Sunday, December 1, 2013

Christmas 2013

For many, a Black Friday trip to the malls is a Thanksgiving tradition.  For Calvin Farrar, it's making his rounds to several locally-owned restaurants for window painting...





The finished product...



Saturday, October 5, 2013

The Budweiser Blimp Comes to Memphis

When the Grizzlies made it to the NBA Semifinals this year, Memphis had a special visitor - - the Budweiser Blimp!




Monday, September 2, 2013

Duck on Madison


The old Bellsouth Building site on Madison, at Willett, sits empty awaiting redevelopment.  In the meantime, it acts as overflow parking for Minglewood Hall across the street.  For a time period earlier this spring, its primary purpose was to act as home for one lonely mallard duck.

Here is he relaxing on one leg.


Of course, mockingbirds are much more common along Madison.  This one is perched on the building next door.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Biltmore renovations continue

As I have posted in the past, the new owners of the Biltmore Apartments across the street are performing a major renovation.  Here are some photos of the turnaround of this historic building.

The front entrance prominently features the name of the building in a classic typeface.
On the exterior, the owner used a crane to engage in pointing the mortar. 

The front six units (the ones with the balconies) are quite large: the dining room, living room and master bedroom open up to each other via French doors.

View to the west from the balcony offers a good shot of the Gilmore.

View from master bedroom back into the living and dining rooms.  That's the rear door to the service stairs in the background.

View of my building (and balcony).

For obvious reasons, the kitchens were completed gutted.

One of the more costly parts of the renovation was the installation of central heat and air to all units. 





In some units, exposed brick walls are a feature.

Interior hallway.  The original runner was retained along the middle.

Here is a shot after the renovation.  This is the master bedroom.

Competed kitchen.  All units have a dishwasher.  The venting for the central heat and air was completely enclosed with sheet rock, almost leaving the impression that the building was built with this feature.

The owner used a historically appropriate pattern for the bathroom tiles.  Note the exposed brick towards the ceiling,

View from master bedroom.  The closet has a full-length mirror (in my opinion, this is a must!).

We will complete this tour with a view of my building, the Carolina, from the third floor balcony.

Monday, May 27, 2013

2013 Overton Square Crawfish Festival

A few weeks ago, the 2013 Overton Square Crawfish Festival was held a few blocks down from my house.  Madison Ave. was closed for the event.  Note the billboard on the left.
Point at which the road was closed.

These Bradford Pears in the median were never more appreciated.

This event, which usually takes place about a week or two before the crawfish festival on Wagner Place downtown, has grown in recent years.  No doubt the continued success of Overton Square will help this event.

We will leave with these words of wisdom.


Sunday, April 14, 2013

Memphis Catholic 5K

On Sunday, April 7, 2013, Memphis Catholic held its "Education that Works" 5K Walk/Run.  Being that the school lies on the large block across the street from me, this 5K utilized Madison for part of its route.  Here are some images from the event...

This was the first batch of participants.  Mostly runners taking the turn from Madison to Auburndale.


The run/walk featured four different colors of T-shirts: orange, blue, pink and yellow.  Here we see more walkers...


This was a later batch of folks; here we have mostly walkers.


And here's the last group of participants.  Definitely walkers here.

"Get the cones!"

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Bar-B-Q Shop's Annual Vacation

Each year in July, the Bar-B-Q Shop closes for a week to allow the entire restaurant personnel some time off.  This leads to a sometimes surprised clientele, who display the same sort of disappointment when they find out the restaurant is closed on Sundays.

Everything is going well.  What a great way to end a long morning with the Sezuki...

...I must be turning the knob wrong...

And there is is - - the agony of defeat.

Well, damn.

Off to Top's.
Two days later, we find this young family in the same predicament.

Sometimes it's that first glimpse of the note hanging on the front door...

But it doesn't sink in until you've actually given it a good read.

Well, at least the baby hasn't realized what's happened yet.

Ugh.