theme. Once in the room, I made the decision that
I did not feel up to attending the reception that night for the Blues Hall of Fame. By the way, it was the grand opening of that particu- lar museum that brought us to Memphis to begin with. I hated to miss it, but I was wiped out from lack of sleep. I ordered room service (a fabulous Cobb Salad, see “Good Eats” this issue) and napped until Craig returned to show me a photo on his iPhone of himself with the legendary John Hammond, whom he had sat and talked to for quite some time. An- other recurring theme. Every time I left Craig to go back to the room during the trip he met another celebrity, or at least an interesting person. On top of that, I have been working with
publicity guy Mark Pucci (formerly with Capricorn) for many years, but we have never met. So guess who Craig sat with at the recep- tion? Yep, Mark Pucci. Sheesh. You snooze, you lose I suppose. Never did see Mark the whole time I was there! I woke up feeling great the next morning
after crashing and burning the night before. I noticed Craig was already up and out of there. I texted him at around 8 a.m., and he said he was down stairs and had already had break- fast, but highly recommended the breakfast buffet at Capriccio Grill. Normally I avoid buffets like the plague, but I went with it, and the food was excellent - especially the country grits! And yes Dr. Ross, I only had one help- ing! The music that is piped out at Capriccio is
1940’s stuff, Sinatra, big band (with a little Harry Connick, Jr. tossed in) - it really cre- ates a nice ambiance. Our sever, Clarencia Wells, a relative of New Orlean’s piano legend Professor Longhair, was as nice and helpful as you could ask for. Fact is, all of Capriccio’s staff, just like the hotel staff, are excellent at their jobs. They make each guest feel special. There are a couple of other servers I wanted to give shout outs to. At various times when
Madison, a great waitress!
GRACELAND After breakfast Thursday morning it was
time to go and see The King. Now, I have wanted to see Graceland for as long as I can remember - at least since August 1977 when Elvis left the room. I was truly excited to go, and what a journey it was. Craig had scored us VIP Passes, and we made our way over to the mansion. Actually, it’s more like a theme park. We had to park in Nashville and walk. Well - it felt that way anyhow. We drove over to Graceland, parked and
hoofed it out across the vast parking lot and across the bridge up to the ticket lines. I had to smile when I looked over and saw my friend Terry Reeves Martin and her sister in
we were in the lobby relaxing, we were waited on by these two several times during our stay and enjoyed conversing with both, The first is a dark-haired beauty named Briana Vignone, an excellent waitress and a kind and friendly girl. The same goes for our new friend Madi- son Hudson, a perky 21-year-old sweetie who loves Austin, Texas. I promised the kid I would put her picture in the magazine, and so I have. It was nice meeting all of you girls.
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