Speaker 1: Hey, folks. In this episode, it finally happened. After years
Speaker 1: of dating, I finally took Robock home to Mama. Yes.
Speaker 1: Over the Memorial Day weekend, Rose made her first ever
Speaker 1: trip to my hometown of West Memphis. So how did
Speaker 1: it go, you may ask? In short, there were a
Speaker 1: lot of ribs, a lot of ducks, a lot of music,
Speaker 1: a lot of shootings, a lot of love, a lot
Speaker 1: of inclement weather, a lot of mimosas, a lot of
Speaker 1: unexpected tears, a lot of quality in law time, and
Speaker 1: a whole lot of Elvis. There was also lots of poignant,
Speaker 1: perfect words from perfect strangers that we look for to
Speaker 1: sharing with you. And with that, welcome to this episode
Speaker 1: of Amy and TJ. Roobes off the top first time
Speaker 1: going to my hometown. What was your impression?
Speaker 2: I loved it. It was warm, but not just the weather.
Speaker 2: It was inviting. I love the people in Memphis. I
Speaker 2: loved the smell of Memphis. Everywhere you go, you just
Speaker 2: smell barbecue. And I'm not kidding, like it was everywhere,
Speaker 2: and I was hungry and we brought our appetites, but
Speaker 2: it was just you know, what was especially fun for
Speaker 2: me was to see you feel at home, to feel
Speaker 2: that warm embrace from the place that brought you up,
Speaker 2: and to see everyone else also be excited to see
Speaker 2: a hometown boy come home. I just the whole thing
Speaker 2: was beautiful for me to witness, and I felt like
Speaker 2: I got to know you even more. I feel like
Speaker 2: I know you really, really well. But when you go
Speaker 2: back to someone's hometown and you see where they're from,
Speaker 2: you understand them. And it's not even that I could
Speaker 2: put it into words. I just it was YA got you. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I just it was It's a part of you. And
Speaker 2: it just felt cool to witness it and see it,
Speaker 2: and I felt a little closer to you. We I
Speaker 2: think we got even closer.
Speaker 1: Anything you understand better after going now, I think, well,
Speaker 1: so I didn't mean to ask that. I didn't mean
Speaker 1: to put you on the spot there, But look.
Speaker 2: You tend to be somebody who you're a warm, loving
Speaker 2: kind person, but you have your guard up all the time,
Speaker 2: and you're always your head is on a swivel, and
Speaker 2: you are always looking around at your environment. And I
Speaker 2: don't want to say you're distrustful of other people, but
Speaker 2: you do have a healthy skepticism and walking the streets
Speaker 2: of Memphis and seeing how you came up and seeing
Speaker 2: how people live and work under a little bit of
Speaker 2: a threat of violence that did. I think it made
Speaker 2: a little bit more sense to me about why you
Speaker 2: are the way you are.
Speaker 1: And we should say I sat off the top. Is
Speaker 1: the first time taking you home to Mama. Obviously you
Speaker 1: have been around and hung out with my folks plenty,
Speaker 1: but this was the first time you actually got to
Speaker 1: go to my hometown and actually set foot in the
Speaker 1: home where I grew up. So I don't go home
Speaker 1: a lot. I think everybody knows me knows that. And
Speaker 1: when I do go home and people hear me talk
Speaker 1: about it, I go to Fayetteville, which is on the
Speaker 1: other side of the state from where I'm from, because
Speaker 1: that's where I went to school. But there's a reason
Speaker 1: we decided to go home this time. Sorry, folks. It
Speaker 1: wasn't necessarily because of y'all, but we had We looked
Speaker 1: at the calendar a while back. I've been having some
Speaker 1: foot injuries. We were trying to find a race to
Speaker 1: kind of ease ourselves back into running.
Speaker 2: Yes, so we found a ten k the Great American
Speaker 2: River Run, and it was in early spring March right
Speaker 2: where we decided to sign up. And I haven't run
Speaker 2: a ten k in twenty plus years, and I thought
Speaker 2: this will be a fun, nice, easier race for us
Speaker 2: to get back into racing. I needed a recovery race, yes, sure,
Speaker 2: and honestly I did too. I've been struggling with my
Speaker 2: nausea while running, and I've actually been questioning whether or
Speaker 2: not I'm still a long distance runner because it's been
Speaker 2: so miserable. So I thought this will be perfect for
Speaker 2: both of us. We'll do a six point two mile
Speaker 2: run and we'll get back into it.
Speaker 1: Along the river. We were really really excited about this,
Speaker 1: and we had done a certain amount of training to
Speaker 1: get prepared for it, and I'd done a lot of
Speaker 1: work on my achilles and on my foot sprain to
Speaker 1: try to get it worked out. So we're excited for
Speaker 1: the race. I think it's a manageable distance for us.
Speaker 1: But the weather. As soon as we got there, we
Speaker 1: had to keep a close eye. They weren't just talking
Speaker 1: about rain coming robes. They were talking about for days
Speaker 1: a severe weather situation that was coming through that area.
Speaker 1: And it's the mid South, they get it all the time,
Speaker 1: but man, the timing was one hundred percent perfectly awful
Speaker 1: for us.
Speaker 2: Right. So the rest of the day, by the way,
Speaker 2: was gorgeous and sunny and beautiful. But at six eighteen
Speaker 2: am and we were getting ready, we were up, we
Speaker 2: were getting dressed, we were excited. Were like, you know,
Speaker 2: we've run in the rain. Both of us have run
Speaker 2: in the rain. Brooklyn half I had like a sideways
Speaker 2: rain pounding me for thirteen point one miles, so we
Speaker 2: brought rain gear. We were ready to go. But at
Speaker 2: six eighteen am the alert came that they had well,
Speaker 2: they said that they transitioned to the race to a
Speaker 2: virtual one, so.
Speaker 1: We couldn't get our money back.
Speaker 2: Aka, they canceled it, but they didn't want to say
Speaker 2: they canceled it.
Speaker 1: It was canceled.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was canceled.
