Weekend Eats

It's been a fun, long, food-filled weekend! On Saturday, Crosstown Concourse — the one-million-square-foot building where I will soon be working — had its opening day celebration. Some of the revamped, former Sears headquarters is still under construction, including our space at Crosstown Arts. But we had an opening celebration since most of the two-year construction project was done. The party lasted from 3 to 10 p.m., and I was working for much of the day — doing social media for Crosstown Concourse and Crosstown Arts.

They rolled down this amazing banner right after the formal ceremony with remarks from the mayors and project leaders.

But I arrived about an hour ahead of party time to make sure I would have time to eat. We had several food trucks parked outside in the lot, and most had vegan options.

When I spotted my new fave Kebab Food Truck, I knew what I needed — Falafel Sandwich with Tahini and a side of Basmati Rice (under the sandwich). By the way, they do serve fries here as a side, but they're cooked in duck fat, so avoid those! Several people who work on the truck are vegan, and vegan items are clearly marked, but for some reason, the fries aren't.

After the formal remarks, I floated around and snapped some pics of the various tenant open houses for the Concourse Instagram page. There are many vegan-friendly restaurants in Concourse, but I couldn't make it to all them in the hour I had for checking out open houses. I did spot my friends at Crosstown Brewing Co. handing out beer samples! Crosstown Brewing isn't open yet, but their space will be completed this fall.

After checking out open houses, I headed over to our space at Crosstown Arts to chat with visitors and take more pics for the Crosstown Arts Instagram. We had a balloon drop at 6 pm!

And here's a mural by Birdcap and Sentrock in our space! Our full operation won't be up and running in the Concourse building until fall, but the main lobby area was open and filled with art.

It was HOT outside on Saturday, but some of the party was on the plaza outside. Thankfully, MemPops was there with their boozy homemade ice pops. I had a Moscow Mule Pop.

After the open house portion, we watched my coworker Justin's tear-jerking documentary on the Concourse project, and then we headed back out to the plaza for a free concert with Winchester and the Ammunition, Susan Marshall, and 8Ball & MJG. We were super-excited to see 8Ball & MJG — old-school, crunk Memphis rappers from the 90s.

By that point, it was late and I was hungry again! Most food trucks were sold out, but Eddy's Pepper had only vegetarian options left. YAY! I got the Black Bean & Rice Nachos!

We went home right after the concert because we were signed up for the Bardog 5K on Sunday morning! I wasn't super worried about it because it's just a 5K, right? But man, did I underestimate that race! It was SO HOT, like heat index of 102. That was the hardest 5K I've ever run! But we made it! Paul hadn't trained much at all, so I was super proud that he got out of bed to run in the heat with me.

The race — a fundraiser for St. Jude — includes free beer and food.  I had a couple of PB&J Sliders and a couple pints of IPA. Made all that running in the heat so worth it!

I mentioned that it's been a long weekend. Well, that's because I took a vacation day from work today to experience the Solar Eclipse. We had 93% visibility in Memphis, and I wanted the full experience. Paul and I went to the I Survived the Solar Eclipse Party at Ghost River Brewing Co.

The eclipse was a little underwhelming. I expected complete darkness, but it only got a little dusky. And the peak of the eclipse was tucked behind a cloud. But at least the Memphis Mojo food truck was there with Vegetable Stir-Fry.

And for dessert, we had more MemPops! I went with a Mint Lemonade this time. Paul had Cherry Lime.

Such a fun, tasty weekend! I go back to work (and back to my routine) tomorrow!