July 21: We timed our arrival in Memphis, quite coincidentally, with the morning parade of the Peabody Ducks. If you're not familiar with the Peabody Hotel's famous Mallards, you can read their full story here. The short of it is that Mallard ducks have paraded from their rooftop home to the lobby fountain every day since the 1940s. They come down the elevator and parade down a red carpet, Academy Award-style, their every move covered by 100 tourists playing papparazzi. I'm a sucker for cheese and I loved every minute of it.

For lunch, we checked out Rendezvous, the rib joint where President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi ate after their hip-shaking Karaoke tour of Graceland. According to one of the managers, Secret Service agents had been in the restaurant for a week before the visit, checking every nook and cranny of the mazelike basement eatery. Ribs don't really fit into my Meat Rules (violating both the visible fat and meat on the bone clauses), but Nick polished them off with a smile.

We intended to camp, but world-ending, ark-floating rains in Tennessee changed our minds and we ended up in a Knoxville hotel. If you're ever in Knoxville, I highly recommend the Cumberland House Hotel near campus.