Speaker 1: And the crabby part we've been we've traveled going to
Speaker 1: races before. This was the absolute best location we've ever had. Literally,
Speaker 1: we looked out of our hotel window and the start
Speaker 1: line was right.
Speaker 2: There, the start and the finish LINEA all looked around,
Speaker 2: so it was we were feet away from the start line.
Speaker 2: So we thought, this is so convenient, this is so awesome.
Speaker 2: Love running in the rain and seven point thirty was
Speaker 2: our racetime and it came and went, and yes, there
Speaker 2: we could hear the thunder, we could see the lightning.
Speaker 2: It was an absolute threat that I understand why they
Speaker 2: had to they had to cancel.
Speaker 1: Those lightning in the area, and we get that. It
Speaker 1: was disappointing, but we got over it pretty quickly. They're
Speaker 1: just some things in life you can't do anything about.
Speaker 1: And you know, that was a great exercise in us
Speaker 1: and we should be absolutely we should be proud of
Speaker 1: the fact that we handled that situation. This is something
Speaker 1: we've been planning for months and it didn't happen. Oh well,
Speaker 1: is all you can say. And just surrender to the moment.
Speaker 1: This is what is going to be. So let's turn
Speaker 1: this day into something else. And we did. We ended
Speaker 1: up cutting up on Saturday in a major way. We'll
Speaker 1: get into that in the second. But rhobes is something
Speaker 1: I look, I grew up around it, and many people
Speaker 1: there are under the constant threat of it. But I
Speaker 1: told you, and almost warned you to a certain degree,
Speaker 1: that this is a dangerous and can be a dangerous place,
Speaker 1: and can be a dangerous city and a violent city.
Speaker 1: And it didn't take long before somebody backed me up.
Speaker 1: I should say, we didn't even get to the hotel.
Speaker 2: No, we got into the uber. And when he was
Speaker 2: dropping us off at our lovely, amazing hotel, the Peabody,
Speaker 2: which I will say so many wonderful things about. But
Speaker 2: as he was dropping us off, the uber driver said,
Speaker 2: y'all be careful out there. It's dangerous. And I looked
Speaker 2: at you and I thought, wow, that's crazy. We're coming
Speaker 2: from New York City, right, And we get to Memphis,
Speaker 2: this sweet southern town that's just filled with good vibes
Speaker 2: and good smells and great music, by the way, blues
Speaker 2: playing in the streets as soon as you get out
Speaker 2: of the uber, and I'm being told be careful.
Speaker 1: Look, I told you, I guess. Leading up to I said,
Speaker 1: we didn't turn on a teeve. I told anticipate, Hey,
Speaker 1: say hey, when we get that, just turn on the news,
Speaker 1: every local news, and every top story. I'm telling you
Speaker 1: it is going to be about somebody getting shot.
Speaker 2: So we turn on the local news. We love watching
Speaker 2: local news, by the way, every time we travel it's
Speaker 2: the first thing we do. We actually spend a lot
Speaker 2: of time watching local news. And you were not kidding, babe.
Speaker 2: Every single morning, it wasn't one shooting, it wasn't two shootings,
Speaker 2: and it was all breaking news, and it was just
Speaker 2: shooting after shooting after shooting. It was fairly jaw dropping.
Speaker 1: We can tell you now. There was a young mother
Speaker 1: of three who was shot and killed over the weekend
Speaker 1: in Memphis. We know that because we watched that top story.
Speaker 1: There was another shooting at a hotel. We remember that
Speaker 1: one as well. It was, like it's said, and I
Speaker 1: didn't know this robes until I looked into it. But
Speaker 1: a week and a half before we went to Memphis,
Speaker 1: FBI director said Memphis is the murder capital of the US,
Speaker 1: have more murders per capita than anywhere else in the country.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize that that sounds about right. We've heard
Speaker 1: things over the years, but it's as much charm and yes,
Speaker 1: people some people just go to Bill Street and get
Speaker 1: out of there. But when you get out of downtown,
Speaker 1: get town away from something. I mean, downtown can be dangerous.
Speaker 1: But it's just sad that a place that I grew
Speaker 1: up in love and has this much charm that you
Speaker 1: are obviously in love with, that you get a warning
Speaker 1: as soon as you get out of there.
Speaker 2: It is God, it is sad because there is so
Speaker 2: much beauty, from the people, to the buildings, to the music,
Speaker 2: to the food. It just seems like such a shame
Speaker 2: that now you have to live under that. And you
Speaker 2: mentioned Beal Street, and if anyone's been to Memphis, you
Speaker 2: know that is the street where everyone goes. We're all
Speaker 2: the music and the food and the shopping and it's amazing.
Speaker 2: But we went there during the day. One time, we
Speaker 2: went by the night time and it actually seemed a
Speaker 2: little scary to walk down there as well.
Speaker 1: Look, I am always I know the town fairly well.
Speaker 1: I know where to go and where not to go,
Speaker 1: and I can tell when suffer doesn't feel right in
Speaker 1: an environment, we need to get out of it. And
Speaker 1: that was Yes, there was one night we said, no,
Speaker 1: we don't want to be here, be out here where
Speaker 1: there are metal detectors, just to go have a good time.
Speaker 1: It just felt ominous to a certain degree, and we avoid.
Speaker 1: Well, we got plenty of good time. Look, we're going on
Speaker 1: about the violence and how that went, but we had
Speaker 1: a great, great, great great time in Memphis, in particular
Speaker 1: on Bill Street, of course, is where we spent most
Speaker 1: of our time. But get this, folks, Robes never been
Speaker 1: to Memphis before. Ella, Right, she has traveled all around
Speaker 1: the world. She has stayed at and also eaten at
Speaker 1: some of the best places and some of the best
Speaker 1: meals you could ever imagine. And do you know that, Roeboch,
Speaker 1: first there were a trip to Memphis. The second place
Speaker 1: she ate in Memphis, These words came out of her mouth.
Speaker 1: This is the best thing I've ever eaten in my life.
Speaker 2: I am a bit dramatic sometimes, I will give you that.
Speaker 1: It was much.
