Memphis

I've been to Memphis many times before - my maternal grandmother was born and raised here, and was even the "most beautiful debutante of Memphis" in 1924. My parents were married in Memphis and spent their wedding night at the Peabody Hotel.

I find myself today in the same hotel, having spent the last few days here on business. Memphis is a city that has always intrigued me. There's so much history here - real, modern American history. From the cotton boom of the 1800's, to the riverboats of the early 20th Century right through Elvis, Stax, Martin Luther King at the Lorraine Motel and to the doorstep of the 21st Century.

Sadly, Memphis has not kept up with the world. When you walk through the city, instead of gracious southern facades, you see drug deals. In broad daylight, outside of the most expensive hotel in the city. The people here are poor. The schools are in decay. The people, while friendly enough, seem to look at those who are clearly not local with a suspicious eye.

It makes me sad that this city - that once was a booming place, a place where black people and white people made great music together, where so many things began, where so many great things ended - is now reduced to a distressed version of itself. A caricature of what it once was.

I leave here tomorrow with trepedation. While leaving Memphis is not what worries me, it's what lies ahead. I'm going to New Orleans tomorrow. NO is another city near my heart - I have had family there, and it was another city that played a significant role in my family. I haven't been back since Katrina, and while I've been told that the Quarter is back to itself, the Garden District is nearly what it once was... but the Lower Ninth will never come back.

Next week is Vegas, baby! No surprises there.... it always disappoints.