Day Forty – New Orleans to Memphis

Blues Idiom – Yas Yas – Used as a rhyming substitute for ‘ass,’ Yas-Yas-Yas has appeared in Hokum Blues from the 1920’s, such as Tampa Red’s big hit, ‘ The Duck Yas Yas Yas.’ Memphis Minnie sang in ‘New Dirty Dollar:’
‘Now the funniest thing I ever seen, tom cat jumping on a sewing machine,
Sewing machine ran so fast, took ninety-nine stitches in his yas yas yas.’

Lucky I checked the departure time of the train. I though it was 2 P.M. when it is really 1:45 P.M. Stew picked us up and we loaded out suitcases in his car. Said goodbye to Mickey and off we went to the station. It is only a ten minute drive. Checked in using my tablet and the downloaded train ticket.
We were talking as we waited in line and the guy in front of us asked where we were from. Turns out he is from Sydney.

No trouble getting a good seat on the second tier of our carriage, which will give us a good view of the county side. The journey takes a little over 8 hours and we are due into Memphis at around 10:15 P.M.
Plenty of time to catch up on some reading and listen to music and watch the world go by. Hunger called and we went to the dining car. I ordered a ‘genuine’ angus cheese burger. The lady behind the jump got a prepared burger out of the fridge and microwaved it. Lucky it tasted better than it looked. First time though that I have eaten a burger that sagged.

We pulled into the station right on time and had a short wait to get a cab. Once we checked in and got settled it was to late to go out exploring downtown Memphis. We have booked to stay at the Holiday Inn on Union street which is just two blocks from the world famous Beale Street.

Rob Rowe