2 Best Sights in Memphis, Tennessee

Graceland, the estate once owned by Elvis Presley, is 12 miles south of Downtown. A guided tour of the mansion, which Elvis bought in 1957 at age 22, as well as the adjoining automobile museum reveals the spoils of stardom. Graceland might be the only colonial suburban home on record to have a jungle room, a pink Cadillac, and close to 700,000 guests annually. Elvis is buried outside the mansion, and tours conclude with many fans leaving tokens at his gravesite. Reservations are recommended, especially in August during "Elvis Week."

South of Downtown, the motel in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 has been transformed into the National Civil Rights Museum, an outstanding facility that documents the civil rights movement through exhibits and clever audiovisual displays.