Day 89 - Super-Duper Bowl

Author – Grant
From – Memphis, Tennessee
To – Little Rock, Arkansas
Miles Driven – 145

Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157613206747971/
We ended up in Little Rock today through part laziness (it’s closer than our original destination) and part childishness (we got to cross another state off the list visited).

Memphis sits on a bend in the mighty Mississippi which doubles as the border between Tennessee and Arkansas so it seemed rude not to visit the little square state given it was on our door-step. It seems that the only decent sized metropolis is Little Rock and if we’re to have some atmosphere for the big game then the presence of other people is fairly essential. Little Rock may be the state capital but the place has a really small town feel. Admittedly during our stroll through town centre we only saw people with varying degrees of mental instability but Kate attributed this to the fact that any sane and socially adjusted human would be at someone’s house party which is all the rage for the Super Bowl. Clearly we don’t know anyone in this town so we’d be forced to watch it in a bar along side the town’s social misfits…I couldn’t have been any happier.

In the end, our reckie of the various bars in town centre proved fruitless so we ended up 8 miles west in West End Smokehouse which sported 6 pool tables, over 50 TV screens and a plethora of non-too-shabby bar maids that never let my glass empty once in well over 5 hours of drinking. Those cheeky minxes were clearly trying to get me drunk…mission very much accomplished. After an hour or so of pre-game drinking and spanking Kate at pool (chivalry is dull) we found a decent big screen vantage point sharing a table with local stud Mike (nickname Cliff for reasons I still can’t fathom). This man was the most connected guy in Little Rock is several senses. Firstly he came armed with multiple media devices (including a lap-top) where he could watch the game virtually and via stats if the live pictures weren’t enough. Secondly he knew Chris, the bar manager which might explain our miserly small bill that Kate assures me arrived at the end of the night.

I’ll not walk you play by play through the game as people are paid to do that but we were lucky enough to witness an outstanding game where the right team (the Steelers) won with a touchdown in the final moments. That’s one in the eye for my brother who automatically supports the opposing team to the one I am supporting and I had chosen Pittsburgh because of their fans jaw-dropping dedication during our visit a couple of months back. Whilst the half-time show and the adverts too up way too much of people's attention for my liking, generally the atmosphere in the place was excellent and our fears of being surrounded by nothing but social outcasts proved to be unfounded and much fun was had by all.

The problem with me doing this blog is that I can’t remember anything else that happened after the game but Kate assures me that I was thoroughly embarrassing and made temporary friends with everyone in a 20 metre radius. They say that texting ex’s is the most foolish thing you can do when drunk but I can report, after a day of trying to pick up Molly’s liquid crap, feeding your dog spicy pork rinds should also be pretty high up on the list of things not to do.

Back on the road to Jackson tomorrow as we creep closer to New Orleans...assuming we don't detour again...