Appetite for Jackson

Remember how I told you about meeting Andrew Zimmern and filming for a show? Well, view it now! It's a great time to be in Jackson.

ZDD

This past week was hectic, but so much fun.

There were elaborate hats

I was interviewed for a show on the History Channel (thanks Zach!)

Hung out with THE queen herself

Helped out at the Children's Carnival and the pizza eating contest (with co-owner, Jeff G)

We photographed all over and had fun watching all the eating contests (where I had to hold the puke bucket for one kid on the stage, bless his heart)

Saw the Mississippi Mass Choir

And was one of the toucans that opened the Zippity Doo Dah parade. 

I was so worn out, but it was so much fun. I can't wait to do it again next year.

Events and more events!

Parade season is upon us! Last weekend was Mal's St. Paddy's Day Parade and this week we've been submerged in Zippity Doo Dah planning. I'll be glad for a break.

Mal's St. Paddy's Day Parade

 Sunday night, we went to Duling Hall (as we do for all the shows) to hear Israeli artist Aya Korem. She was fantastic.

Aya Korem

 This past week was the annual Sisterhood Bazaar at Beth Israel Temple and of course we had to go! We sampled all kinds of food, from the hummus and tabouli to brisket, knish, and blintzes.

Salad plate

 That night (Wednesday night), I headed down to the fairgrounds to meet the Clydesdales as they arrived in town for ZDD weekend. I got to walk this horse from the semi around the livestock pavillion, which sounds cool, but was actually a little intimidating. You see, I am only five feet tall and this horse is eight feet talk TO THE SHOULDER.

 Afterwards, we headed straight to Duling Hall for SXSW/JXN, a concert of musicians from SXSW playing in Jackson. Happy New Year, Maggie Eckford, and Lovedrug were on the bill there. The event then moved downtown later for more acts.

Lovedrug

 Knowning that I wouldn't be able to go to the concert and promote it, I went to sound check yesterday at Hal and Mal's for musical artist Hunter Hayes. Really nice kid!

 Then, it began. The opening of the weekend and Arts, Eats and Beats. We gathered to greet the Clydesdales and start the procession to Blair E. Batson to official kick off the weekend and then process to Fondren.

Jeff, JSU President Dr. Myers, and Jill

 This rig is LONG.

My boyfriend was one of the few that got to ride on the wagon. I rode in a vehicle behind the wagon. It was was little crazy. We stopped 5 o'clock traffic on State Street and I was so nervous the boyfriend was going to fall off the way he was taking photos and Tweeting while riding.

The boyfriend goofing off (far right)

Afterwards, while the wagon processed to Fondren, I was escorted back to my car and then followed the wagon to Fondren. It was a great night!

You can see more of the pictures I took for work here.

Memphis

Man, sometimes it's good to get away! It's been a crazy couple of weeks for us with the boyfriend's magazine going to the printer this week (and me proofing it before it was sent for a few hours... geez) and a few big projects I was working on. So, we decided a weekend getaway to Memphis was in order. Since we're both design people and promote our city, we're always looking for ways to improve visitor experiences, restaurant ideas, and new guides to get design inspiration. There's a part of Memphis called Cooper Young, similar to our Fondren, so we knew we'd hang out a lot there. 

First on our agenda was Soul Fish. So good!

Catfish, sweet potato fries, cole slaw, hush puppies

Soul Fish interior

There are some neat shops along the streets of Cooper Young, including this interesting cat adoption store. Yes, cat adoption store called "House of Mews."

Of course, we had to go to the river front. Here's a view of the I-55 bridge from Riverside Park.

Being in Tennessee, a beer run was also on our minds. We made a trip to Whole Foods and stocked up on the good stuff for us and some of our friends. The store's beer buyer was really nice and loved to hear all about us and what we do for Raise Your Pints.

That night, we headed downtown to Huey's for brews and burgers. Of course, we got beers you can't get in Mississippi - Ghost City seasonal and Fat Tire.

One of the big draws for Huey's is that you can get any burger made with a beef patty, turkey patty, or black bean patty. We both opted for the black bean burger.

Black bean burger with pepper jack cheese and guacamole

After a filling meal, we walked around downtown and made it to the roof of the Peabody (which we sneaked onto... there was a rehearsal dinner going on in the Penthouse and the roof was supposed to be closed for the party).

View of the river at night

View of the river in the morning

Walking around that night, we spotted this place we knew we'd be back for breakfast called Cockadoo's. It was out of this world.

Iced latte

Everything sounded so good. We ordered pancakes, turkey bacon, sweet potato hashbrowns, and a BBQ pulled pork omelet (NOT my choosing, but it was actually really good).

We sat in the loft, so you could look over the front of the restaurant.

We had our sight set back on Cooper Young, mostly because my drummer of a boyfriend knew he wanted to go to the Memphis Drum Shop!

Where, of course, you could find him playing "Amazing Grace" on the steel drum.

We also knew we couldn't leave Memphis without some proper BBQ and the best place to go is Central BBQ. Considering the line out the door to order, we knew we were at the right place. Knowing we were leaving TN soon, we had to get more Fat Tire brew in before we left, right?

Still somewhat full from breakfast, we split the pork plate, which was plenty of food. Just the way I like barbecue. 

We had such a wonderful time in Memphis! Hope all of you on spring break have a great week...