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The ducks at The Peabody Hotel in Memphis


EZEtoGRU

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5 hours ago, mike carey said:

You mount a persuasive case!

And Beale Street is just a couple blocks away. 
 

 

3 hours ago, BenjaminNicholas said:

For me, the real magic is driving 30 minutes to Mason, TN and eating at Bozo's.

I will give it a try.   But Rendezvous is the ONLY food I’ll pick up and gnaw on.  Yum! 

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4 hours ago, CuriousByNature said:

I understand if you miss them on parade you can see the very same ducks later on in the restaurant, a l'orange.

@EZEtoGRU had me so convinced I was suffering, that I ended my life! 😄 😋

Roasted Duck a l'Orange. Recipe – Orange Duck Recipe — Eatwell101

Edited by Unicorn
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On 10/6/2022 at 3:02 PM, EZEtoGRU said:

I was in Memphis last week for two nights to attend a concert.  I stayed at The Peabody Hotel downtown which was walking distance to the concert venue.  The hotel itself is lovely and well-maintained.  I do enjoy old style hotels that have been kept up nicely.   Plenty of food options in the hotel or within walking distance.

As I'm sure some of you know, The Peabody continues its long tradition of hosting the "Peabody Ducks" each day.  At 11:00am, the ducks come down the elevator from the penthouse (where they live) and then march on a red carpet to then hop into a fountain that is in the middle of the lobby bar area.  They swim around for the day (or stand on small podiums in the fountain) in the fountain and then do the "march" back to the elevator and up to the penthouse again at 5:00pm.   It's a huge tourist draw with lots of people watching.  It happens every day.

I found it somewhat cute but was more bothered by the whole thing than anything.  As I have evolved over the years, I increasingly find the use of animals in unnatural situations for the purpose of human entertainment to be disturbing.  I suppose as a child/teen/young adult I probably enjoyed this sort of thing. However, in the last 20-30 years, I am more and more against it.  I feel the same about circuses.  I have not been to a traditional circus for  many many years and would not dream of going.  Same for bull fights.  I find them disgusting even though I have had ample opportunity to attend them in Spain and Latin America as far back as the 1980's.  Even zoos concern me unless they make a major effort to create a very natural environment with ample space for the animals.   

As I watched the ducks in the fountain, I was surprised how small the fountain (that they have to spend 6 hours in) actually was.  It's tiny but 6 ducks need to spend a good part of the day in it and compete for podium time (so they don't have to be swimming the entire time).  When the ducks arrive into the fountain, some of them immediately feel the need to rush to a podium to grab it quickly before another duck did.  It just all seemed somewhat sad to view when thinking about it from the duck's point of view.  I wonder how they feel about having to do this every day?  Most people seemed to love it but I don't feel I would repeat the experience nor would I recommend seeing it.

Has society moved on from this sort of thing?  Societies do evolve.  Something that was seen as cute and acceptable before may not be considered appropriate today.  Afterall, public hangings in the old south were considered acceptable entertainment years back. Thoughts?

My mother lived in Memphis for several years. Lunch at the Peabody hotel was one of her favorite things.

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