Speaker 2: I like my superlatives just as much as maybe the
Speaker 2: President does. But yeah, we were in BB King's and
Speaker 2: that was not the first, the second, or the third
Speaker 2: time we were there. But yeah, you know, I didn't
Speaker 2: grow up eating ribs. It's I've learned from you and
Speaker 2: now from your father. It is a long and very
Speaker 2: special process that I don't think anyone in my family
Speaker 2: has the patience to deal with.
Speaker 1: I don't either. I grew up around it, and I'm
Speaker 1: not a good rib maker, so let's say that.
Speaker 2: But I could not believe how good these baby back
Speaker 2: ribs were, from baby back, baby back from BB King
Speaker 2: and you even were like, these aren't even the best,
Speaker 2: like they might be a little dry. The next day
Speaker 2: you said they were better, but I couldn't believe how
Speaker 2: they just melted in my mouth. They were amazing. And
Speaker 2: we're not putting barbecue sauce on things because we haven't
Speaker 2: told people were Probably we're being annoying, I guess, but
Speaker 2: we're doing a six week reset on keto, so no sugar,
Speaker 2: no carbs, none of that. So we couldn't even put
Speaker 2: barbecue sauce on the ribs. And that just speaks to
Speaker 2: how well seasoned they were, with the dry rub and
Speaker 2: the flavor and the juices. It didn't even need. You know,
Speaker 2: sometimes you gotta smother these things and barbecue sauce to
Speaker 2: make them taste the way you want them to. Didn't
Speaker 2: even need a drop of barbecues.
Speaker 1: That was hilarious to see you go crazy with those
Speaker 1: ribs that day. Look, folk, I do not robes know
Speaker 1: if I can remember eating that much. Like we ate
Speaker 1: four five plus meals a day because everywhere we went
Speaker 1: something smelled good. Let's just get one.
Speaker 2: Bite, get a little bit, let's just get in. We
Speaker 2: kept calling them like little appetizers.
Speaker 1: Yeah, slabber rips.
Speaker 2: That's all going from appetizer to appetizer to appetizer.
Speaker 1: We ate so well, But I'm so glad you love
Speaker 1: BB King's the way you did. It's been there obviously
Speaker 1: a long time. It's at that prime corner on Bill
Speaker 1: Street if anybody's ever been there, but music is constantly playing,
Speaker 1: like all day. Even when you think it's quiet in
Speaker 1: there and nobody's really not much of a crowd, live
Speaker 1: music is played. I what would you guess, I know
Speaker 1: at least twice that day. How many stops do we
Speaker 1: make in that place over the Memorial Day weekend?
Speaker 2: I mean, all I can say is multiple.
Speaker 1: It might have been up to five. We saw a
Speaker 1: lot of music.
Speaker 2: It was kind of embarrassed because the people were like, yeah, hey,
Speaker 2: we're back. Yeah, we were coming back again. I mean
Speaker 2: hopefully they took it as a compliment. I was actually
Speaker 2: a little embarrassed.
Speaker 1: Don't be embarrassed. The place is great. Nobody was even
Speaker 1: noticed we were there, probably but one lady that did notice.
Speaker 1: And this was the first day there, and this is look,
Speaker 1: this was I just walked you down there on the
Speaker 1: first day. We got in late on Thursdays, just walked
Speaker 1: down to the end of the street. Hey, take a look.
Speaker 1: We're just standing at the beginning of Beal Street and
Speaker 1: a woman runs out of BB King's. We thought she
Speaker 1: worked there because she was recruiting us to come. She
Speaker 1: was the sweetest, kindest, just complimentary. Love you guys, Come
Speaker 1: on in, let me get you a drink. I actually asked,
Speaker 1: do you work there? She said no, I'm a teacher
Speaker 1: over fifth grade teacher. She was just sweet as pie.
Speaker 1: And we did. Look. People come to us in public
Speaker 1: all the time, but folks come up to us in
Speaker 1: a way there. That's just nobody would say, hey, let
Speaker 1: me get a picture. They want to hug, maybe buy
Speaker 1: your drink, come have a bite with us. Good to
Speaker 1: see you, proud of you, all these things, and it's
Speaker 1: something about that that, yes, Robes does feel different and
Speaker 1: does make me love home.
Speaker 2: You know what was really cool. I don't think anybody
Speaker 2: this is unusual. And I don't mean to say anything.
Speaker 2: If you want to get a picture, we love it.
Speaker 2: If you ask, that's wonderful. We don't love it when
Speaker 2: you take it without asking. But people weren't even asking
Speaker 2: for that. People weren't asking anything from us or of us.
Speaker 2: They were just wanting to give us something like literally,
Speaker 2: that woman offered to give us food to please let me,
Speaker 2: and then other people just coming by and just saying,
Speaker 2: I love that y'all are still together. I love that
Speaker 2: y'all are here. And it was just sweet and kind
Speaker 2: and we both appreciated and it was noted another person.
Speaker 1: Of know, there were several people we ran into that
Speaker 1: made such an impression on us, but this was the first.
Speaker 1: I said at the top. We ran too perfect strangers
Speaker 1: who gave us perfect and poignant words. And one of
Speaker 1: them was a lady, black lady who was working the
Speaker 1: alcohol stand their own Bill Street, and I remember she
Speaker 1: had blonde.
Speaker 2: Hair, a yeah, Dolly Parton kind of a way.
Speaker 1: It was awesome, It was great.
Speaker 2: She stood out.
Speaker 1: She was sweet. They're all, you know women in Memphis
Speaker 1: and New Orleans, the ones that called everybody sugar and
Speaker 1: baby and that those this is what it felt like.
Speaker 1: But she was sweetest pie. But you did something and
Speaker 1: I don't know what it was, but she had a
Speaker 1: great comeback. When I just joked with you. See, I
Speaker 1: looked at her, I said, hey, can't take her anywhere.
Speaker 1: It was just a joke. We were just having a
Speaker 1: good time. Yeah, it was nothing to it. And then
Speaker 1: she said something that made me stop in my tracks.
Speaker 1: I say to her, look at her talking about you.
Speaker 1: I said, ah, you know, robes here, can't take her anywhere.
