I'll be hanging around Memphis (with a rental car) for four hours this Sunday. Any suggestions on what to do? Is there a mall or large bookstore near the airport?

I posed your question on the TA Memphis Forum board, so you might go check there if you don't get an answer here. I'm in Memphis fairly often, but usually just for dinner and to spend the night.

All I know is that the area surrounding the airport isn't considered to be particularly safe.

Here's the response I got on the TA Memphis board from a destination expert.

Unfortunately, there isn't really any decent shopping in the airport area. I would suggest if you want to browse stores, that you head to Laurelwood Shopping center at Poplar Ave. & Perkins Rd. There is a large Davis-Kidd bookstore, a Sears and many other shops. Across Poplar from Laurelwood is Oak Court Mall, with a bookstore, Macys, etc. There are multiple other stores in small strip shopping centers in that area, along with many restaurants. It will take you maybe 15 - 20 minutes to reach this area from the airport area. Another large shopping area is in north MS, around the I 55/Goodman Road area. There are multiple large shopping areas and restaurants, but no actual enclosed mall. This area is maybe 15 minutes from the airport area.

Another suggestion if you want to do a tourist activity would be to head to Graceland. Its close to the airport and you could see a fair bit in four hours. Another couple of tourist suggestions would be to head downtown to stroll around Beale Street or check out Mud Island.

Here's some additional information that was supplied by another poster.

If the traveler is still checking the message board, here are a few simple Ideas which might work within his/her timeframe:

First, in the shopping area Deb mentioned, Laurelwood, Davis Kidd has a good bookstore with Bronte's Coffee Shop & Cafe - only 15 minutes from the airport.

If you don't want to totally emerse yourself in Graceland, merely do the Sun Studio tour which allows you to be right there with raw soundtracks of the half dozen or so original Rock n Roll icons, standing where they picked, sang and listened to their tracks. It's about an hour and a half experience.

Brooks Art Gallery near the Zoo currently has a photographic exhibition called "Who Shot Rock n Roll?" with lots of extemperanious photos of artists from early to recent and a veranda cafe overlooking Overton Park.

Sunday brunch with live jazz is good at Bosco's in old Overton Square - near Brooks Gallery, Sun Studio and the Memphis Zoo.

www.boscosbeer.com 2120 Madison 901-432-2222

Imax Theatre in the Pink Palace Museum features :

Dolphins and Whales @ 1 & 3pm

Lewis & Clark's Great Journey West @ 2pm

The Alps @ 4pm

The Memphis Zoo is one the country's best and is walkable in a resonable time frame. It's got Pandas.

Last, but not least, the Memphis Mojo Tour, done by Backbeat Tours in a renovated 50's city bus has a performing Rockabilly artist who leads you to many old rock stars' haunts and gives you the skinny on theur journies to the top of the charts. It's done in 90 minutes. They only pick you up from a hotel, but if you were slick, you could catch the Radisson Airport's shuttle to the on property hotel and catch it there, or drive downtown and park near the FedEx Forum, the origination point of the tour.

None of this has a drive time of more than 20 minutes, but of course the start times have to work with your plane's departure time.

I prefer shopping at Wolfchase Galleria/Germantown which is on I-40 heading toward Nashville. It is probably a 20 minute drive from the airport. All the major chain restaurants and retailers are located in this area.

Thank you very much for all this info! I did locate a Borders Bookstore in Germantown so perhaps it's near Wolfchase Galleria. I love bookstores!