Walking in Memphis

I already miss beautiful and semi-warm Memphis! After walking off the plane, I immediately gulped in the all too familiar humid air, and my heart started beating as if it were to explode--first, I was going to get to see Ryan after not seeing him for over a week (our longest time apart). Secondly, I was going to have to meet Ryan's FAMILY! I've never met a serious boy friend's family before so I was as nervous as a pig in a bacon factory.
Not surprisingly, the Carnell family was full of Southern Charm, and I instantly fell in love with all of them. Ryan's brother and his cute wife Katie even made an unexpected flight on Sunday afternoon to visit everyone for a few hours before they moved to South Africa. I was very grateful that I got to meet them, especially since I wouldn't have gotten to meet them for at least 2+ years. Also, it was a wonderful experience getting to see Ryan and his entire family interact, eat, and play games.



Ryan is such a romantic and an excellent tour guide by preparing a secretive daily schedule of fun things for the two of us to do while I was visiting.

On my first night in town, Ryan recreated one of our very first dates by getting keys to the local church building and setting up a movie projector and couch for us to watch Casablanca in the gymnasium. We had a wonderful time for the first 20 minutes until I passed out stone cold from utter exhaustion...and I felt absolutely TERRIBLE for falling asleep after he put such effort and sentimental thought into it...but he quickly followed suit so I didn't feel as bad. However, since I've never seen Casablanca--at least not to the end--we will put this back on our dating bucket list. So Ryan = Score and Courtney = Fail on my first night in Memphis.

I specifically asked Ryan to show me around the town where he grew up. I really wanted to see the many special places that were dear to his heart so I could get a better feel for his life and what he liked best about his childhood. So, the next day Ryan again, was a fantastic tour guide while he drove me around Germantown. We went on a fun hike through the woods to this river 'beach' that was absolutely breath-taking and romantic. That night, we ended up visiting his old high school where again, Ryan pulled out his charm card by getting keys to the football stadium box and setting up a sentimental hot chocolate date with a playlist of our favorite songs. We ended up unlocking the sunroof which lead to the rooftop. Knowing I have an extreme case of severe vertigo, Ryan helped me up (and overcome my fear of being so high). We danced on the roof under a clear, star-lit night sky. I'd say Ryan was definitely getting a 2 for 2 of A+ nights!

Before I got to Memphis, I begged Ryan to take me to the zoo since I love animals. My favorite exhibit was the 'Night Zoo' where an aardvark scared me to death and a bushbaby played with us through the glass. Then, we met up with his high school buddies and enjoyed an epic night of Memphis-style ice skating--which is far different than most rinks I've been too. Memphis hadn't had an ice skating rink in who knows how many years...so 1. it was very amusing watching everyone attempt to ice skate and 2. the rink was only about an inch or so deep and the zoo workers used these amazing contraptions made of push brooms, buckets of water and lawnmowers (yes, lawn mowers) to resurface the ice. It was quite an unique experience to encounter.

Ryan's face is AMAZING...just found these little ditties in the gift shop

Goofing off at the rink...nearly killed a kid with my blade...

Us at the Memphis Zoo

New Year's Eve happened to occur on our little vacation, so we decided to visit Beale street. It was DOWN-POURING but the streets were still hopping with excitement. We visited some shops and ran into a local pub to listen to Blues music (and escape the rain). Ghost Town Blues was playing, and the drummer, Preston, happened to be one of Ryan's long time buddies. They are an excellent Blues band, so if you're into that kind of thing--check em out!

Ghost Town Blues

Preston the drummer

Soaked after New Year's Eve

Ryan wanted to take me up to his family's farm that was about an hour away from Germantown for a bonfire and our own New Year's Firework show. The farm was serene and peaceful, and I instantly felt homesick for the rolling hills of Missouri. On our way up, Ryan told me the best BBQ spot of ALL time was a little hole in the wall called Bozo's Hot Pit Bar-B-Q. The Carnell's, Johnny Cash, and Elvis were frequent visitors of the small diner---and after tasting the smokey sweetness, I know why. Seriously, I've never felt like such a fat hoss in my life, but the pulled pork and baked beans (which I usually CANNOT stand) were to die for. Hopefully, I'll be able to go there again someday, cause seriously, this place was delish. Actually, it was so good that I bought myself a Bozo's tee-shirt and 3 bottles of their homemade BBQ sauce. mmm....

Our last day was very bittersweet, actually mostly bitter with a slight pinch of sweet due to Ryan's last surprise of horseback riding at Shelby farms. I love horseback riding, and I haven't been able to go ride since I moved to college, so it was a fun last treat and memory. It was even more memorable because Ryan's horse had severe gas and mine has an infatuation with nipping other horses' bums! Here are some fun pics:

Beautiful Shelby Farms and riding trail.

Couldn't resist doing this edit...Ryan looks like a burly cowboy :)

Memphis was absolutely wonderful in every way possible! I greatly appreciate all the hospitality and kindness the Carnell family gave me while I was visiting them. And I especially LOVE all the hard work and time Ryan spent on making my visit perfect! He's a definite keeper!!!!