Memphis Road Meet\ checking out the new I-269 April 2019

[US71]

What is with creating all these x69's before I-69 reaches it? Why couldn't they just have made it I-255? Same for I-369 and x30 or x49 would have made more sense.

Just so there's more shields with 69 in them.

In all seriousness, I don't know.

I'm not saying it was politics, but it was politics  

[vdeane]

What is with creating all these x69's before I-69 reaches it? Why couldn't they just have made it I-255? Same for I-369 and x30 or x49 would have made more sense.

I-69 does reach I-269; there is a 24 mile long piece of it signed in Mississippi.  I=269 is also more affiliated with I-69 than I-55, as it will connect with it at both ends should I-69 ever actually be finished in Tennessee.

Basically they were all designed on the same "master plan" and are just being signed as such rather than relative to what exists now.

[jpi]

We are now down to 13 days until the meet. At this point we are actually up to about 15 people going counting the ones not active on facebook so those who are on the fence I will need a full head count soon, we will be meeting at McAlisters Deli at 11am, this is not our typical full service sit down type restaurant, this is more of a fast casual type place but still decent and reasonably priced, I plan to call them in a few days to give them a heads up, also I will be starting work on the itinerary later this week soon and still considering the river front with the I-40 Miss River Bridge in the background but will see how the flooding is. Also I am working on getting a rental mini van to help with car pooling. The weather is gradually warming up here in the mid south so hopefully it will work out and will have some sun and a light breeze and no severe weather.

[kevinb1994]

We are now down to 13 days until the meet. At this point we are actually up to about 15 people going counting the ones not active on facebook so those who are on the fence I will need a full head count soon, we will be meeting at McAlisters Deli at 11am, this is not our typical full service sit down type restaurant, this is more of a fast casual type place but still decent and reasonably priced, I plan to call them in a few days to give them a heads up, also I will be starting work on the itinerary later this week soon and still considering the river front with the I-40 Miss River Bridge in the background but will see how the flooding is. Also I am working on getting a rental mini van to help with car pooling. The weather is gradually warming up here in the mid south so hopefully it will work out and will have some sun and a light breeze and no severe weather.

Hopefully that will be the case, knock on wood.

[cjk374]

Pollen will be in full swing too. If you have allergies, bring some antihistamines.

[kevinb1994]

Pollen will be in full swing too. If you have allergies, bring some antihistamines.

I have that in mind for any road meet held during peak allergy season.

[US71]

Pollen will be in full swing too. If you have allergies, bring some antihistamines.

I need to buy stock in  Claritin and Sudafed

[hbelkins]

Posted on the Facebook event, but might as well post here too. I was always unsure about my attendance, for a variety of reasons, but now I'm definitely not coming. A family event that had been planned for May has been moved up to the 13th, and I really need to attend it. So, no Memphis for me.

[mattpedersen]

Which hotel(s) are people staying at? I still need to make a reservation. 

[cjk374]

Which hotel(s) are people staying at? I still need to make a reservation. 

Tunica, MS...on Casino Strip Blvd. There are a few on that road.

[US71]

Which hotel(s) are people staying at? I still need to make a reservation. 

Baymont  on Shelby Oaks Dr

[jpi]

Steph and I are staying at Microtel off I-40 next to IKEA, also weather update, Saturday is partly cloudy and 67, would not be surprised if it gets warmer then that but should be a halfway decent day, also Steph and I will be getting into town Friday evening so if anyone is in town by then and want to meet up for dinner Friday evening just let us know through facebook messenger

[cjk374]

We should be in town around 3ish...maybe? For supper, we are gonna go to Beale St., and check out B.B. King's House of Blues.

[A.J. Bertin]

Steph and I will be getting into town Friday evening so if anyone is in town by then and want to meet up for dinner Friday evening just let us know through facebook messenger

I'm sure I'll be in town by dinner on Friday. I'd love to meet up with you and Steph for dinner. (I don't use Facebook on my phone so I'll probably text you.)

