Jenn...A Filipina. Loving wife to a wonderful American guy. Self-confessed shopaholic. Conscientious blogger. Hopeless romantic. Introvert at times. Nature-lover by heart. Recently discovered a passion for photography.
I love taking road trips. I find it refreshing to visit new places, take lots of photos, explore the area, try out new food and spend time with Jeff without having to worry about what to make for dinner or worry about laundry, dishes and other chores. Whenever we get the chance especially on long weekends and other holidays, we try to take a break and indulge ourselves on mini-vacations. The most recent we had was last Valentine's weekend in Memphis. The city is famous for its great tasting barbeque food and the town where the King of Rock 'n Roll, Elvis Presley grew up in. There are so many things to do in Memphis and I think our 4-day stay was not enough. We intend to leave the house early morning on Friday, but we slept in so we didn't get to leave until 10:30 a.m. We got there probably around 3:00 p.m.
We stayed in a hotel within the Graceland vicinity since that was our first stop, a visit to Elvis's home which is the Graceland Mansion. I'll take you to a tour on Elvis Presley's mansion in Memphis on a separate post.
I was amazed with how the hotel lobby was all filled up with Elvis's photos and memorabilia. They play his music all day long. I bet the staff have already memorized the lyrics by heart, lol. The swimming pool which is closed at this time of the year was even designed like a guitar depicting Elvis's love for music and performing. I think it's quite interesting until we get inside our room.
We stayed in a hotel within the Graceland vicinity since that was our first stop, a visit to Elvis's home which is the Graceland Mansion. I'll take you to a tour on Elvis Presley's mansion in Memphis on a separate post.
I was amazed with how the hotel lobby was all filled up with Elvis's photos and memorabilia. They play his music all day long. I bet the staff have already memorized the lyrics by heart, lol. The swimming pool which is closed at this time of the year was even designed like a guitar depicting Elvis's love for music and performing. I think it's quite interesting until we get inside our room.
Lo and behold! More picture frames of the King of Rock 'n Roll. At first I thought it's scary to have pictures of a dead man inside our room whom I don't know personally, but I have gotten over the creepy feeling after a while.
This is what happens when you drive straight 4 hours. I have his consent for this photo to be included on my blog. He said as long as he's not drooling or with mouth gaped open, he's fine with it! Haha!
This is what happens when you drive straight 4 hours. I have his consent for this photo to be included on my blog. He said as long as he's not drooling or with mouth gaped open, he's fine with it! Haha!
After that much needed rest, he took me out to dinner and a movie date. We had dinner at IHOP. He had some coffee while I got my favorite hot chocolate. I lurrvv hot chocolate on a cold winter night. But I think they overdo the cream and sugar on this one since it tasted too sweet for me, so Jeff had to finish it for me.
See how happy I was after my much needed "chocolate fix?".
I decided to go a little healthier that time so I ordered Grilled Tilapia w/ hollandaise sauce, steamed cheesy broccoli and mashed potato with brown gravy. Yum! Yum! There's no fishy taste to it and I love that! It's mildly flavored and it just literally melts in your mouth, hmmm. I think Jeff ordered some breakfast food, hahaha, layers of pancakes and omelette if I'm not mistaken, so I didn't bother taking pictures of it.
After the scrumptious dinner, we head straight to Majestic Cinema. Now, here's a little story. I've heard about "Dear John" and "Valentine's Day" movies from my Facebook friends and I was like, "Yeah, I gotta watch that too!" It's Valentine's and I need to watch something mushy. But the next day, I came across my good friend Joanne's blog and she said about how she slightly dislikes it when it seems like all movies they show on Valentine's Day are mushy stuff like it's some kind of a movie marathon, then I thought, "Wait a minute, I think I have the same take on this one". Don't get me wrong, Joanne and I both love romance and girly girly mushy stuff but I think the world has so much to offer. Besides Jeff and I could still watch romantic movies together at the comforts of our living room courtesy of Netflix, so I opened my eyes to other great possibilities and gave in to my preferred movie genre, a comedy-thriller-action John Travolta movie "From Paris With Love." I didn't have regrets. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. It was a different John Travolta. Definitely not a fan but I can't help but notice his acting. He was so effective as a tough-looking, trigger-happy, loose cannon CIA special agent who's out in a mission to stop a terrorist attack in Paris. You must have realized by now that it's a violent movie but with a purpose I must say. It has a good ending, bad guys never win in the end. Overall, we enjoyed it. I guess that makes us an odd couple huh! Hehe.
