 2010, 10:41:53 AM
thanks for all the replies. dreading hwy 40 now.
stay offffffffff 40.
http://www.motorcycleroads.com/routes/SouthEast/TN/TN_index.htm (http://www.motorcycleroads.com/routes/SouthEast/TN/TN_index.htm)
http://www.openroadjourney.com/roads/Arkansas.asp (http://www.openroadjourney.com/roads/Arkansas.asp)
http://www.arkansas.com/outdoors/motorcycling/suggested-rides.aspx (http://www.arkansas.com/outdoors/motorcycling/suggested-rides.aspx)
The stretch of I-40 in West Memphis, Arkansas is a horrid mix of semi's and tweakers. Use caution.
When you hit Beale Street, eat fried catfish at Isaac Hayes place. Go to BB Kings and listen to some good blues. If you are out east, hit up Corky's BBQ on Poplar. Hit up Huey's for a burger. Do NOT stay near Graceland unless you want to get shot or stabbed.
[clap] thanks for all the replies. I took the trip on the Duc from Dallas to Memphis. avoided most of the highway heading out and had a great ride on farm roads and rural hwys. Memphis was okay, but my brother and I did road trips into MS, AR, TN. All day trips. they were great, but my Arse was killing me by the end of each day.
trip to Memphis took about 10 hours. Needless to say, I was ready to get off the bike. The trip back took about as long, but was stuck in a freeway mess for about an hour. I took interstate all the way back. Posters that said to stay away from 40 were right, but I was time crunched.
the BBQ in Memphis . . . okay . . . Texas has better BBQ ;)
the food recommendations were spot on.
clearly you are wrong about the barbecue.
clearly we were right about I-40.
I lived in Memphis for a year while managing the Cycle Gear store, and I've gotta say I would never go back.
Memphrica is a place full of hate, violence, crime, and fat chicks. I was happy to get out before getting shot (I had a gun pulled on me over a parking space in that town and my best friends apt was broken into 3 times in 1 year among many other grievous problems).
If you ever want to drive 388 miles east on I 40 though you will be at our exit and can drop by the shop in Knoxville.
I always thought Nashville was the best of both worlds. Lots of fun things to do, lots of live music (even non-country), fairly diverse crowd, substantially less crime than either K-ville or M-town, and enough hills to make riding pleasant.
Memphis was worse before FedEx came to town and gave people jobs. It has improved a lot in the last 30 years. I like Nashville better also.
Quote from: Bill in OKC on October 12, 2010, 01:51:39 PM
Memphis was worse before FedEx came to town and gave people jobs. It has improved a lot in the last 30 years. I like Nashville better also.
Yes, and no. It was decent for a long time until Tunica opened and all the employable, sane people went to the casinos for high paying jobs. Now, the previously unemployable, insane idiots are working in those jobs (i.e. low/no skill jobs) and things are far worse off.
When I was in college, I was getting $25/hour jobs in construction, and this was in the 80s. The Mexican workers moved in because many of the locals refused to take construction jobs -- I guess being in college and working on a degree in sociology makes more sense. I learned spanish, it was a great experience -- and then I left in '94.
Quote from: a m on October 12, 2010, 08:40:12 AM
clearly you are wrong about the barbecue. well, we have to agree to disagree.
clearly we were right about I-40.
yes
I prefer Knoxville. Mountains galore and a moto shop full of shit I can't afford near downtown.....newly opened of course ;D
Quote from: muskrat on October 12, 2010, 07:42:44 PM
I prefer Knoxville. Mountains galore and a moto shop full of shit I can't afford near downtown.....newly opened of course ;D
it's a real irony too.. knoxville is really in the middle of nowhere, while memphis is on both 55 and 40 and is a much bigger city and metropolitan area. but then again, local governance and culture affects growth and such. memphis really went into the shitter over the last decade... last time i was back i was shocked at how much collierville had exploded... it used to be fields and farms.. nothing higher than 2 story.. wow..