[mattpedersen]

I also booked the Microtel by IKEA, and rented a Hyundai Elantra "or similar" , since a round trip Uber was more expensive than renting a car.

[jpi]

Weather Update, looks like the chance for storms is increasing on Saturday but as I said before in another thread "the show must go on" the high for Saturday is 70, also there is a chance of strong storms tomorrow for those coming across the Carolinas into the mid south so safe travels everyone and looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend 

[jpi]

Here is the "final draft" of the itinerary, I will also have printed copies for everyone-

2019 Spring Memphis Road Meet Itinerary

We will meet for lunch at 11:00am At McAlister's Deli in the Bartlett area (8385 Stage Rd US 64 near Wolf chase Galleria), from there we will park vehicles at the mall parking lot and decide who is carpooling, I will have a minivan I will be able to fit 4 possibly 5 besides myself and Steph. From there we will get on I-40 west and go through the massive 4 level stack interchange with I-240 and Sam Cooper Blvd. (old I-40 until it got cancelled) then get off at TN 13 Austin Peay hwy (exit 8) and take this north past a dead super K-Mart on the left and past the site of the old Raleigh Springs Mall.
We will then turn left on to TN 204 and head north towards TN 385; you will see a rather abrupt transition from commercial suburbia to rural open farm land. When we get to TN 385 (future I-269) west and head to the stub end of TN 385 at US 51 in Millington, then proceed east on 385 then south where it will transition to I-269 and follow it all the way to the I-55\ I-69 interchange then continue on I-69 to where it ends at US 61 in Tunica, MS (if we need to make a restroom\ snack\ beverage stop the Collierville area is a good stop at the TN 57 exit)
Next we will head north on US 61 (Blues Highway) north back into Memphis and on to I-55 north. We will follow I-55 north to the Crump Blvd exit, instead of following I-55 north we will go straight on to Riverside Dr and follow this to one of the river front parks where we will get our group photo with the I-40 Hernando De Soto Bridge in the background. After this if time permits there is other sites\ road related stuff we can check out but I am leaving this open to anyone with suggestions on what they would like to see.
The weather is calling for a chance of storms and a high of about 70 so hopefully it will not be a total wash out, also we are open for dinner afterwards perhaps at a local place specializing in Memphis BBQ. Any question please let myself and Steph know. 

[US71]

Here is the "final draft" of the itinerary, I will also have printed copies for everyone-

2019 Spring Memphis Road Meet Itinerary

We will meet for lunch at 11:00am At McAlister's Deli in the Bartlett area (8385 Stage Rd US 64 near Wolf chase Galleria), from there we will park vehicles at the mall parking lot and decide who is carpooling, I will have a minivan I will be able to fit 4 possibly 5 besides myself and Steph. From there we will get on I-40 west and go through the massive 4 level stack interchange with I-240 and Sam Cooper Blvd. (old I-40 until it got cancelled) then get off at TN 13 Austin Peay hwy (exit 8) and take this north past a dead super K-Mart on the left and past the site of the old Raleigh Springs Mall.
We will then turn left on to TN 204 and head north towards TN 385; you will see a rather abrupt transition from commercial suburbia to rural open farm land. When we get to TN 385 (future I-269) west and head to the stub end of TN 385 at US 51 in Millington, then proceed east on 385 then south where it will transition to I-269 and follow it all the way to the I-55\ I-69 interchange then continue on I-69 to where it ends at US 61 in Tunica, MS (if we need to make a restroom\ snack\ beverage stop the Collierville area is a good stop at the TN 57 exit)
Next we will head north on US 61 (Blues Highway) north back into Memphis and on to I-55 north. We will follow I-55 north to the Crump Blvd exit, instead of following I-55 north we will go straight on to Riverside Dr and follow this to one of the river front parks where we will get our group photo with the I-40 Hernando De Soto Bridge in the background. After this if time permits there is other sites\ road related stuff we can check out but I am leaving this open to anyone with suggestions on what they would like to see.
The weather is calling for a chance of storms and a high of about 70 so hopefully it will not be a total wash out, also we are open for dinner afterwards perhaps at a local place specializing in Memphis BBQ. Any question please let myself and Steph know. 

