Lamar Ave, Memphis

My fiance and I where stuck in the Memphis airport for a couple of days and needless to say after listening to "walking in memphis" for the 97th time we were left with the choice to either slip into madness or go walking in memphis. We had a cab take us to the closest bar and ended up droppex off on Lamar street. We walked into the bar it was shady at best and everyone stopped to look at us. We walked through the bar to the attached hotel where a transvestite hooker and cop where having a conversation. They both stopped and looked at us like we were the strangest thing they had wver seen. We left and went walking down the street. I'll never forget how beautiful my fiance looked grabbing a cd of the ground and breaking it in half to form a rudimentary weapon. We eventually gave up on lamar ave and got a cab to take us to the more tourist friendly beal street. It was a fun night ultimately.

Memphis is a strange city where you can be driving along in a perfectly safe part of town and then, all of a sudden, everything changes and you start fearing for your life. Lamar Ave is one of those places. There are some houses and business along the road, but nothing that you can't find a nicer, safer part of town. Also, most residents (and hotels for that matter) will tell you to avoid the area and find another way to get to where you are going.

We took a wrong turn one night and ended up on Lamar Avenue. Whatever you do, avoid this area, even in daylight. It looks like a bombed out Beirut. Scary. We were told at the hotel that this area was unsafe, and I believe it. It is really run down with a lot of unsavory types hanging around. I am from a city and am not easily intimidated, but I was really glad to get out of there.