Not quite as lovely as the sunrises & sunsets I enjoyed the past few weeks in Hawai’i. Might have something to do with the snow and frosty air.
I was looking forward to getting to Memphis. We are staying at the Peabody Hotel. I have walked thru the lobby, but never have stayed there.
Upon arrival, it was a madhouse! One of the teams are staying there and TONS of fans for both teams.
Eventually I got all my stuff… room keys, wristbands, etc. We had to wear wristbands so they could identify us. Apparently there is a big New Years Eve party and the hotel will be closed to the public. The wristband proves we are staying here.
Finally got to my room.
Oh my! It’s small! I think I can touch everything in the room, from the bed.
But it’s quaint. There are duck details all over the room. Duck soaps, duck stir sticks, ducks on the towels, etc. A lot like staying at a Disney hotel.
I ordered room service for lunch and guess what?
Duck butter
I met Steph to see the ducks leave their roost for the evening – the lobby fountain. We had NO clue it that it would draw hundreds of people. So we did not get a good spot.
Here is a little background info and photos about the ducks from the hotel website….
Back in 1932 Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had a little too much Jack Daniel's Tennessee sippin' whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain.
Soon, five North American Mallard ducks would replace the original ducks.
In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, offered to help with delivering the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody Duck March. Mr. Pembroke became the Peabody Duckmaster, serving in that capacity for 50 years until his retirement in 1991.
The original ducks have long since gone, but after 75 years, the marble fountain in the hotel lobby is still graced with ducks. The Peabody ducks march at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.
Duck is not served anywhere at The Peabody, and has not been seen on the hotel's menus since its 1981 reopening, quite possibly making Chez Philippe the only French restaurant in the world that does not serve duck.
The Peabody Ducks do not have individual names. The hotel recognizes that its resident waterfowl are wild animals, not pets. However, the very first team of ducks were Peabody, Gayoso, and Chisca - named for the three hotels owned by the Memphis Hotel Company in 1932.
The Peabody's lobby fountain is cut from one enormous piece of travertine marble made and shipped from Italy for the hotel's 1925 opening. The colorful flowers adorning the top of the fountain are changed out every other day in the middle of the night.
When off-duty from the Lobby, the ducks live in their Royal Duck Palace on the hotel's rooftop.
The Peabody Ducks are raised by a local farmer and a friend of the hotel. Each team lives in the hotel for only three months before being retired from their Peabody duties and returned to the farm to live out the remainder of their days as wild ducks.
In the evening, Steph and I went to dinner at The Majestic Grille. The food and atmosphere was great!
Originally built in 1913 as the Majestic No. 1, a silent picture house that entertained Memphians for three decades, the restaurant gives diners a glimpse of the heady Hollywood days of ol’.
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