My restaurant expert suggests Interstate BBQ for beef ribs or smoked sausage,  Central for pork ribs, Payne's for smoked bologna,  Cozy Kitchen for BBQ spaghetti and links.

But I'm flexible.

[oscar]

Here's my version of the meet photo, taken inside (weather wasn't cooperating with the outdoor shots we had planned) the Tunica County (Mississippi) Convention and Visitors Bureau, self-proclaimed "Gateway to the Blues":



From left to right: Oscar, Eric, Brandon, Jess, Shawn (?), Gene, Bill (?), ___, Jason and Stephanie, Cody (behind them), A.J., David(?), Anthony. (Still on the road in Arkansas, will try to fill in the blanks later.)

I had to make a lot more adjustments than usual to make up for poor exposure. I hope other meet photos taken at the Visitors Bureau came out better.

[cjk374]

Thank you Jason for hosting a great meet. Despite the couple of rain drops that fell, a fun time was had by all.

[Brandon]

Agreed, a big thank you to Jason for holding the meet.  It was a blast, but I'm still here.  The train back is now 8 hours late.  Not endearing me to Amtrak at all.

[SSOWorld]

Agreed, a big thank you to Jason for holding the meet.  It was a blast, but I'm still here.  The train back is now 8 hours late.  Not endearing me to Amtrak at all.

Outside the Northeast and Southern California, Amtrak is useless. Even with a law that requires that freight companies give them rights, they often are thrown on the back burner.  (But that's for a different board)

[hbelkins]

Agreed, a big thank you to Jason for holding the meet.  It was a blast, but I'm still here.  The train back is now 8 hours late.  Not endearing me to Amtrak at all.

Outside the Northeast and Southern California, Amtrak is useless. Even with a law that requires that freight companies give them rights, they often are thrown on the back burner.  (But that's for a different board)

I saw a link elsewhere that the courts had struck that law down. But the issue is often freight trains breaking down on single-line track areas. That caused my recent Amtrak excursion to California to arrive 11 hours late.

[SSOWorld]

Agreed, a big thank you to Jason for holding the meet.  It was a blast, but I'm still here.  The train back is now 8 hours late.  Not endearing me to Amtrak at all.

Outside the Northeast and Southern California, Amtrak is useless. Even with a law that requires that freight companies give them rights, they often are thrown on the back burner.  (But that's for a different board)

I saw a link elsewhere that the courts had struck that law down. But the issue is often freight trains breaking down on single-line track areas. That caused my recent Amtrak excursion to California to arrive 11 hours late.

Correct.  in 2016.

[jpi]

Now that I finally have a chance to sit in front of a computer, A BIG thanks to everyone who came out for this despite the crazy heavy rain and sever thunderstorms we had at the end of the tour, Steph and I had a nice time and B.B. Kings was a great and appropriate ending since after all we were in the land of the blues.  The focus of the meet was to do a complete tour of I-269 in TN and MS since it is fully open in Mississippi and also check out some road and music history since a number of us attending are BIG music buff, myself included
We had a total of 15 people attend this meet from several states- Ohio, Virginia, Michigan, Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, Illinois, New York and Maryland. Chances are my next road meet will be back in central Pennsylvania and focusing on the diverging diamond interchange in Shrewsbury (Exit 4 of I-83) and a quick "drive by" of the Mt Rose ave interchange which was a big focus on my meet from 3 years ago. This may be as soon as late April\ early May 2020, have a great week everyone and I may see some of you in 2 weeks at the Mr and Mrs MD Roads baby shower