Speaker 2: And then she said to you, you should take her everywhere.
Speaker 1: Boom.
Speaker 2: How amazing was that?
Speaker 1: Boom?
Speaker 2: I wanted to go give her a hug.
Speaker 1: At that part, I just thought it was sweet. That
Speaker 1: was just a sweet thing.
Speaker 2: It was quick witted too. There's I mean, sharp and poignant,
Speaker 2: like you said. I thought it was just a nice
Speaker 2: little reminder. Yeah, we can joke a lot, but you
Speaker 2: should take her everywhere.
Speaker 1: I love it, and I wish I got her name.
Speaker 1: I think we knew it for a second and I
Speaker 1: didn't remember it. And if I go down there, I
Speaker 1: will seek her out. If you all know the blonde
Speaker 1: lady that works the alcohol stand on Bill Street, it's
Speaker 1: a little diagonal from Phoebe King's across the street there.
Speaker 1: If you know her, please tell her we appreciated her.
Speaker 1: And it actually meant something to us that she said that.
Speaker 1: The other highlight has to be just if we went
Speaker 1: and stayed at the Peabody Hotel. Yes, by the way,
Speaker 1: I don't stay at home. When I go home, I
Speaker 1: stay at a hotel. But the hotel in Memphis it's
Speaker 1: my to this day. Been all over the world. My
Speaker 1: one hundred percent favorite hotel on planet Earth is the
Speaker 1: Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. And Robes, you've heard about
Speaker 1: it for years. You could probably see now why I
Speaker 1: love this place.
Speaker 2: Yet you've been talking about this hotel for a very
Speaker 2: long time, and a very special something they do twice
Speaker 2: a day, every single day, and I never understood it
Speaker 2: when you were explaining it to me. You said, to me, Robes,
Speaker 2: They've got these ducks and they live in a penthouse
Speaker 2: suite on top of the Peabody Hotel, and every day
Speaker 2: they march them down and their train to come down
Speaker 2: the elevator, walk in a direct line down a red
Speaker 2: carpet into the fountain that's in the middle of the lobby,
Speaker 2: and everyone watches and cheers on these ducks. I said,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, what did you just say?
Speaker 1: All of that is accurate, it's ULTI So if you
Speaker 1: go into that hotel any point during the day, the
Speaker 1: ducks will be in this big fountain in the middle,
Speaker 1: five of them swimming around. They will hop out for
Speaker 1: a second. But they won't ever try to fly anywhere.
Speaker 1: They won't ever try to escape, They won't ever get
Speaker 1: off the fountain. They will stay there all day and
Speaker 1: they march back and forth. It's a tradition, they go.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna explain the whole thing, but it's a
Speaker 1: long standing tradition there that has to do with some
Speaker 1: dunk hunters and some Jack Daniel's alcohol. But the tradition continues,
Speaker 1: and they have a duck master, a guy dressed up
Speaker 1: who has a duck cane who guides them in and out. Now,
Speaker 1: what was your when You've heard about it forever, but
Speaker 1: you got to get a peek of it on that
Speaker 1: first full day we were there. We didn't sit down
Speaker 1: it all in, but you looked and you were able
Speaker 1: to at least see and see the crowd gathered. What
Speaker 1: was your impression once you saw it?
Speaker 2: It was awesome, It was a spectacle. It was traditional,
Speaker 2: and I saw you light up like I don't know
Speaker 2: how old you were when you first saw it, like
Speaker 2: a six year old boy. Maybe I saw you turn
Speaker 2: back into that kid and looking at the magic of
Speaker 2: it and watching the spectacle of it, and just it
Speaker 2: was beautiful and sweet, and there aren't many things in
Speaker 2: this world left, especially when we're talking about what perhaps
Speaker 2: is going on in the outskirts of Memphis that isn't
Speaker 2: so great. To see people coming in from all walks
Speaker 2: of life. Some people seeing it for the first time,
Speaker 2: some people bringing their kids back to a tradition they loved,
Speaker 2: or exposing their kids to a new tradition. But this
Speaker 2: is something where people came together. It didn't matter what
Speaker 2: you look like or where you lived, and everybody got
Speaker 2: to cheer on these ducks walking all in a row.
Speaker 2: It's just it's sweet. There aren't many moments like this.
Speaker 1: Alone run It's weird kind of it's fun, but it
Speaker 1: has a cool story to it. And I'm telling the
Speaker 1: lobby is packed every single time they walk them in
Speaker 1: at eleven am. They walk in out at five and
Speaker 1: the place is packed and they're cheering and kid, yes,
Speaker 1: I went as a kid. I took sabine as a kid.
Speaker 1: It's just I love it and gone countless times and
Speaker 1: every time I light up, well, I guess to see it.
Speaker 1: So we met the duck master Keenan. I didn't know him.
Speaker 1: Apparently his brother saw us and he came over to
Speaker 1: his said hello, and he has a whole presentation. He does,
Speaker 1: but Keenan is the duck Master and love his brother.
Speaker 1: He does it five days a week, he does, but
Speaker 1: then he has somebody's substitute in for him for a
Speaker 1: couple of days. But it's an on, folks, if you
Speaker 1: ever go to Memphis, you have to take the time
Speaker 1: to do this at.
Speaker 2: Brody and to see the pride and joy he has
Speaker 2: in doing his job and bringing other people into the
Speaker 2: magic of the ducks was really cool. He took to you.
Speaker 2: I have to say, I think it's the most excited
Speaker 2: I've ever seen you. But any gain, no gift I've
Speaker 2: given you, has ever brought you this much joy. But
Speaker 2: he gave you your own official duck Master Kane, and he
Speaker 2: signed it. And you actually left it with your parents
Speaker 2: because you were afraid that you would get it taken
Speaker 2: away at TSA. It does have a bill at the end.
