Any Threads about Memphis in the 80's and early 90's?

[JoeCartpath]

I remember that now! I never went over there, though....

[MemphoJim]

Originally Posted by JoeCartpath

I remember that now! I never went over there, though....

I don't recall that. Of course I didn't move to Memphis until 1979 and was married the first year there and didn't get out much.

[Ginsaw]

You can still see it today in times of low water, like in August, which is when we used it. Just look across the river from one of those small parks on the south end of the bluff.

I can remember the Summer of '64 like it was yesterday, a ride across the bridge very late at night, and watching the stars overhead on the "beach" while listening to Bobby Vinton's "Blue Velvet" on the radio of a souped-up Pontiac Catalina.

There's a scene in "American Graffitti" quite a bit like that...

[Memphisthen/Californianow]

I almost drowned at Engineer's Beach back in 63. Swam out to a large tree passing in the current but then it wouldn't support me and my marginal swimming skills barely got me back. I think drownings were not uncommon over the years, with the bad currents and eddys to pull you down. We also used to get stuck in the mud just upstream from the old bridges when a Civil War boat was uncovered by low water. Dem wuz da days. Now I wear water wings in the bathtub.

[MemphisMeantime]

I didn't resurrect this thread, but I sure have enjoyed reading it. Things and places I miss from those days in Memphis (some mentioned, some not):

Overton Square spots like:
Gonzalez & Gertrudes
The Public Eye
The ice skating rink
Swensen's Ice Cream
Chicago Pizza Factory
Gamecock Arcade (I was a teen in early '80s)

Others:
Miss Kitty's (Peabody and Cooper)
Clark's Bar tag football teams playing at Overton Park
The old (original) Poplar Lounge on south side of Poplar
Anderton's
Poor Red's (Pat Scanlon now lives in Hot Springs Village, Ark.)
Maywood (man, that water was COLD)
I think Aslar Hall/The Castle was Conestoga Steak House at one point
The Flaming Hearth
The Sawmill
Circle Cafe
Midway Cafe

Thanks for the memories.

[Ginsaw]

I guess we can still do a little of this if everyone wants and nobody minds...

The "beach" was a cool place to mess around. Many trips there. It was sort of a "forbidden fruit" deal and known to be dangerous in certain ways. Regarding the river generally, over the years I can remember numerous people drowning in the waters off Memphis. It used to be about every year or two a boat load of duck hunters would be lost trying to cross Ole Miss in the freezing, icy pre-dawn darkness. There's enough to go wrong out there to make for a whole thread in itself. There have been in the distant past many steamboat explosions and fires like the Wreck Of The Sultana...to this day the all time worst U.S. maritime disaster...much worse than the Titantic...and within sight of downtown Memphis as I recall. The wreck is still there, underneath some Arkansas bean field. There were the inevitable rumors for years of gold, but there always are with shipwrecks...

We sometimes (this is going to be way politically incorrect for some, but it was in another lifetime) went over to engineers beach to explore around and took a .22 rifle and headed out on the trail of the dreaded pop-top no-return. It was a wild uninhabited area and I remember shallow pools of stagnant river water way down on the south end of the bar, with endless acres of mud, sand and willow flats to poke around in. This was all high adventure for youngsters of the day.

Anyways, if you ever visit one of those parks I mentioned and the conditions are just right, look way over to the west across the shimmering waters and that vast expanse of sand and if you're very lucky you just may see thru the haze some figures appearing to be moving about out there...that's just the ghosts of the Summer of '64..

[Buckelew]

Originally Posted by DebFlack

What was the name of a rather avant garde three story hopping club in an old castle like house in midtown ???

Was it actually called The Castle ??? had different levels and themed bars throughout the whole building !!!!!! strange, but a hip place at the time

I've enjoyed reading all your stories about Memphis back then. I arrived in the summer of '86 on an art scholarship and left in late '89 after giving up on my dreams there. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, if there was only a way or me to make a decent living there.

I miss dancing to "The Cut-Outs" at Poplar Lounge on Wednesday nights, with my beautiful NOLA GF, Candi; eating at Buntyn's on Southern; driving the levies south of town and off 61. Cruising throughout town.


My memory of "The Castle" was Thanksgiving weekend 1992, meeting my old college roommate, up from Miami, for one more wild Memphis weekend.

I was on the dance floor with two beautiful women twice my age; he was at the bar talking to a girl I recognized. Sure enough, she was a senior my freshman year in a rural Middle Tennessee high school. Oh the crushed I'd had on her! Absolute FEAR contorted her smile as I screamed her name. Surprised, Ed asked, "Do you know her?!" and I said "Yeah, we went to high school together!" After we left, Ed told me he knew her as a recovering drug addict and prostitute in New York City!!

After crashing a few parties, Ed invited me to stay with another of his friends downtown. We got there about 2AM, and Mike was waiting up for us. I was there for five minutes and the phone rang. Mike answered, talked a little while and said, "Well, praise Satan! That's great!" This required an immediate council outside. Ed told me he knew Mike from college and clubbing, that Mike had this thing for heroin addicts, strippers, Satan, etc.

Needless to say, that was the end of my stay in Memphis. All the hotels were probably booked up, so I drove the rest of the night to get home, getting hypnotized by the road near the AL/MS line and waking up in Sheffield! And it all started at The Castle.