Memphis
Memphis Tennessee is a very interesting city. We have driven through it many times during our annual trek from Houston to Pittsburgh and back. We decided it was time to visit Memphis to explore and enjoy.
Memphis is the second largest city in Tennessee and the largest city proper of those situated along the Mississippi river. That being said, driving from the airport and arriving at our downtown hotel, it has a distinct small-town vibe. Memphis Travel Guide
Day One in Memphis
Our first stop was check-in at the Peabody Hotel. Known as the “The South’s Grand Hotel” for very good reason. It is very grand indeed. It takes you back to a time when hotels were known for architectural design and first-class service.
The Peabody opened in 1869 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Its most famous residents being five ducks that take the morning trip (11:00AM) from their home on the roof via one of the elevators, across a red carpet to the fountain in the middle of the lobby. Every evening (5:00PM) they make their red-carpet return to the roof. The lobby fills and the red carpet is lined five rows deep to watch the daily procession. Great photo opportunity and worth the wait – get there early for a good seat. The historic Peabody – Peabody Hotel
Memphis is known for barbecue and music. Day one for lunch we headed to Rendezvous barbecue, less than a 5-minute walk from the hotel.
Don’t be fooled by the entrance, once inside you are surrounded by Memphis history and a feeling of a place that lives up to its reputation. We enjoyed ribs, brisket and the sausage and cheese basket. Very tasty with portions almost too large to finish. We did found a way to eat everything on our plates. We purchased a bottle of their barbecue seasoning to take home. Rendezvous Barbecue
Next stop, Sun Records. Home of Elvis Presly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and many other southern recording artists.
Walking into Sun Records is a step back in time. The original recording studio, instruments, and microphones are on display. The building is much larger than it appears from the outside. We booked the 45-minute tour, worth the time and cost.
Sun is full of artifacts and history covering the early days of Sam Phillips (original owner of Sun) and the famous recording artists he discovered and provided a local studio to record. The tour covers the history of Sun and the early careers of the stars mentioned above. Pictures, recordings, early equipment and behind the scenes stories from the tour guide had me wanting more. Sun Records
Where else can you stand on the exact spot and hold the same microphone Elvis Presly used to record many of his early hits. Great photo opportunities and cool gift shop.
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Day one dinner was spent in the Executive Lounge of the Peabody Hotel. We ate the happy hour spread and had a couple of complimentary drinks. The Executive Lounge does have good chocolate chip cookies.
Day Two in Memphis
Day two was spent touring the city. We used Memphis Best Tours and booked the Memphis City/ Memphis River Boat Tour. We booked online; you do want to call and confirm once you are in town. The tour picked us up at the hotel. We were lucky to have Sam as our driver. He is very entertaining, has a wealth of knowledge about the city and shared personal insights regarding Victorian Memphis, St. Jude’s Hospital, and the revitalization of the city. If you book this tour, I recommend requesting Sam.
The tour highlighted areas we would not have explored on our own. The Victorian homes of Memphis, St Jude’s Hospital, Elvis’s first residence in Memphis, and the Pyramid. The tour also stops at the Peabody Hotel for the 11:00 AM march of the ducks from the roof to the lobby fountain.
Sam recommended a few of his favorite restaurants for lunch. We opted for the Blues City Café on Beale Street. Nothing fancy here, just comfortable booths, tables, friendly service, and good food.
Blues City Café is known for catfish, which is what I ordered. I was not disappointed. Deep fried catfish with their special seasoning and French fries. Another restaurant where you will not walk away hungry. There were four of us at lunch. We ordered seafood gumbo, stuffed mushrooms, golden fried catfish, southern fried chicken tenders and iron skillet shrimp. We shared a bit of each other’s lunch and were all impressed and agreed Blues City was a good choice for lunch. Like Rendezvous, we liked the seasoning so much, we purchased a couple of bottles. Check out the menu – Blues City Cafe
After lunch we had time to explore Beale Street and stopped in A. Schwab. A. Schwab has been on Beale Street since 1876. A. Schwab started as a boots and shoe company, eventually expanding its offerings to include clothing, housewares, and hardware. The store is full of historical artifacts that tell the history of Beale Street and the region. Now you can find everything ranging from cast iron skillets to stick horses to old fashioned candy to ukuleles.
One of A. Schwab’s main attractions is the old-fashioned soda fountain where you can still get a hand mixed milkshake. Maureen got a chocolate milkshake and enjoyed every minute of it.
The afternoon portion of our tour consisted of a riverboat ride on the Mississippi. Due to the drought and hot weather, the river was low. This limited some of the views and seeing points of interest. The riverboat was air conditioned, and you could walk to the upper deck for an open-air ride and view of the river. I have driven across the Mississippi many times. I didn’t realize its width and speed of the current until the riverboat ride. Gave me an appreciation for the people who work on the river.
