Quack, Quack

The other thing we wanted to do while in Memphis was see the Peabody ducks. They live in the Penthouse and come down the elevator each morning at 11, march down a red carpet to Souza and swim in the fountain until 5 pm. Then they head back upstairs to live in the lap of luxury until the next morning (wonder what the Penthouse is like! ROFL). Seems like waaayyyyyy back in the 3os, the general manager of the hotel had too much Jack Daniels to drink and he and his drinking buddy thought it would be funny to put his live decoys in the fountain. They were still there the next morning, the guests were delighted, and the tradition was born. They get the mallards from a duck farmer, and they live there until they are full grown and are then released back into the wild after their "Peabody Tour of Duty". I'm thinking that after living the posh life of the penthouse, they're ill equipped for the wild and are probably shot about 5 minutes later and surved to the Chez Phillippe patrons (the hotel swanky restaurant) the same day! ROFL

They let all the kids sit a the red carpet edge and have the parents sit right behind them . .. so even though there were a bunch of adults there already when we got there at 10:35, we still got excellent seats!

After the Peabody, we piled in the car, headed over the Arkansas border and droved towards Conway . . .my mom's hometown. We had family waiting for us.

We got there at 2, and my grandmother was so excited. Not only were 3 not-often seen great-grandchildren there, but my cousin Mark (from Florida) and his girlfriend Anna were also there. I knew they were coming, but apparently she didn't. They'd surprised her the night before. We sat around and talked the afternoon away, with various parts of my family that live in Conway coming up to her house to visit.