Speaker 1: Anybody signed it. He signed it to me two t
Speaker 1: holmes from Keenan the duck Mass and loved it. Was
Speaker 1: again I was a kid watching this and now I
Speaker 1: come over there and the duck Master recognizes us and
Speaker 1: wants to gift me this, I lost my mind. So
Speaker 1: this was a very very big deal to me. Gerard,
Speaker 1: another guy that works there in the lobby, did something
Speaker 1: that was absolutely hilarious. Now I didn't I don't think
Speaker 1: we had talked to him beforehand, but he spotted us
Speaker 1: at some point doing something somewhere in the hotel, being
Speaker 1: having drinks, being silly, having a good time. I'm down
Speaker 1: there by myself at one point in the lobby. You
Speaker 1: were up in the room. He comes over to me,
Speaker 1: and he's not a big like an outgoing guy. He
Speaker 1: almost like have to lean in. Is he going to
Speaker 1: say something? Kind of quiet but sweet guy. And I
Speaker 1: couldn't understand what he was saying. And he said, hey,
Speaker 1: I don't want to you know, and I don't want
Speaker 1: to be presumptuous here and you know, give anybody the
Speaker 1: wrong impression. I didn't know what he was talking about.
Speaker 1: And I look down at his hand and he's holding
Speaker 1: two rubber ducks, one dressed as a bride and one
Speaker 1: dressed there as a groom. And it was hilarious. I
Speaker 1: fell out in the middle of the lobby. Couldn't wait
Speaker 1: to show you.
Speaker 2: It was adorable. And then we kept getting little ducks.
Speaker 2: People drink Mimosa's around while they're watching the ducks come
Speaker 2: in and the duck master do his show. So every
Speaker 2: time you order a mimosa, they give you a little
Speaker 2: rubber ducky. So you now have the bride in the
Speaker 2: groom lined up in your bedroom with little rubber duckies
Speaker 2: that we collected along the way. It's hilarious that is
Speaker 2: now on display in your bedroom.
Speaker 1: We should look, folks. We will post pictures from what happened,
Speaker 1: because I know a lot of y'all like calling bullshit.
Speaker 1: This stuff didn't happen. It actually happened. And there were
Speaker 1: ducks robes. Saw you light up? There are ducks everywhere.
Speaker 1: Duck merchandise, I should say, everything you can imagine that
Speaker 1: has a duck on it is being made, including some
Speaker 1: underwear that on the back was I say, butt quack, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: And we bought.
Speaker 2: Some of that any like you know, no ducking way,
Speaker 2: thank you, so ducking much like anything you can do
Speaker 2: with duck. It's there for purchase, and we were obsessed
Speaker 2: with it and we wanted all of it. Glasses, water bottles.
Speaker 2: I got a hoodie that I think Sabine is very envious.
Speaker 2: Of Now you better keep an eye on at it
Speaker 2: big duck in the front. If I'm missing it, I
Speaker 2: know where it is. T shirts. I mean, if it
Speaker 2: wasn't if it didn't have a duck on it, it had
Speaker 2: something to do with Elvis between the two. That was everywhere.
Speaker 2: And we went to town literally and you know.
Speaker 1: What we were just before we started recording this episode.
Speaker 1: Here we actually discussed, you know what, we forgot to
Speaker 1: get those drinking glasses. We're gonna order some stuff now.
Speaker 2: Dazzled duck fantasic drinking glasses. Can't put them in the dishwasher,
Speaker 2: but man, they're gorgeous.
Speaker 1: They are absolutely gorgeous. So the duck ceremony were talking
Speaker 1: about here, you just got a glimpse of it. But
Speaker 1: on Saturday, after we knew our race wasn't happening, we
Speaker 1: just go we just lose our minds.
Speaker 2: In a weird way. You know, we were a little bit,
Speaker 2: we were a little bit we're definitely disappointed that the
Speaker 2: race wasn't happening. But we went downstairs. We thought, wait,
Speaker 2: now we have time to secure a perfect seat for
Speaker 2: the duck ceremony. And we hadn't figured out what we
Speaker 2: were going to do with your parents, and so we
Speaker 2: invited them to come join us. They only lived ten
Speaker 2: minutes away, so we ended up having the best morning
Speaker 2: with your parents watching the ducks. That wouldn't have happened
Speaker 2: if the race had been canceled.
Speaker 1: And please know, folks, the ceremony is at eleven, but
Speaker 1: folks start showing up at nine trying to get a
Speaker 1: good spot, So our race got canceled. We found a spot.
Speaker 1: Bartender loves us. Give us some mimosas and the rubber
Speaker 1: duckies and we're gonna be good. So we got a spot,
Speaker 1: prime prime spot. Keenan, our duck master friend now hooked
Speaker 1: us up during the ceremony and was calling us out
Speaker 1: and it was a little embarrassing at times, but it
Speaker 1: was fun. You still felt, Look, I'm this age, I've
Speaker 1: been coming to this hotel my whole life, and now
Speaker 1: the duck master recognizes us during a ceremony. That's a
Speaker 1: big deal for me.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I get.
Speaker 1: That, I've won Emmys. This was a bigger deal.
Speaker 2: The duck master Kane and recognition at the duck ceremony. Yes,
Speaker 2: that's everything. That's a full circle moment for you. And
Speaker 2: you weren't just putting on. I was looking at you
Speaker 2: and you could just see this sweet, pure joy. I
Speaker 2: just there aren't many things in life where you can
Speaker 2: have that, and it was just cool to see you
Speaker 2: feel that, and I was felt really honored to be
Speaker 2: a part of it.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you for that. It was honored to have
Speaker 1: you there to be a part of But the final look,
Speaker 1: we hung out with my parents that day and then
Speaker 1: we sent them home because we had a party in
Speaker 1: the Dog on Saturday.
Speaker 2: We had to go back to bb King.
Speaker 1: Let's be honest, Okay, we had that to do, and well, yeah,
Speaker 1: there was a big day. We're you nervous at all?
Speaker 1: Going so again to explain a little geography to folks,
Speaker 1: I am from West Memphis. Of course, people know Memphis now.