We decided to walk to Huey’s Burgers for dinner, about a block from the hotel. Huey’s has been open in Memphis since 1970 and under current ownership since 1976. Sam, our tour guide recommended Huey’s as the best burger in town. I know it was burgers and fries for dinner, but we wanted to try the local restaurants. Huey’s is a very informal, relaxing beer and burger joint, t-shirts and shorts are welcome. We had a variety of burgers with regular and sweet potato fries. I enjoy a good burger, not too juicy, not too dry. I was not disappointed at Huey’s. After a day of riding the bus, a riverboat ride and walking around Beale Street, we wanted something easy and relaxing, Huey’s hit the spot. I would definitely dine there on another visit to Memphis.
Day Three – the Mystique of Elvis
Touring Memphis, the mystique of Elvis is ever present. His statue in the Memphis welcome center, driving bye his family’s apartment on the city tour, the stories of his kindness to ordinary people relayed by our tour guide and his history at Sun records. Day three was reserved for Graceland. I will publishing a separate post with details regarding our tour. Below is information to help you select a tour and a bit of information regarding the property.
The most famous tourist attraction in Memphis is Elvis Presley’s home – Graceland. Graceland is the most visited private home in the United States averaging 650,000 visitors annually. It rivals the White House and Hearst Castle in terms of annual visitors. It was opened to the public in 1982 and declared a National Historical Landmark in 2006. Since 1982, over 20 million people have visited. It is about 9 miles south of central Memphis, on Elvis Presley Boulevard.
There are many options for touring Graceland. We chose the Ultimate VIP Tour, costing $196/person. I was a little skeptical about spending $200 for a tour, however when it was all said and done, it was more than worth the price. Tour information – Graceland Tours
The Graceland website provides a list of what the Ultimate VIP Tour provides, I am not going to repeat these. For us, the most important benefits were a private expert tour guide who actually worked at Graceland, small group of about 10 people, not listening to recorded messages at various spots around the grounds, in depth stories from our tour guide about Elvis, Graceland history, the items on display and the daily workings of the estate, plus access to areas and items not available on the other tours.
Graceland as a building, is not as big as it appears in photos. At the time Elvis purchased the house, I am sure it was considered a “big house”. The house has a very simple but functional layout. The furnishings have not changed since Elvis lived in the house. There seemed to be a story about most of the items in each room we toured, one of the advantages of the VIP tour.
As part of the VIP package, we received a voucher to eat at one of the onsite restaurants. We chose Vernon’s (Elvis’s dad) barbecue. The voucher covered a main entre, sides, dessert, and a drink. More than enough food for everyone, tasted good after touring for about 6 hours.
Graceland is outside of downtown Memphis. We use Uber to and from Graceland.
After Graceland my daughter and I made a trip to the Memphis Pyramid. Just north of downtown on the banks of the Mississippi sits one of the largest pyramids in the world. The original idea was to create a theme park known as Rakapolis, with Egyptian architecture and reed boats ferrying people to Mud Island on the Mississippi. Well, that didn’t work out and the Pyramid hosted concerts, became the home of the Memphis Tigers basketball team and later the Memphis Grizzlies. Eventually the Tigers and Grizzlies moved to the FedxForum leaving the Pyramid empty.
Enter Bass Pro Shops who bought the Pyramid and turned it into the largest Bass Pro Shop in the world. The Pyramid features a 103-room hotel with tree house cabins that overlook 600,000 gallons of water teeming with 1,800 fish, a cypress swamp with alligator pools and duck aviaries. It is quite a view as you walk around the store and look down observing the fish and wildlife.
The Pyramid also features America’s tallest free-standing elevator. Ride the 28 stories to the top of the Pyramid for great views of Memphis and the Mississippi. You can grab lunch at the Lookout at the Pyramid while at the top. One of the three restaurants located in the facility. Give yourself a couple of hours to take in the sites and explore the store.
The Pyramid – Bass Pro Pyramid
That night we dined at the Peabody’s Italian Steakhouse, the Capriccio Grill. We al opted for Italian cuisine – risotto, chicken parmigiana and spaghetti. Everyone was very happy with the taste, quality, and portions of our dinner. Service staff was very friendly and attentive. If you decide to stay at the Peabody, good restaurant for a nice dinner.
We flew home the next day. Being Tennessee there is Bourbon for sale at the airport. I did pick up Heaven’s Door Trilogy Collection gift set – Straight Bourbon, Double Barrel and Straight Rye. A little added bonus of the trip. Heaven’s Door Bourbon