Best Post-Covid Dog Park
Tobey Dog Park doesn’t have the cool, big-tree shade and hip cachet of Overton Bark or the wide-open spaces and lakes of Shelby Farms Dog Park, but after a months-long COVID shutdown, Tobey Dog Park came back with lush new grass, new seating, a few new plantings, lots of room to run, and a friendly bunch of regulars. It’s become my hounds’ new go-to fave. — Bruce VanWyngarden
Best Place to Pretend Everything is Normal
Let’s face it: The great outdoors is the safest place to be in these scary microbe-laden times, and Overton Park is the escape destination of choice for lots of Memphians. There’s room to spread out on a blanket on the Greensward, if you’re feeling pastoral. You can hike and bike the miles of trails — paved and unpaved — if you want to exercise or just get into nature. You can play a round of woodsy golf on the old Links course, or take your pups for exercise at the dog park. Get out of the house. Breathe. — BV
Best Beach Within Reach
Have you noticed the Mississippi River is lower than it has been in years? Well, it is. And because of that, there are many new places to explore, most of which were underwater a few weeks ago. Who knows what you’ll find or what you’ll see. Get creative. Drive or bike around and check it out. The Big River Crossing is one way to get there. There’s also a huge sandy beach in Shelby Forest park, just north of the boat launch. Pretend you’re in Miami for an afternoon. (Except Miami doesn’t have the occasional bald eagle.) — BV
Best Pandemic Response
Heroes are those who deign to tilt a lance at 2020’s never-ceasing stream of hot, fresh bullshit. Heroes are those Cooper-Young residents who, since the beginning of the pandemic, have fought against it all with a front-yard display of skeletons that’s part social commentary and part salve for the soul. These skeletons have played volleyball, poker, gotten drunk at a bar, and honored the passage of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. — Toby Sells
Best of MEMernet
(Credit: Ryan’s Shorts | YouTube)
Ryan Hailey is the funniest, hardest-working citizen of the MEMernet this year. His Ryan’s Shorts YouTube channel spews Memphis comedy gold. For proof, look no further than “Memphis Bass Pro Shop Pyramid Party Rock Anthem.”
“When the aliens come down, all they really want to see is the pyramid by the river down in Memphis, Tennessee. Made of glass and some brass, it’ll knock you on your ass. Make your damn jaw drop. What’s that? It’s our Bass Pro Shop.” — TS
Best Neighborhood Stroll
(Credit: Shara Clark)
Take time to stop and smell the statues — or, you know, take a picture.
If nothing else, this year has made us all slow down — and that’s not a bad thing. Starting in late March, I began taking more walks in my neighborhood, Normal Station, and around the University of Memphis campus. I’d taken lots of strolls down those streets over the years, but this year they morphed into mediation-in-motion sessions, a break from the work-from-home slog, a mental distraction from COVID stress. Each day, I found new beauty: fresh floral blooms in neighbors’ front-yard gardens, college kids practicing their band instruments in the then-deserted U of M parking garage on Southern (the acoustics were phenomenal), and I even made it a mission to walk and photograph every single Tiger statue around campus. When the world was closed and all we had was home, I grew closer to my neighborhood. I bet you can find similar beauty in yours. — Shara Clark
Best COVID-19 Fighters/Keeping Shit Togetherers
Maybe Alisa Haushalter and Dr. Bruce Randolph weren’t household names in February. But, by now, everyone in Memphis knows that Haushalter, director of the Shelby County Health Department, and Randolph, the Shelby County Health Officer, have led the charge here to keep our collective shit together through this COVID-19 nightmare.
Behind the scenes, they watch the virus data and help form the plan on how to fight it. In front of the scenes, they give Memphians the straight dope on our situation and relentlessly crusade for mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand-washing. — TS
Best Historic Homecoming
(Credit: Alex Greene) Booker T. Jones and Carla Thomas
When Booker T. Jones moved away from his hometown, the tensions and turmoil of that time clouded his brow. Recalling that in his just-published autobiography made his show at Crosstown Theater in January especially meaningful. Not only was his son Ted playing guitar, his old friend Carla Thomas and the Stax Music Academy band delivered “B-A-B-Y” with aplomb. — Alex Greene
Best Case of Mistaken Identity
Did you hear that U.S. Representative Steve Cohen bought the New York Mets? Where’s your hometown pride, Steve? Why not buy the Redbirds? Oh, wait. That wasn’t you? Apparently USA Today illustrated a story about billionaire hedge fund manager Steven A. Cohen with a photo of the Bluff City’s Steve Cohen. Dammit, Gannett! — Jesse Davis
Best Artist to Watch
(Credit: Blvck Hippie) Josh Shaw of Blvck Hippie
Local indie band Blvck Hippie recorded a pair of singles, “Bunkbed” and “Rhodes Avenue,” at Sun Studio during quarantine, and the songs have legs. We at the Flyer were early cheerleaders for the band, fronted by singer/songwriter Josh Shaw, but the buzz has gone international, landing the group a sponsorship from Ernie Ball and positive reviews from AFROPUNK, The Daily Indie, and La Blogothèque.
— JD
Best Reason to Break Quarantine
There is no good reason to break quarantine! If you feel sick, stay home! I’m serious! Watch John Carpenter’s The Thing or something. Why do you make me say these things, man? — JD
Best Advertisement
(Credit: Chris Davis | Facebook)
Flyer columnist emeritus Chris Davis recently clapped eagle eyes on what will soon be a legend in Memphis advertising. A huge sign for Drain Cleaning and Repair Co. faced Danny Thomas. Its classic lines read, “who pooted,” “oh, [poop emoji],” and “40 yrs. of straight turd chasin.'” — TS
Best Place for the Most Unlikely Pairing
Have you ever seen something so unlikely that you’re not quite sure what you are actually seeing? Like if you saw that George Takei was cast in the movie The Blind Side — not in the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, but as Michael Oher — you might just stand there for a moment and go, “Wait. What? Hm. Okay.” Meet Mr. Casas Japanese and Mexican Food Truck. Wait. What? Hm. Okay. The unlikely food pairing is at first perplexing. A Japanese menu on one side, a Mexican menu on the other. Give it some time. You’ll get used to eating your nachos with chopsticks. — Julie Ray
Best Celebration of Memphis by Non-Memphians
The Iris Orchestra comprises players from all over the country. Conrad Tao is an acclaimed New Music composer based in New York. Yet those forces converged when Iris commissioned Tao to write a piece for the city’s bicentennial. Tao’s “Spoonful,” inspired by and incorporating a recording by Charlie Patton, embodied Memphis history in all its unhinged drama, angst, and humor. — AG
Best Wildlife Whisperer
(Credit: Sami Harvey) Sami Harvey, wildlife whisperer
Sami Harvey was furloughed from her job at Hilton earlier this year due to the pandemic, but that didn’t keep her down. Harvey set out to save the world, one squirrel at a time. After realizing the need for more licensed wildlife rehabilitators in the Memphis area, she used the downtime to launch Out of the Woods Wildlife Rescue & Rehab from her home in Shelby Forest, where she now cares for injured and orphaned wildlife. The facility — where she treats squirrels, raccoons, foxes, opossums, cryptids, and some birds — houses indoor and outdoor enclosures and enrichment areas, and lots of love. Follow Out of the Woods on Facebook or Instagram (@outofthewoodswildlife) for some of the cutest damn pictures you’ve ever seen, and watch while these sweet little critters grow and heal. — SC
