The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception

Went to 8:00 Sunday Mass. Beautiful church, friendly priest. A couple of things to know:
Parking is behind the Church on York Street.
The bathroom has a very large window. It was unnerving, as if someone were working on the roof they would have a perfect view of the room.

My mom told me I needed to do three things when I moved: I needed to quit smoking, cut back on my drinking, and find a church. Find a church? C’mon lady– there’s one across the street from where I live!
On a serious note, I was actually able to do all three. I know that Catholicism is not as large in Memphis (or maybe it is just because it is a smaller city, haven’t done my research yet), because finding a Catholic church was not an easy task for me.
I would start driving up and down the main streets of Memphis, and that didn’t work out. Then I stood on a street corner and started to ask around, that didn’t end well, and then I just looked online. I am a fan of cathedrals (of all shapes, sizes, and denominations), so seeing this one being about 15 minutes from home, I knew it would be promising.
I realized that the communities are smaller, as they only offer 4 services on the weekend. To me, I liked that, as I prefer smaller church communities (get to know people a little better) — the church (es) I came from in ATL had 4 – 5000 families, and yes it was great to know the communities were big, but just seemed like it was more difficult to get individualized attention (can you not realize I am an attention whore?).
Upon driving up to it the first time (I think I went to the 1030 or so service 2 weeks ago), I realized the beautiful neighborhood it was in, Central Garden District (on the NHL registry!). It reminded me of the area that Christ the King (my church in ATL) was in. Attached to it is also a grade school, but I have no info on that– as I have no children (that I know of).
The actual church was built in the 1920’s, and it is a simple, yet beautiful design. The walls are almost of a sandstone color, and use a lot of paintings to depict scenes. There is a holy jacuzzi (I know, that is awful) at the entry, which I don’t see often in churches anymore.
The domed ceiling has a cool painting, and its awful I was there this morning and I can’t remember what it is of. Wow.
Speaking of church today (or 18 hours ago), I woke up to go to a mass that I asked to be made for a special intention. For someone who just joined the parish a week ago and was able to that on such short notice, I think that was pretty cool of them. This is that individualized attention I was talking about (as some other parishes may take 2 – 3 months notice to get a special mass).
Since I do not know much about the place yet, I will do my best to take more pictures and update you all on info. I do know though you can park in the back (York Ave), or on the street on Central Ave. I look forward to keep coming back and learning more about this place!