Nancy wrote --

>  JM> But don't get me started on what happened in Memphis...
> 
> 
> That sounds like a classic "and thereon hangs a tale"...  

   OK, you talked me into it.  
   After bumming a free lunch off Daryl (and dodging that storm) I wound up
in Memphis.
   I had to take I 40 part of the way and there was a welcome centre just
off the exit and also it was downtown.
   I had a list of places I wanted to see.
   I drove into Memphis, found a place to park and off on foot.  Saw the
Civil Rights Museum in the Lorraine Motel (where MLK was killed) along with
Beale Street and a couple other things along the way.  I knew this would be a
two day stop.
   I headed back to my car and it was gone!  I had parked under some trees
on a metered street.  Now I knew I would be gone longer than the two hour
limit so didn't pay the meter.
   Being a former parking Nazi I assumed it was towed and karma.
   I was told by a cop on Beale Street they didn't tow.  Then the worst
came to my mind, the car was stolen.  I was given a number to call and went
back knowing it had to somewhere in the area and a black SUV I was a few cars
away from it was still there.  No
   After talking to a woman on the phone the cops arrived, about an hour or
so later, took a report, wished me good luck and left.
   Here I was in a strange town with only the clothes on my back.  I still
had cash along with my debit/credit cards, car keys, etc so I wasn't totally
stranded, I could get another car from Enterprise, make it home, etc.  All
was not lost, save for clothes, 
   I spent a couple of hours more wandering around, knowing (hoping) the
car was somewhere.  
   After a few more hours of tramping around looking for a place for the
night (even going out to the interstate looking for an exit thinking if
nothing else I might get arrested for walking on the interstate and have a
place
for the night).
   Around 10.30 or 11, hot, dirty, sweaty, I stopped at a hoity-toity hotel
asking one of the valet parkers where a motel was and told about six or
seven blocks down that street.
   (I know a woman who lives in Memphis but not her number, my phone's
battery was down to like 10% and would have to call her mother to get her
number
but then I was also hoping the cops would call with good news).  At the
motel I found the room phone was fo
   I woke up a few hours later and figured since around 3 or 4 a.m. there
would be less traffic and might find it easier.
   A woman stopped me, listened to my sad story and offered to drive me
around to look for it.  Uh, no thanks.  (I also found out she was a hooker and
that was all I needed to be busted for that).  I took her advice and got off
the streets and back to the mot
   Later that morning I was told of a gas station a few more blocks away
and passed an Enterprise place that opened at noon.
   I got a new charging cord and sitting in a FF joint charging the phone
and having coffee thought about what I would do next.  I had to wait till 9
for a Walgreens to open for a comb and new pair of readers among other
things.
   Sitting in the motel room, still feeling sorry for myself, the cops
called, getting more information, wished me well and hung up.
   I kept thinking that car had to be somewhere, but I had gone up this
street and down another for hours.
   I was on Main Street at a streetcar stop looking a map of the various
coloured routes (the red line, green line, blue line, etc) and using that
retraced my journey from the welcome centre.
   It then occurred to me I must have made a turn somewhere along the way.
   I started out from there and found the car!  Just where I had left it,
under some trees by a meter. Untouched, undamaged, intact.
   Now this street had parking for about a half block then over a hump (a
small hill) and at that point it went down and from two lane to four.  But if
I were on Main Street and looked up all I saw was the hump and what appeared
to four lanes of traffic, not 
   I had spent hours wandering about and was only a half block from the
car.  I was on MLK Dr (Ave, St, whatever) rather than Front St.
   I was overjoyed at finding the car and called the cops to let them know.  
   About an hour or so later a couple drove up and took the report.  I
asked one if this happened very often and got a look that could have been yes
or
no or any with you.
   I cancelled plans for any more exploring, I just wanted to get out of
town, which I did.
   And yes, I would love to go back there again.  
   Joe
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