Ribs anyone?

Looking for some BBQ pork ribs that'll make you drop to your knees, raise both your hands, and thank the Lord for creating pigs?! Visit the Blues City Cafe in the heart of downtown Memphis, Tennessee!!! I'm still licking my fingers!!! I just can't figure out why every time I try to cook ribs they end up tasting like dry tar on a hollow bone. Anyways, these guys at Blues City Cafe in Memphis have indeed perfected the art!! They are the Mozart of rib cooking! The Picasso of BBQ! The Michael Jordan of the grill! The Michael Vick of the ..... oh....... oops.

HUNKA-HUNKA BURNIN' LOVE!

I may never recover from this one. Yes..... I went to Graceland........ willingly. I'm not sure what it was. I mean we had to pass through Memphis! I guess I figured since we were so close we just needed to go ahead and take the plunge! I mean, what could it hurt, right? 

Well, let me just say, if Branson, Missouri is known as the Redneck Riviera then Graceland must be Hillbilly Hotel. Don't get me wrong..... I love Elvis! I really do! This sin't about Elvis Presley. It's just very interesting to me the demographic of people who compose the vast majority of what I lovingly refer to as Graceland-grazers! They can be described by the following bulletpoints:

• Over 50.
  
• White.
  
• Brightly colored shirt made of at least 75% polyester.
  
• Dark socks with sandals.
  
• Oversized Camera hanging from strap around neck.
  
• Oversized Fanny-pack hanging from waist.
  
• Oversized fanny hanging from body.
  
• A hat that appears to be way to big for the cranium it houses.
  
• Breathing through the mouth in amazement as they stare at the jungle room.
  
• A look of awe whenever they see any of Elvis' white ceramic monkeys.

I guess I had fun. It definitely wasn't boring. No more boring than it would be walking around Saturn as you watched hundreds of native Saturnites tour the planet with you. I'm not making fun of people like this. I just feel really out of place when I'm around hundreds of them! Besides.... I wonder what Elvis would think if he knew thousands of fanny-pack armed fans were shuffling through the hallways of his Memphis home each day taking pictures of his parent's bed. WOW! We humans can be a weird sort.

GOD Bless Oklahoma City

During the McMahon trek to Georgia Heather and I visited The Oklahoma City Memorial in downtown Oklahoma City. I wasn't expecting to be as moved by this experience as I was!

I can still remember watching the events of that day take place on the news when I was in the 11th grade. A federal building in Oklahoma City had been destroyed by a massive homemade bomb of fertilizer and explosives hidden away in a Ryder truck. 168 people had been killed in the worst act of domestic terrorism to date. Many were children who had been in the day care on the 2nd floor. The Ryder truck had been parked right in front of the day care just before it exploded. It would later be discovered that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were the mastermind of this evil plot.

What would cause someone to plan something so wicked and sinister? Even if he was acting in retaliation against the government why would he plan to kill innocent people? 

As I toured the museum and walked the memorial yard with my wife I felt as if this memorial stood not simply to honor those killed but also to remind all of us that there is real evil in this world. Satan and the demons are real. Their plots and hierarchy are cunning and insidious. The destruction they cause is dark.

Light does overcome darkness, however. One day Satan will finally be destroyed. Jesus Christ has defeated the devil through His magnificent work on the cross. And, as Revelation tells us, every tear shall one day be wiped away..... forever.

Red Rocks of Sedona

Along our journey headed east we stopped in Sedona, Arizona. Honestly, I had never heard of this place before but when we got there I wondered why! Sedona is famous for the blazing red sandstone formations most famously known as the Red Rocks of Sedona. As I toured Sedona I felt like I was a gun-slinging character right out of 3:10 to Yuma. 

We took a trolly ride tour through Sedona and for about 3/4 of the tour we were the only people on it! As we sat in the trolly on wheels with the jackalope head hanging from the rear-view window speeding through Sedona I felt happy. It's moments like these you don't get too often.

I'm trying to learn to slow down and enjoy the simple moments in life. A bumpy ride in a Sedona trolly. A moment standing in front of a giant red rock towering high above the ground like an indian warrior. A moment talking with our New Age tour guide about how long she's lived there and why she believes that Sedona's mighty red rocks have magical vortex power. I've been reflecting recently on how the passing moments of life are gifts that we will never get back. Once they are gone they are gone forever. So as the famous line from The Shawshank Redemption goes, "Get busy living, or get busy dying."

I don't believe that the mighty red rocks of Sedona have magical vortex power. But I do believe the One who made those rocks is mighty indeed.

10 Top Things I Hate About Traveling

Every once in a while I still travel to speak at various events. This week I am on one such excursion. I have been reminded once again about what I despise about traveling. The top ten reasons I hate traveling are as follows:

1. The "You're such an idiot" look I get from the airline representative when I ask for help while checking in at the self-help kiosk. I guess checking people in is now too much to ask from a real person.

2. The strip search and de-lousing I get at the security checkpoint from a 260 pound 11th grader with pimples.

3. The guy in front of me on the airplane who is constantly readjusting the tilt of his seatback. Somebody should tell him that if he wanted comfort in travel he SHOULD HAVE GONE ON A STINKIN' CRUISE!!!

4. The kid behind me who won't quit humming the Blue's Clues theme song. Man, I hate that dog!!

5. The sight-seeing pilot who feels as if it's necessary to point out every landmark we pass over as if it's an option to exit the plane and take a stroll around Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and then just casually and unassumingly hop back on the Atlanta-bound jumbo-jet when I have had my fill of its immense beauty & grandeur.

6. The stewardess who wakes me up from a dead-digger just to offer me stale crutons and 3 cubes of ice with a drop of Ginger Ale in a cup half the size of a thimble.

7. The fact that I just remembered that I left my cell phone on but it's in my briefcase in the overhead compartment. YIKES....I hope nobody calls me!!!!

8. The 1x1 bathrooms that make it virtually impossible to do your business without feeling as if you need to push the stewardess call button to request a cleanup crew.

9. The turbulence that just popped up out of nowhere right after the flight attendant gives me a scorching cup of coffee......are you sure that sight-seeing pilot isn't just screwing with us?!

10. Being away from my beautiful family.