With my senses pushing overload, I sit down and mull over the extensive menu, more out of habit than necessity, as I've been given a tip: Look no further than the pork ribs. I debate the price difference between a full order ($15.95) and a small order ($12.50), and decide to go hog wild with the full Monty and chase it down with a pitcher of Michelob ($6.95). Line of thinking here: no regrets. If it means pretzels for breakfast on Sunday, come what may.

Charlie favors the drier version of barbecue ribs over the sauce-saturated variety, but his secret hot sauce is on the table for those so inclined. I am. One bite into these perfectly seasoned, slathered ribs of pork and I'm in hog heaven. And although I know it's financially irresponsible, I can't resist taking a little Charlie home with me. A bottle of famous sauce and accompanying spices runs me $7.

Fully fueled, I head for Beale Street, the birthplace of the blues. Yet it's "Love Me Tender," not W.C. Handy, I hear bellowing down its Bourbon Street-like corridor. Inside The Pig on Beale, one of the many bars and live-music clubs that line this section of the street, I see something that walks like Elvis and talks like Elvis, so it must be … wait … nope. It's Radford Ellis, whose Elvis impersonation show, the E-Factor, holds court here on Friday nights. When one of the first things I hear is, "Are you folks getting drunk yet? Because the drunker you get, the better I sound," I wonder if I will be begging for my $2 cover back. I happily down a cheap Pabst Blue Ribbon draft ($3), but I don't think I'm as altered as Ellis would like. His act is entertaining, if not for its lack of talent. His $15 CD? Not in the budget.