Here are some snaps of me on different moods and locations. Taken on a Valentine's Day morning geared up for some shopping frenzy at Wolfchase Galleria.
This one is on a Saturday stroll at the Graceland Mansion grounds. Nope, that's not a phone nor an IPOD hanging around my neck. It's actually an audio player or something, I forgot the exact name of that thing but it kind of guides you through the whole tour of Elvis Presley's Mansion.
Pardon for the bad lighting on this one. Taken inside an Indian Restaurant. Does that smile tell you something? It just says I feel so bloated. Who wouldn't? I just finished 4 big pieces of Tandoori Chicken. What a glutton! Harharhar!
India Palace...I've never tried Indian foods before. But recently, I came across a good blog authored by Ameena of L.A. She's an interesting writer and I love reading her posts. She mentioned one time about Indian foods, though she said she's yet to find a good Indian restaurant in her place but still that sparked my interest and I thought I'd give it a try. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food but I thought I should try at least, then if I don't like it, I won't eat it again. Haha!
I ordered Tandoori Chicken as Ameena had suggested for a first-timer like me. It was good. Couldn't equal our own Chicken Adobo though but still it was good. Too bad the piece of lime landed on the floor before I could even squeeze it on my food.
Jeff ordered Pork Shish Kabob. It was yummy too. I had a few bites.
Below is a Naan, a leavened, oven-baked bread. These are excellent as well.
Sorry for a very long post. Thank you guys if you've reached this far, lol! I decided to make this as Part One. It's hard to fuse everything that we did for 4 days in just one post so expect another round of photos and mediocre narration. I have so much of them and I just wanted to share them all. It was a memorable weekend for me and reliving it through my blog is my idea of fun. See yah!
33 replies:
kalami ba aning mga pagkaona oi timingan gigutom ko way paniudto. nahan kos fillet oh geeeeeezz panilap kos laway jen oi
i've never eaten tilapia, not even once. did it taste good? i don't know why, maybe because my parents never bought this type of fish before. i googled about it and realized it is a biblical fish. that it is also called "St. Peter's fish"? kina triviahan!
looks like you guys are having a great time. you looked great in the pictures net. blooming gihapon kaayo, as ever!
i must say your part 1 recount of your Vday getaway did not bore me at all. in fact, i didn't notice i was already at the end of your post. oops, hope i didn't bore you with my lengthy comments :-)
now I'm suddenly drooling and want to have tandoori chicken. I haven't had it in ages. the other dishes pictured look good too.
Cool that you have been to Graceland mansion, Elvis is the king!
I LOVE indian food!Everything you have eaten are some of my favorite food :D
wow it looks like you had a blast. nice places to eat great places to see. oh that pool... my son would be in heaven :) love the King :) Naan is very good we buy it here at whole foods :) did you have a friend peanut butter and banana sandwich? lol the kings fav :)
Looks like you had a lot fun Jenn! Medyo creepy nga to have a pic of a dead person in the bedroom but hey, it's the king of Rock & Roll so be it!
Thanks for the visit. Have a great weekend!
Mommy J
Thanks for sharing, Jenn! Beautiful captures! You smile is enough proof that you certainly had fun with the hubby on your road trip.
Makalaway ang food, hahaha!
love the photos! and the food for sure were yummy. drooling here! LOL.
i loved the guitar shaped swimming pool! mukhang nag-enjoy talaga kayo sa trip niyo. :) looking forward to reading about the rest of your valentine trip.
glad you had a blast. it's my lifetime dream to visit Graceland. god willing, I hope someday. the pool sure looks awesome. :)
Sweet shots! I dunno about the Elvis thing either. I'm not a fan of Elvis, but I can imagine how crazy they are about him in Memphis.
Also, I love Indian food, especially some of their spicy dishes! Do they have any Indian food back home?
Also, you can't go wrong with IHOP---I haven't tried their tilapia, but I'll go for it the next time we eat there.
