Floribama Riders

After ruminating on my Belly with chin down in my easy chair, thought I would give a Bodacious update on our Killer "B" weekend.  Short version, bikes, BBQ, blues, Beale, Babes, and Bama.

Long version:

I met Silk, Safety, I-Lean, Spiderman, and Rabbit for Breakfast at the Ranch House Saturday morning around 7:35 (am, not pm). Henry lead us on a nice jaunt up 269 through Jasper, hooking up with 5 to Natural Bridge.  The weather started on the "iffy" side, being overcast and with temps not exactly on the warmish side. The closer we got to Jasper, the colder it got.  I was kind of nervous in that I really had not packed my super cold riding stuff... doh! But all was well within 10 minutes of entering Hwy 78 toward Memphis, the sun came out, and warmed us up. From that point on, the weather for the weekend was "Chamber of Commerce" good.

The trip up was uneventful, stopping for gas a couple of times to stretch and do the necessary Biological adjustments to the urinary tract. We decided to go ahead and check in and unload our gear at the Quality Inn in Memphis that Susan had arranged comps for, so I led us across town to the East Memphis area. (THANKS AGAIN SUSAN!!)  Eddie Montero had kindly gotten us discounted tix to the "Art of the Motorcycle" exhibit, so we dumped our gear and decided to go "feed" first. Thanks for the hook-up, Eddie!

Our first stop was Bosco's restaurant on  Madison Ave. It is a nice place, with a huge outdoor deck that we availed ourselves of to enjoy the low humidity and crystal blue skies. The yuppies all had an eyeful of our colorful garb and helmets as we ordered various sandwich- type entrees.

For some reason, everyone selected the "garlic fries" as their garni, and baby, were they ever garlicky! We seemed to part every crowd we came in touch with from that point on in the trip.. :)  Around 2:30, we decided to head down to the Peabody hotel to perhaps watch a bit of the Alabama game...  after touring the midtown area of Memphis, passing Sun recording studios, and the Nathan Bedford Forrest memorial, we arrived for our pre-secured, parking spot. (You gotta love a bike, ride around the entry gate, snag some excellent spots, then off you go.. free parking rocks)

Memphis downtown area has changed dramatically over the years, and by building their baseball stadium (a WONDERFUL ballpark), Fed-Ex Forum (for the the NBA team), and investing 10's of millions of dollars in the downtown area, they have created a wonderful destination area.  We watched the Bama game in the Corner Bar of the Peabody Hotel, truly one of the magnificent old hotels on the planet. Our crew got to see the Peabody ducks, and hear the ceremony "dismissing the ducks" from their duty of swimming in the lobby fountain. By 6 minutes left in the 4th quarter, I was on course to become an object des art by exploding all over the ceiling.  Safety Bob had already departed for the exhibit, deciding not to hang with us for the evening, so we joined him in the parking lot of the exhibit as he was about to depart. Having seen the exhibit twice (in NY and Las Vegas),  it was nice to see how Memphis would display the bikes.  Bob mentioned that we were "spoiled" having the Barber museum
here in Birmingham, and I would have to concur. After visiting the AMA museum in Columbus, Ohio and seeing the three "Art of the Motorcycle" exhibits, I have come to realize that the collection that resides here is truly a unique gem.  We did enjoy the 132 bikes on display, and we enjoyed the electronic docententure narrated by Jay Leno.  Memphis did a good job of spacing the bikes using a linear history of design and development  Henry was kind of enough to chronicle the exhibit with his digital camera, so hopefully a pic or two will make its way around.

We finished viewing the museum around 8:30, and by now, we were half-past-hungry. I steered us toward Beale street for some Blues n BBQ.  Before we entered the museum, I was notified that Bama had dispatched the detested Vols with a 6-3 win.  A good ride up, a great lunch, some wonderful weather, an evening with classic bikes, and now a chance to play tourist and mingle with hundreds of other like minded folks.

Beale street has become the Memphis version of Bourbon street... a place you can stroll up and down, watching the various ingredients of our society that make our culture such a wonderful melange of the human soup.  We procured outside seating right on Beale at "PIG..Pork with an attitude" and shared the BBQ sampler... if the meat could be smoked, it was served on our platter. We had ribs, pulled pork, turkey leg, chicken, beans, slaw, bread, and fries all served with a delicious BBQ sauce. Outstanding!  Half the fun of the evening was people watching and savoring the cool fall air. After dinner, we continued to meander up and down Beale, occasionally stopping to shop (you HAVE to see A. Schwab's store.. Da Spiderman bought a Ninja sword and BD hooked up with some thermal underwear as well as some nice new suspenders).  We wandered into a park area that had a live band set up, playing some smokin' Memphis music with a small crowd gathered and completely jammin' to the sweet soul
music.  Silk n BD did some tail-feather shakin', while I-Lean was being "radar-ed" by some Memphis lovelies.  (Disclaimer... Henry was completely oblivious to his being subjected to the overt gaze of the young ladies)  We all had a good laugh at I-Lean's expense and continued our stroll.
We ended the evening at a Beale Street pool hall, watching the end of the World Series game as well as getting to see the end of the LSU-Auburn overtime game.  Yay..Boo. Yawn, time for bed.

By now, it was nigh unto 11 o'clock, and we decided to high tail it out to east Memphis to our motel. A quick ride out saw all of us in rooms by 11:30 with plans to depart around 7:30 in the morning.  My Killer Bee day ended with a phone call to Bekay and a Bimbo on HBO.... ahhhh.

Breakfast came too early, and Beth (da Rabbit), Michael (Spiderman) and BD all left for home after saying our good-byes to Henry and Susan. A straight shot back down 78 saw us all arrive around 12:30.  The weather back was Beautiful...  Birmingham in Bama... good to be home.

Thanks to all for being good mates on the ride... Susan.. a wonderful rider, a beautiful woman, and one of the kindest souls I know had her new Blue FZ1 crankin'. Henry, on his beloved Big Red Honda was his usual irascible and witty self. Michael, with his unique wit, did his stork-like piloting of his Silver FJR, transforming it into the Ninja hauler. Safety Bob was our rock on his yellow VFR, with useful insite and a warm grin along the way. Beth, on Steven's blue Kawi, did a great job of riding, laughing, and bouncing along with this interesting crew of folks. I truly enjoyed sharing every moment with ya'll. Thanks as well to da Boss (Bekay) for letting me roll this weekend, and to Bob Shields for the loan of his BMW to fully round out my Killer Bee weekend.  FBeeR rocks... ya'll ride safe!

BD

"Wherever you go, there you are."
Buckaroo Banzai