When I think of the mighty Mississippi, I think of our summertime adventures and our travel to Memphis Tennessee. And when I think about travel to Memphis Tennessee, I think about how un-Godly sweaty I was for the three days we spent in Memphis last summer. I’m sure I must be the only person in Memphis who has ever been brave enough to wear natural deodorant. It was not a good choice. My hippie aluminum-free natural deo
dorant is all the rage in southern California where we are famous for saying “It’s a dry heat” The wet heat of Memphis as we made our way across the border to Arkansas made it feel hard to breathe as I gasped my way through a summer day in Tennessee. And I’m sure no one in this blue suede shoe state appreciated what a natural sweaty and smelly mess I was.
When I booked the Memphis leg of our eight-week vacation, the RV park looked lovely and green and right on the shores of the ‘Ol Missippi. As we rolled into the RV park on a weekday afternoon, the spacious campsite looked green and lush. We could see barges floating by on the Mississippi and we remarked how it would be such a pleasant place to spend two nights before we made the big push to drive back to the West Coast and home in California.
Then we parked and stepped out of the motorhome into the wet mouth that is travel to Memphis Tennessee in the summertime. It took me less than a minute to start regretting not booking a campsite with a pool. Our campsite was so beautiful, it was so sad to waste away a summer day hiding in the motorhome where we had AC! The following day w
e had a full day to spend in Memphis doing all the touristy things and even though the heat and humidity were God-awful, we were ready to make the most of it!
Walking and sweating in Memphis
We woke up our first full day in Memphis to the bright hot sun of Tennessee in the summertime. I put on my smallest summer dress, put my long hair up in a bun and took the dog for a quick walk in the already moist morning sun. It was eight thirty in the a.m. and I was already sweating. Damn you Memphis. No wonder Elvis drank so much. We then spent our one full day of travel in Memphis Tennessee sweating in Elvis’s living room. I’ve loved Elvis since I was in my early twenties and a trip to Graceland is a splendid way for any Elvis fan to spend an afternoon in Memphis.
If we had one more day in Memphis, I would have wanted to check out the National Civil Rights Museum. But alas we only had one day to sweat all over Memphis. So besides visiting Graceland, our Memphis pl
an included finding some great live music and a good meal.
Salt, Lime, Tequila and Sweat
They say if you do one thing in Memphis, you have to find some live music and we did that as we explored Beale Street. We wandered into a little park and came upon country star Ryan Griffin belting out Heart to Break and a few other hits he wrote for Kelsea Ballerini like Dibs. We listened to him crooning Salt, Lime and Tequila before moving on to a blues club that totally had a Tom Waits vibe to me. This Raindog could totally almost hear his gravelly voice.
I wanted to check out the Coyote Ugly Bar because when I was twenty I loved the movie Coyote Ugly. What can I tell you about the Coyote Ugly bar? It had the dirtiest bathroom I have ever used in the United States. I mean it rivaled a tube station in Germany! And the waitresses danced on the bar the entire time we were there and refused to serve us a drink! We finally gave up and decided to just Uber back to our motorhome and take the puppy for a walk by the muddy Mississippi. I tried so hard to hang out with my man outside in the sickening humid evening. It was almost midnight at this point and it was just so sweltering outside, even a cold glass of California’s finest sauvignon blanc didn’t help!
I had to give up on a romantic evening next to the Mississippi after a few minutes and go enjoy the motorhome AC. And apparently, I missed my boyfriend taking the puppy for a swim in the mighty Mississippi, you know, the most polluted river in America! Yes, the next day before we left camp for Arkansas (Which was even more hot and humid, as if that was possible!) I put on my bathing suit and gave the puppy a bath outside the motorhome before we left Memphis. I mean, it kind of cooled us down just a bit.
Why is this called a Mississippi Mud Roast? I guess this original recipe was created in Mississippi in the 90s. This is such an easy crockpot recipe. It’s fantastic on a cold winters night. But definitely not good for a hot and humid Memphis evening!
Keto Mississippi Mud Roast Soup
1 beef chuck roast
1 teaspoon of salted butter
1 package konjac noodles
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup fresh dill
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
1 teaspoon of salt
pickled peppercines, sliced
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
Enough water to cover the meat
In a coffee cup mix the mayonnaise the chopped dill, paprika and apple cider vinegar. Heat a cast iron pan until very hot. Add in the butter then your chuck roast to sear it. Salt and pepper the other side of the roast. Let the roast sear for two minutes then sear the other side for two minutes. Add the roast to the crock pot. make sure you use a spatula to get all the drippings out of your cast iron pan and add them to the crockpot as well. Layer water over your roast until it’s just barely covered. Pour your dill sauce over the roast. Put the lid on the crockpot and let sit on high for 4-6 hours.
Half an hour before you are ready to serve, remove your roast from the crock pot. Let it sit out for 15 minutes and then you can shred it. Add your peppercines to the crock pot and add the roast back in.
Rinse your konjac noodles well and drain them. Add them to the crock pot and let them cook for five minutes. Dinner is served!