Can't wait to hear about the next adventures in Memphis. Fantastic shots!
Hi jenn, wow adventure talaga .... you really have enjoyed ... see me for a beautiful badge award ... thanks dear!
The pictures are so vividly beautiful...really seems you have a nice time. When I look at the food pics, I got hungry....hahahah
The rooms are perfect parang royalty. Hehehe
I envy you guys, you always on the road, travel haay maayo ning wala pa anak sa kay we can go anywhere we want with out worrying anything.
Enjoy gyud ug ayo jen, kay kung naa nmau baby dugay dugay na sd makalakwatsa. nindot na mura mo mag jowa sge ug date heheh. I love all these food maghayhay nlng ko kay naglaway ko.
hi sis! i have a tag for you, posted in my blog. if you have the time, please post it.
@texas_sweetie
-oi anne paniudto pud oi, mao diay nang sexy kaau ka ha kay memorize lang diay imo lunch, hehe. bitaw lami ang fillet oi, wa ko nagmahay!
@meretrisha
-jo, o st. peter's fish pud ang other tawag aning tilapia. i havent tried this until i came here in the U.S. wala lang trip trip lang kunuhay ang grilled fish para ingnun healthy food, hahaha, nataymingan man lami man diay.
@juliana
-hi juls, it was my first time to try tandoori chicken. i liked it. i didnt expect much actually but im surprised that i find their food good.
@MommaWannabe
-hi sis. yeah it was cool. elvis was filthy rich, hahaha! the mansion was not very sophisticated but it was well-kept and has lots of fond memorabilia of the king. it was an amazing tour. i loved it.
@scott and vikki
-vikki, nope i didnt have peanut butter and banana sandwich, i didnt even know that elvis likes that, hehe. i had fun touring the mansion. it was a unique experience. memphis is wonderful. we might come back sometime next year.
@PinayWAHM
-J, oo nga creepy talaga, hehe pero I just didnt think na patay na cya para nde kakatakot, hahaha.
@scotty's princess
-lains, thanks for visiting again. yep we had a great time. fun jud ang travelling oi. nalingaw pud ko tan aw sa inyo mga photos sa paradise island. hehe
@lynn
-sorry to make u drool over there, lol! but thanks for visiting dear.
@joy
-yep it was a great trip.i thought the guitar shaped pool was cute. hehe. too bad it's not perfect weather for swimming or else i wud have dipped myself into the pool. yeah ill be posting more from our Valentine's trip, hope to see u again here on my blog. thanks for the award, girl! i'll try and post it tomorrow.
@Life Ramblings
-oh yeah u shud try and visit Graceland someday. it was a fun experience. :) the whole place was just filled with so much Elvis stuff, you'd enjoy yourself.
@Bchai
-hi there. thanks for the comment. my photos didn't come out as great as yours, hehe. im not a good photographer but i love taking pictures, i just probably didnt have the right good camera. :) btw, i luv your photos. are u using a DSLR?
yeah u should try tilapia next time. im not really wild about just any kind of fish but that one at IHOP was great.
@shy_dub
-mao jud. enjoy sa karon kay ala pa man baby. i know its really hard to travel a lot if u have little ones in tow. but yeah we both love to travel jud. malingaw ko basta new places and stuff, hehe
date date usa karon kay ala pa man anak, hahaha!
@Vernz
-thanks for the badge vernz. ill post it tomorrow. :)
@bingkee
-helo girl! thanks for visiting. sorry to make u hungry, hahaha! yeah we sure had fun from that trip. sulit ang valentine's. :)
Jenn, I use a DSLR for my shots, although I use my point n' shoot when I get too lazy to carry the bigger camera. The funny thing is, some of my best shots are with the PS. LOL.
oh gosh, i felt bloated na pud just looking at that chicken you've eaten! hahaha. thanks for sharing these photos jenn, na-apil pud ko kalingaw mura kog nag-uban ninyo!
Wow.. love the foods and all the stuffs.. thanks for sharing Jenn.. Elvis Presley is such a legend.. great!
OMGolly gosh gosh....luxurious! nice kaau ang inyong getway jenn.....love the food....:) mahalan man ko sa indian resto woi...lol!
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