Heading towards Memphis today. Got a room at the Marriot through Priceline for 75 bucks, not bad considering its a downtown area. The room was pleasant, although there was no free high-speed internet – available for $10 a day. Decided to pass since we’ll be back in Lonoke tomorrow anyway. There were some nice Neutrogena bath products provided – not as fantastic as the Aveda ones in the George rooms, but good enough.

We had stopped by at the Coors brewery before checking in. Coors is apparently the #3 beer in the US (although I have not heard about it before), behind Budweiser and Miller. The guided tour was ok — didn’t really get to tour the facilities. A lot of time was actually spent in front of diagrams and pictures, and Chuck the guide just explained what they all meant. Made some nice points, I thought, such as Budweiser is the only beer to use colors that resembled a soft drink (namely, Coke), as well as use animals and cartoons in its commercials.

We were given a couple of free drinks at the end of the tour. Coors Original, which I tried, was pretty good for an American beer. [Ever heard the joke about why drinking American beer is the same as making love on a canoe? They’re fucking close to water! Ha ha.] Also tried the Blue Moon, a Belgian-style wheat ale, and the cherry Zima –> an alcoholic soda like Hooch. Too bad we didn’t get any free souvenirs.

Had dinner on Beale Street – including some pretty decent ribs [apparently, you have to have ribs when you’re in Tennessee]. The stuff mushrooms were pretty disappointing though — think they’ve been soaked in butter for way too long. The night (after watching the finale of The Apprentice) was spent at a few clubs, two of which were Irish – Pat O’Briens and Silky Sullivan’s. The bartender at the latter joint didn’t know how to make a Black and Tan, or a Snakebite. Hmm.