Look out Elvis! We are Memphis bound! - Memphis, TN
Memphis, TN
The Ice Storm Cometh (Ok, the play is The Iceman Cometh, but Eugene O'Neill would have understood).
In the morning, we discovered our car encrusted in ice. We moved it closer to the building to minimize walking in the parking lot. Slipping or falling was not on the agenda. Yes, it was that bad. The good news: we were headed south out of town, opposite of the backed up traffic. After an hour of driving in dicey conditions, we were safely south of Winter Storm Cleon (since when are winter storms named??? I must have missed that announcement.)
After 100 miles on boring I-55, we detoured to Jackson and Cape Girardeau (both still in Missouri) for no other reason than to see different scenery and get by the Mississippi River again. On the riverfront flood wall in the Cape, there was a dramatic Mississippi River Tales Mural, depicting the city's history. Biting, whipping winds prevented us from staying outside too long.
Lunching in Blytheville, Arkansas
Lunch at a diner in town. While uneventful, the man beside us was planning on picking up his daughter from the Memphis airport late the next night. We later wondered if that happened since, according to subsequent weather news, Winter Storm Cleon hit Blytheville dead on with about 6" of snow and ice. Yes, in the southern state of Arkansas.
Need to find shelter before Cleon finds Memphis
Weather reports indicated that Memphis was the bull's eye for an ice storm the next day - threats of power outages due to 1/2+" of ice. We sought provisions (peanut *************ers, etc) should our hotel and surrounding restaurants be stricken with a power outage.
Stay tuned to what happened after we snuggled in to our Fairfield Inn.