Speaker 1: When I say where I'm from, I usually just say
Speaker 1: West Memphis and leave it at that. People get it
Speaker 1: good enough of an idea. But I am from West Memphis, Arkansas. Technically,
Speaker 1: I am from a town that is in the state
Speaker 1: of Arkansas. If you've ever been to Memphis, if you're
Speaker 1: standing in Memphis looking at the Mississippi River on the
Speaker 1: other side is Arkansas. That first time you come to
Speaker 1: is West Memphis, so I grew up in the Memphis
Speaker 1: culture and whatnot, but technically I'm an Arkansas boy, so
Speaker 1: we had to get maneuver go across the bridge to
Speaker 1: West Memphis. You're about to go to my parents' house,
Speaker 1: the home I grew up in for the first time.
Speaker 1: Were you nervous at all?
Speaker 2: I wasn't nervous because I know your parents. This is
Speaker 2: I've spent time with them, and we obviously had spent
Speaker 2: time with them the day before. I love your parents.
Speaker 2: I think they're so sweet. They're so proud of you,
Speaker 2: and it was now I knew it was gonna be fun.
Speaker 2: And your dad was so excited to cook. He has
Speaker 2: seven grills, and I got to see them in person.
Speaker 2: I'd seen pictures you had sent me of them, but
Speaker 2: I actually came out, and it's impressive, Like, WHOA, I
Speaker 2: cannot believe one person has this many grills. But I
Speaker 2: loved going into your Not many people even have childhood
Speaker 2: homes still I certainly don't, so it was really cool
Speaker 2: to see the room you grew up in the backyard
Speaker 2: that's been filled in, but the pool you once jumped
Speaker 2: in just where it was just putting it all into
Speaker 2: perspective to see it and see your parents in their
Speaker 2: own home environment, you and your it was I again,
Speaker 2: you just feel closer to somebody when you see where
Speaker 2: they come from, and especially if you get the opportunity
Speaker 2: to see where they grew up.
Speaker 1: Anytime you go home, why is it parents have to
Speaker 1: cook for you. It'll have to take you out to eat,
Speaker 1: no matter what take care of you, level of success
Speaker 1: you reach, it doesn't matter. They always had like it's
Speaker 1: almost an obligation. You have to let them do that
Speaker 1: for you, exactly. And they were dying, dying to take
Speaker 1: us out for the several days we were there, but
Speaker 1: they finally got to cook on Sunday, which was a
Speaker 1: terrible weather day, like serious inclement weather that day, and
Speaker 1: Pops fired up the grill like six am.
Speaker 2: And of course, so he fires up the grill at
Speaker 2: six am because we just mentioned ribs take so long
Speaker 2: to cook. But my goodness, right when we got there,
Speaker 2: I think within five ten minutes, the skies opened up
Speaker 2: thunder lightning. I mean the skies were black, and and
Speaker 2: it rolled in right at the time when your dad,
Speaker 2: like the critical time when you're trying to take the
Speaker 2: meat off the grill, and so y'all had the umbrella
Speaker 2: running back in and by the way, they were amazing.
Speaker 2: Your dad kept saying, oh, they're not as good. I
Speaker 2: had to do this. The rain cooled down the grill,
Speaker 2: which totally makes sense, but I thought they were amazing.
Speaker 1: Say and let us. I know you've seen pictures in
Speaker 1: the past. I've gone home and I'm cooking with my
Speaker 1: family and we go to town. You've seen it before,
Speaker 1: and I think you've like, what the hell, who's coming
Speaker 1: and what's happening? So this event, we had four people, right,
Speaker 1: me and you, Mom and dad.
Speaker 2: It was so funny because you were like, Dad, who
Speaker 2: else is coming? Why did you cook so much food?
Speaker 2: Which made me laugh because that's exactly what I say
Speaker 2: to you every time we prepare a meal. I'm like,
Speaker 2: is anyone coming? Why do we have ten plates filled
Speaker 2: with meat right now?
Speaker 1: Okay? So four people, eight slabs of ribs and seven
Speaker 1: filet mignon.
Speaker 2: Yes, and that's not a joke. Plus he was going
Speaker 2: to put on sausages, but we were like, maybe maybe
Speaker 2: we don't need to make those as well. Plus your
Speaker 2: mom a cake for you.
Speaker 1: Sorry, Mama couldn't eat because.
Speaker 2: We had to explain that we're not eating sugar right now.
Speaker 2: That's terrible, is it? I still feel bad about that.
Speaker 1: Boundaries you have have to have boundaries.
Speaker 2: It looked like a beautiful bunt cake and it was
Speaker 2: your favorite, your.
Speaker 1: Favorite cake, and I couldn't eat it. Eat it? What
Speaker 1: do you want for me?
Speaker 2: But we had asparagus and cauliflower. It was very sweet.
Speaker 2: They elt Brussels sprouts. They went and found all the
Speaker 2: vegetables that we do eat and could eat. It was
Speaker 2: very very sweet of that.
Speaker 1: But all that food they made us eat on little
Speaker 1: plastic football plates. What was that about the paper? Even
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: They had them. It was efficient. Wanted to use them.
Speaker 2: You're like, what are these from? But it you know,
Speaker 2: it worked.
Speaker 1: I gave them a hard time about it, but it's
Speaker 1: it always is good to go back and I'm glad
Speaker 1: you got to see it. And yes, that's my that's it.
Speaker 1: That's where little Tea Junior, not TJ. I was never
Speaker 1: called TJ.
Speaker 2: In that house, junior, And that's what they still call
Speaker 2: you all.
Speaker 1: I have ever been called. So that was a fun day.
Speaker 1: On Sunday? Did we go was it that day? Yeah?
Speaker 1: We went shopping again. We went back.
Speaker 2: We went shopping almost every day. Yes, yes, but we
Speaker 2: then we went shopping and then we realized, ooh, maybe
Speaker 2: I should just go back and get one more thing.
Speaker 2: And you were a little envious of a sweatshirt I got.
Speaker 1: Oh, I was pissed. Envious is tough. I prefer to
Speaker 1: be jealous, okay, because when I'm jealous of something, it
Speaker 1: means I also want what you have. When I'm envious,
Speaker 1: it feels like I also don't want you to have it,
Speaker 1: like I'm mad.
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, So well, you were a little envious.
Speaker 1: I was mad.
Speaker 2: You're a little mad that I got a sweatshirt that
Speaker 2: I loved so much.
