Michele

Traveling to Memphis for the first time. Adults in their 30s & 60s. Staying downtown.

Planning to do:
National Civil Rights Museum
Beale Street
Victorian Village (Mallory Neely house)
Dixon Gallery & Garden
Peabody for drinks (?? what time are the ducks in the morning??)

Thinking about:
Sun Studio
National Oramental Metal Museum
Mud Island
PaddleBoat ride
Czar Exhibit at the Pyramid - Is this good?

Any thoughts on these? or things I have missed.

We head to St. Louis by car after Memphis. Any ideas on a scenic way to go.

Thanks,

Frank

Don't miss Graceland if you are going to Memphis. It's probably the biggest tourist attraction in the area. Allow at least 4 hours to see the house and all of the added attractions across the road, Elvis' private jets, museum, etc.

Sun Studio's is a great 1 hour stop if you are interested in the history of Rock n Roll.

Mud Island was a bore.

Peabody ducks are a must, find out the schedule for the ducks comming down and going up to and from the roof. The roof is open to the public and you can see their elaborate living quarters.

Jim

See the Mepphis Belle on Mud Island. This plane and it's crew flew through hell over the skys of Europe and amazingly made it thru 25 bombing missions.
Also in Memphis there are many sites to visit pertaining to General Nathan Bedford Forrest who was said to be the greatest General during the Civil War.

MD4

When you visit Victorian Village, there is a great eclectic restaurant in one of the houses, Cielo. Not sure if it is open for lunch or dinner or both. Great atmosphere.
Close to the Dixon is the Memphis Botanic Garden, which I think the gardens are nicer than Dixon, but it is strictly a garden- no art. The Brooks Museum of Art in Overton Park is also nice.
Have not been, but there you can take a tour of the Gibson Guitar plant and music museum downtown.
Be sure to go in A.Schwab's on Beale. Very old-timey store with more stuff than you can imagine.
To get a good overview of downtown, take a ride on the trolley. You can do a loop through a big part of downtown. And they run quite frequently.

Have a great trip!

x

Without a doubt go to Sun Studio. It was my favorite part of our trip there the other year!!

J Correa

The high points of our trip were Beale Street and the national Civil Rights Museum. I was in college and had just completed a history class in which we studied a lot about the civil rights movement, so it was really great to see the exhibits of many of the same things I had studied about.

Michele

Came back, here are my comments. Memphis people were very friendly & nice. Parts of city were very nice others a little run down, but this is true of most bigger older cities. More police in downtown than I have seen anywhere else.

Slavehaven/Burkle Estate Museum - the most interesting stop. It is a small house used as part of the underground railroad. they have collected a lot of information from the period. The tour guide was interesting and very knowledgeable.

National Civil Rights Museum - Go early, I was too tired late in the day to read all the data. The last part with the rooms that MLK stayed in were very interesting. I thought it could have been done better. You can't bring in cameras so leave them in the car.

Sun Studio - a little cheesy but interesting to see all the stars that started in one small studio. A fun tour.

Beale Street - a must do, but sort of tacky&touristy. Union street seems to have a lot better places to eat, go here for drinks & music.

Victorian Village - Very Enjoyable. Mallory Neely house was impressive.

Graceland - glad I went just to say I saw the mansion. Definately over the top decorating styles. Took about 2 hours to get tickets & go through the mansion. Lines weren't too bad on a Monday afternoon.

Dixon Gallery & Garden. I very nice combination of a small museum & garden. Their collection of art is impressive. Very nice but could have been in any city, a nice break in the day but not a must do.

National Ornamental Museum - I was bored after a few minutes - if close or interested stop by, but otherwise a miss.

Trolley was both useful and provided an easy way to see some other sections of town.

Peabody - The view from the roof was nice.

Stayed on at the DT Marriot. It was nice & had a great view. It would have been a little easier at the Hampton but with priceline the room was much cheaper at the Marriot.

Dining:
Automatic slims - Very good. Coconut shrimp was okay but not great. Salad was great. Pork loin was excellent. Enjoyed the modern atmosphere.

Rendezvous - Good food and enjoyed the experience. But expect noise, crowds , and not much service. I wouldn't eat here if I lived in the city, but liked it for a once in a while visit. Ribs were much tastier, leaner, & moister than I expected.

Cafe Samovar - Good. Very good prices at lunch.

Frank

Good Report Michele, glad you made it to Graceland. What did you think of the ducks? How was the weather?

Michele

The weather was very nice for August, there was a light breeze most of the time to keep things cool.

I only saw the ducks on the roof. The parades were at 11? & 5?, and we were always off doing something else.