They’ve got all their ducks in a row in the penthouse suite with the Duckmaster at The Peabody Hotel, Memphis.
But these ducks are going down on the lift for their morning swim.
And the rest of the hotel’s guests, yours truly included, will just have to wait.
Meet the Peabody Ducks.
Every day since 1940 they have been marched to the lift down to the lobby.
Along the red carpet and into the fountain before being marched back up again later.
Legend has it that the General Manager Frank Schutt and a friend Chip Barwick had let ducks loose in the hotel after a hunting trip in Arkansas.
Whiskey was taken
Our intrepid adventurers had, of course, drunk too much Tennessee whiskey.
That’s the two men, not the ducks.
Today’s Duckmaster Anthony is kitted out appropriately.
He is carrying a cane with a duck head at the top and keeps us all entertained with Duck tails.
If you’re very lucky he will pick you out.
He might even give you the very special role of Honorary Duckmaster.
And that entitles you to help guide them into the fountain.
It’s all quackers.
But I love it, the Duckmaster of Peabody Hotel.
The Peabody, just down from Beale Street, is a Memphis institution and treats its guests almost as well as its ducks.
Good ol’ Southern Hospitality
Southern Hospitality is not a myth.
We stayed in three hotels on our Deep South odyssey.
So as well as the Peabody we enjoyed the luxury of the Hampton Inn in Cleveland, Mississippi.
And the signature Westin in Jackson, Mississippi.
In Cleveland we dined at the Airport Grocery which is actually a bar/diner as big as a ranch.
Appropriate really as I ended up watching rodeo on the TV.
One good ol’ Southern Boy in our company playfully lassoed in one of the gals and the diner resident dog as we watched.
The Southerner’s idea of B&Bs are really more glorious antebellum country houses.
And you might even bump into the cast of The Help who had stayed in the one we visited when they filmed here.
You too will be treated like a lord or lady.
Yeehaw!
The Iron Horse Grill in Jackson served up the best Barbecue.
Wash it down with Dr Pepper or local craft beer (Old Miss is my favourite) and has a fascinating exhibition.
Talking of exhibitions.
You have Mississippi’s Two Museums, the Museum of Mississippi History and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum https://www.mdah.ms.gov/2MM/.
While you should also check out the Mississippi Museum of Art in the boho part of Jackson.
Learn too of the Mississippians journey through art. After the tour and steak and wine-fuelled dinner that is.
Here on this our last night Yolanda, our Jackson host, serenaded us.
With Merry Christmas To You and gave us all a hearty hug and farewell. ‘Now, come back y’all’.
Try and stop me!
Going South
I flew return with Aer Lingus to Newark and United Airlines to Memphis, via Newark.
Returning Jackson, Mississippi to Houston, Texas, Newark, New Jersey and onto Dublin.
Car hire
3 nights Memphis – Peabody
1 nights Cleveland – Hampton Inn
2 nights Natchez – The Burns B&B
2 nights Jackson – Westin
Costs may vary.
Lead in cost per person £1655.
Visit http://www.deep-south-usa.com for more information.
And here is my American Trilogy https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/culture/the-promised-land-martin-luther-king/, https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2020/04/12/the-story-of-the-blues/ and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/elvispresley-the-king-of-kings/.
And if you love a duck as much as me then have a read at https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/06/05/in-new-duck-related-news-2/ and https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/2019/12/16/love-a-duck-at-christmas/
While here’s the duck of ducks… https://jimmurtytraveltraveltravel.com/culture/disney-why-i-love-the-donald/
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