Speaker 1: But when you crossed the line to envious, I know
Speaker 1: this is not good because I was. I was upset
Speaker 1: how happy you were. I was happy.
Speaker 2: I was happy because the rain had cooled things off
Speaker 2: so much, and I had more like warmer weather clothing.
Speaker 2: So the fact that I had bought this Bulle Street
Speaker 2: Memphis oversized sweatshirt meant the next day, when it was
Speaker 2: a little cooler, I could just put on some leggings
Speaker 2: in my oversized sweatshirt, and I did feel cool.
Speaker 1: You looked good, You really looked cute in that thing,
Speaker 1: and it's a great, great sweater. But we go back
Speaker 1: to that same spot. She had bought the sweater a
Speaker 1: day or two ahead of time, but we went back
Speaker 1: to that same spot to check maybe there's something there
Speaker 1: for me, since you found something that was so great.
Speaker 1: But I ended up getting something great out of there
Speaker 1: that was not a piece of merchandise. I cannot remember
Speaker 1: her name either, white lady that was working that shop.
Speaker 1: This one was good. I mean, I couldn't believe because so.
Speaker 2: Quick these women were, and I appreciated what they had
Speaker 2: to say. So TJ is looking around, and this woman's
Speaker 2: laughing at us, because I think we were going back
Speaker 2: and forth with each other. And so to explain what
Speaker 2: we were talking about, TJ said to the woman, I'm
Speaker 2: trying to find something I love as much as she
Speaker 2: loves that sweatshirt. And the woman said to TJ, you
Speaker 2: already have her.
Speaker 1: Didn't miss a beat. We immediately didn't miss a beat.
Speaker 2: You already have her.
Speaker 1: And as she that was a mic drop, no response.
Speaker 1: I just want to hug that lady. I want to
Speaker 1: to cry. I want that was so sweet and a nice,
Speaker 1: little simple reminder of little things and life, you know
Speaker 1: that weekends where I have never had a weekend like
Speaker 1: that at home because I have a perspective now about
Speaker 1: my life that I can now view through my home
Speaker 1: town experiences that is different. And that woman said that
Speaker 1: to me, and I just I was We were giddy,
Speaker 1: we were tickled. I was just so touched, you know.
Speaker 2: It was said to me, can you please write that
Speaker 2: down right now so we won't forget, because sometimes we
Speaker 2: forget exactly how things are worded. But it's just so cool.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to find something I love as much as
Speaker 2: she loves that sweatshirt. You already have her. Oh love
Speaker 2: that lady, and people can give you advice that lands
Speaker 2: in the moments. It was silly, but it's just that
Speaker 2: immediate perspective, like, wow, it's so true. As much as
Speaker 2: we were having fun, it's not what you have, it's
Speaker 2: who you have. You know.
Speaker 1: In both of those instances, the black lady with the
Speaker 1: blonde hair that we're describing and this one here, I
Speaker 1: was just kind of a throwaway line, making a joke,
Speaker 1: and they responded with something poignant. They were still they
Speaker 1: matched my silliness to a certain degree, but they said
Speaker 1: something poignant that made me stop in my tracks and
Speaker 1: I just love, love, love both of those women who
Speaker 1: have no idea the impression they made on us.
Speaker 2: Oh no, and yeah, and we wrote them what we
Speaker 2: wrote down what they had to say, so we did
Speaker 2: not forget and we knew we wanted to put this
Speaker 2: in the podcast because I think it's just one of
Speaker 2: those cool takeaways. Listen. You know we talk a lot,
Speaker 2: but sometimes if you listen, people have such smart things
Speaker 2: to say, people who lived longer and learned a lot more.
Speaker 2: And I was really blown away by ah By.
Speaker 1: They're a wisdom and unlessen to everybody as well. You
Speaker 1: never know, I mean, everybody tries to right. You don't
Speaker 1: want to put some effort in sometimes, I say, because
Speaker 1: you don't feel like you can change the world. But
Speaker 1: what's the line. What you do can mean the world
Speaker 1: to one person. They have no idea the impression they made,
Speaker 1: so it just don't folks, Even if you don't see
Speaker 1: the results and you don't get the credit, sometimes being
Speaker 1: a good person and saying the right word in the
Speaker 1: right moment can mean everything to somebody. So please don't
Speaker 1: stop being a good person.
Speaker 2: That's very cool. We had some we had some fun moments.
Speaker 2: We were working while we were there, and we were
Speaker 2: trying to figure out how did we get We got
Speaker 2: on a Brian McKnight kick where we started listening to
Speaker 2: every song but fell in love with One Last Cry.
Speaker 1: Oh Why. It was a weird. We were working one Why.
Speaker 1: I don't even know why what happened, and Brian McKnight
Speaker 1: came up and we put it on as we were
Speaker 1: working and six eight twelve, One Last Cry anytime? We
Speaker 1: just started getting on a Brian after hit after hit.
Speaker 2: We just went right back to Brian McKnight. And then
Speaker 2: I don't know if this jarred me, but we were
Speaker 2: just talking after listening to all this music. We were
Speaker 2: out and about and I don't even know what it
Speaker 2: was that you said you were I think you said
Speaker 2: something kind of joking to me about just about us
Speaker 2: liking each other, about us getting along so well, about
Speaker 2: us being so compatible, and I just started crying, and
Speaker 2: You're like, what is going on right now?
Speaker 1: Are we in public?
Speaker 2: Because I was on a street corner we were waiting
Speaker 2: for that we were waiting for the street light to
Speaker 2: allow us to cross the street, and I got embarrassed.
Speaker 2: I had to turn around, like what are you doing.
Speaker 2: I'm like, I'm crying. I just I felt so grateful.
Speaker 2: It just hid me about how grateful I feel. Oh
Speaker 2: my god, I'm gonna cry now. But after everything, just
Speaker 2: to know that at the end of the day, if
Speaker 2: you get to end up with your best friend and
Speaker 2: all days aren't great and there are good times in
Speaker 2: bad times, but I'm with my best friend and there's
Speaker 2: no one I'd rather be on that street with then you,
Speaker 2: And so I just started to cry. I was like, so,
Speaker 2: I feel like the theme of the of the of the
Speaker 2: weekend free was like became the Ryan at night night song,
Speaker 2: but not for his one last cry was getting over somebody.
