“I love him, I love him and I don’t care who knows it!”
Once upon a time there lived a Travelocity Gnome who was quite content living in a store on Beale Street in Memphis, TN called Tater Reds. …
Ok, ok really it goes something like this…
The JTMarCom team recently did some work for the Dunkin Donuts Franchisee in Memphis, TN so after a very successful day at work, John, Christine and Alex decided to take me out to the famous Blues scene in Memphis which is most notably located on Beale Street. I grabbed a few drinks (3 shots of Jameson Irish Whiskey for me) while the others ate and we met some really interesting people at the restaurant who were in town for a Blues festival. After leaving the restaurant, we lollygagged around to a few shops on the street and came upon Tater Reds, a local shop with crappy tourist stuff that appeals to drunk people. After being mesmerized by all the autographed drum heads on the ceiling, I discovered who would soon become my new bestest bestest friend.
Travelocity is running a campaign in Memphis; they’ve stashed their famous Gnomes around the city and if you find one, snap a silly picture and submit it to their website/FB page and win a weekend stay in Memphis. Alex and I snapped away and had a good ole’ time until……He fell down and broke his crown!
The store owner, Tater, was not amused and after a few minutes of staring at the ground in confusion, I decided I always wanted a Travelocity Gnome and it was only fate that this Gnome came into my life. Again, after a few drinks this was a GREAT idea! Tater insisted he’d be in big trouble with Travelocity (Did you know you can purchase the same Gnome I have on QVC for just over $30 w/ shipping & handling? http://bit.ly/5SPZPi ) and they would be charging him an arm, leg and crown for the loss so there was nothing else he could do but push this cost onto us. I very happily obliged because this little Gnome didn’t deserve to be thrown away, he needed a good Gnome…oops, I mean home.
I tweeted “http://twitpic.com/yzbes – Alex & I paid $100 for the Travelocity Gnome we broke at Tater Reds just now. But who else has a GNOME?!?!?”
I received a response from the Travelocity Twitter account who passed along the email address of Joel Frey who is a big guy with Travelocity and after telling me it was one of the strangest Gnome related emails he’s ever received, he was more than happy to resolve the situation.
Tater received his Gnome from Travelocity corporate office but will not accept it a
s a replacement because it was a 9’’ Gnome instead of a 13’’ Gnome and it was wearing a sombrero and maracas..I say beggars can’t be choosers buddy so give me my $100 back!
If you ever check out Beale Street, I highly recommend you NOT drink Jameson Whiskey and get creative with Gnomes.
I hope this post makes my Grandma proud!
January 27th, 2010 at 6:10 pm
It’s worth repeating: in my all years to serve as a gnomekeeper, this is one of the strangest/wackiest/funniest anecdotes that I’ve ever run across. What makes it even stranger is that I grew up in Memphis and have walked up and down Beale St. many a time. Cheers, Joel Frey, Travelocity P.S. Jessica, have you bought my book yet?
January 27th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
You made me proud! Love ya, Grandma
January 28th, 2010 at 3:48 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by JessicaRMurray: I love him, I love him and I don’t care who knows it! http://ow.ly/119w5 #fb…
January 28th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
Jessica, I am most definitely sorry for your Gnome loss and then acquisition I suppose. $100 is steep though and it comes as no surprise to me that someone on Beale street had the gaul to rip you off, really not a shocker. I’ve met Joel Frey before and he’s a super nice guy, he’s actually an MTSU alum and came and spoke to our PRSSA chapter while I was there and gave the chapter our very own roaming Gnome. I’m sure that one day he will be very happy in your front yard, oh and how is Scooby taking the latest family addition?
January 28th, 2010 at 1:23 pm
there’s no place like gnome.
February 11th, 2010 at 2:59 am
This blog is excellent. Keep up the good work, inspires me to keep building mine!
February 12th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
Nice blog, keep up the good work and thank you for sharing.
February 15th, 2010 at 1:26 am
Heyy, Awesome post! I will definatley be coming back soon!=)
February 17th, 2010 at 12:40 am
Hi – really great website you have created. I enjoyed reading this posting. I did want to write a comment to tell you that the design of this site is very aesthetically sweet. I used to be a graphic designer, now I am a copy editor in chief for a marketing firm. I have always enjoyed playing with information processing systems and am trying to learn code in my free time (which there is never enough of lol).
February 19th, 2010 at 12:59 am
This is really a terrific article. I will need to add you to my Feed list.
February 23rd, 2010 at 2:19 am
As a Newbie, I am always searching online for articles that can help me. Thank you
April 3rd, 2010 at 7:17 am
Really, really thx for good information.
April 9th, 2010 at 1:38 am
incredible stuff thanx
June 22nd, 2010 at 3:31 am
Hey – good blog, just looking around some blogs, seems a pretty nice platform you are using. I’m currently using WordPress for a few of my sites but looking to change one of them over to a platform similar to yours as a trial run. Anything in particular you would recommend about it?
March 16th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Really nice design and style and superb written content , practically nothing else we need : D.