Chapter 18 - MEMPHIS
After
our rather soggy concert in Chicago we left for another long
overnighter, this time to Memphis, Tennessee. I won't tell
you how many miles it was from Chicago to Memphis but I will
tell you we left Chicago just before midnight and got to our
hotel in Memphis at approximately 8:00 a.m. the next morning.
As
we approached the outskirts of Memphis, one by one, each of
us woke up and migrated to the front of the land yacht for
some caffeine-induced energy. We had battled the bouncing
bunks all night and it showed. Our rumpled clothes and various
styles of "bus hair" were testament to that. So,
we arrived at our hotel in hopes of getting a few hours of
quality sleep in a stationary bed. But of course, since we
were exhausted and had arrived at eight in the morning, our
rooms weren't ready yet. I should have known that road rule
#14 would again come in to play. Just in case you forgot,
road rule #14 states; "If you're exhausted and you arrive
early, your room shall not be ready"! Well, we were and
they weren't!
So
with no other recourse, we invaded the hotel coffee shop,
bus hair and all, for a pre-nap breakfast. Tell me that doesn't
sound strange. Anyway, by the time we had finished eating,
our rooms were finally available and we drug ourselves to
the elevator and then to our respective cubicles. We didn't
want to miss our day off in "Blues Town" but we
had to get at least a few hours of rest before hitting the
streets.
We
were staying at The Peabody Hotel, one of the oldest in Memphis
and a throw back to the grand hotels of the thirties and forties.
The hotel is a true historical landmark in Memphis and it's
also the home of the famous Peabody ducks. That's right, ducks!
No, not an athletic team, real live ducks! And they actually
live at the hotel. The focal point of the Peabody's enormous
two-story lobby is a very large and very beautiful marble
fountain right in the middle. Twice a day a red carpet is
rolled out and these pampered pets are ceremoniously escorted
into the elevator and down to the lobby where they waddle
across the carpet from the elevator to the fountain. Then
they proceed to jump in to the fountain and swim, wash or
just hang out until the trainer comes to take them back to
their rooftop home a few hours later. And four times a day
the lobby is packed with camera bearing tourists trying to
get a glimpse of this strange procession. You'd think there
was a royal coronation taking place but the ducks are quite
oblivious to the whole thing and seem quite content to spend
their time preening and frolicking in the fountain until it's
time for their uniformed escort to usher them into the elevator
again.
As
I understand it, the whole thing with the ducks started back
in the thirties when visiting duck hunters would congregate
in the lobby bar at the end of the day and, as a gag, some
would float their duck decoys in the fountain. One day a couple
of these guys decided to do their fellow hunters one better.
They put some real ducks in the fountain. Everyone enjoyed
the prank and a few days later, the hunters checked out but
they left the ducks behind. Of course, with first class hotel
accommodations at the Peabody, the ducks had no interest in
migrating anyplace for the winter. The ducks became a novelty
that drew throngs of tourists so the hotel decided to keep
them and a tradition was born.
Our
day off started around one in the afternoon with, what else,
the 'Peabody Ducks Extravaganza' then a bad movie followed
by a great Memphis style barbecue dinner at 'The Rendezvous'.
We then finished the day with cocktails in the lobby bar while
watching our fine feathered friends frolic in the fountain.