Speaker 2: This was a good cry about recognizing how lucky I
Speaker 2: am to be with somebody.
Speaker 1: And I hope it was the last one as well.
Speaker 1: I would really hope that was one last cry.
Speaker 2: Sorry for publicly embarrassing.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize it was muggy out. We just got
Speaker 1: a beer over here, a shot over there. What were
Speaker 1: we crying?
Speaker 2: I feel like I had allergies or something.
Speaker 1: It was funny, you were not sad in the moment,
Speaker 1: but still it came. It was grateful out of nowhere.
Speaker 1: I don't want to call it the highlight, but it
Speaker 1: certainly was a good way to send us off. Yes,
Speaker 1: when we were at the airport and we need you
Speaker 1: all's help on this one. Okay, we were leaving. Look,
Speaker 1: we get a lot of looks and people looking at
Speaker 1: the sideways. We can know they recognize us, but then
Speaker 1: they don't come over and all this stuff, so we
Speaker 1: see it all the time. We sat at a bar
Speaker 1: at the Memphis Airport a few spots from our gates,
Speaker 1: will right to board, ready to go. The guy sitting
Speaker 1: there never says anything, but then he gets ready to
Speaker 1: go after about ten or fifteen minutes, and we could
Speaker 1: we since that he was kind of looking our way.
Speaker 1: But I didn't expect this.
Speaker 2: No, people say all sorts of stuff to us, but
Speaker 2: this was really fun and it was funny. So he
Speaker 2: comes up finally has the courage, I guess, to come
Speaker 2: up to TJ. And he says, I know who you are. Okay,
Speaker 2: just look at him. We don't give him anything, and
Speaker 2: then he says, you know what, You're too good of
Speaker 2: an actor for me not to know.
Speaker 1: Keep up the good work, thanks man, and let him walk,
Speaker 1: And that was.
Speaker 2: First into into laughter. He was so sure that he knew,
Speaker 2: and in fact, you're so good at what you do.
Speaker 2: How could I not know? You never said your name.
Speaker 2: But man, you're a damn good actor.
Speaker 1: And that's why it's no way you, sir, can walk
Speaker 1: through this airport and not be recognized because you're so
Speaker 1: good at acting, is what he's telling me. Like, you
Speaker 1: think you could get through here and it's not recognize you?
Speaker 1: Do you? Mister? Who the hell could he be confusing
Speaker 1: me with?
Speaker 2: We were trying to think what actor he could have
Speaker 2: thought you were.
Speaker 1: I cannot come up with one.
Speaker 2: Not I always forget the hot guy from Bridgerton. I
Speaker 2: always had a questions.
Speaker 1: I'll never get mixed up with reggae John.
Speaker 2: I know, I never can remember his name.
Speaker 1: Light skinned brothers whatever. Fine, but he's had fifteen years
Speaker 1: at least younger than me, maybe even twenty.
Speaker 2: You look so young, big, But I do think that
Speaker 2: people know they saw you on TV. He doesn't know.
Speaker 1: That's probably what it is.
Speaker 2: Okay, you probably spent those ten minutes trying to figure
Speaker 2: out what show you were on. He's like, you know what,
Speaker 2: I don't know it, but I'm just gonna acknowledge that
Speaker 2: I know he's on TV. So he assumed you were
Speaker 2: an actor?
Speaker 1: You think so you don't think he's actually got me
Speaker 1: mixed up with an actor?
Speaker 2: It could be either or, but I'd love to hear
Speaker 2: who people think, if y'all want to jump in on
Speaker 2: our social media, who could possibly could be mixed on? Like?
Speaker 1: Legitimately you walk down the street and go was that?
Speaker 1: Who could I possibly be mixed up with? I can't imagine,
Speaker 1: but that was funny. If you'll have any guesses, I
Speaker 1: would love to and a legitimate one, not just something
Speaker 1: I'm really curious and know way he could even think about.
Speaker 1: But well, you know what he gets. I get actor
Speaker 1: a lot. People say you're an actor, right, and I say, man,
Speaker 1: must not be a very good one because you don't
Speaker 1: know who I am. And I keep moving people laughing,
Speaker 1: It keeps me walking. This one you got me?
Speaker 2: So he thought he dropped the mic too. He thought
Speaker 2: he had like a mic drop moment. Yeah, he said
Speaker 2: it as he was walking away left way. Yeah, how
Speaker 2: about that?
Speaker 1: People love the good work? Yeah, look up for I
Speaker 1: love people.
Speaker 2: I love your work really okay, so much that you
Speaker 2: don't know who I am or what I did?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I got a new one coming out with Paul Fieg.
Speaker 1: This uh this fall makes you to check it out.
Speaker 1: But really, thank you. It was a great, great trip.
Speaker 1: It's amazing how well we are remembering this trip given
Speaker 1: that the whole purpose of the trip got canceled. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the reason we went there did not happen, but look
Speaker 1: what we got out of it. It ain't that a
Speaker 1: euphemism for life. This is not why I came here.
Speaker 1: It didn't happen, but God, look what I got out
Speaker 1: of it. That's amazing. So it was a wonderful trip.
Speaker 1: So I appreciate you tagging along of being willing to
Speaker 1: tag a.
Speaker 2: Oh, I couldn't wait, and thank you for bringing me again.
Speaker 2: I just felt like it was. I can't imagine it
Speaker 2: having been a more perfect trip, even with the race
Speaker 2: being canceled. I love that and thank you. Thank you
Speaker 2: for bringing me well.
Speaker 1: Folksly appreciate you listening as always. Hope you had an
Speaker 1: equally what adventurous, fun drama free as you will Memorial Day.
Speaker 1: But we're all back at it this week, but we
Speaker 1: always appreciate you tuning in for now. I am t J.
Speaker 2: Holt and I'm Amy Robot. Have a wonderful day, everybody