Remembering Memphis visits
A Day Away By Mike Steely
My wife and I have visited Memphis several times in the past. Sometimes it was on business and sometimes we were there on vacation. The drive from Knoxville to Memphis is almost 400 miles, but there’s lots to see and do on the way, including having lunch in Nashville, visiting the Casey Jones Museum & Restaurant in Jackson, and much more. Now and then, we camp at the T.O. Fuller State Park on a hillside overlooking the city and the Mississippi River, where there is an interesting archeological museum at the C.H. Nash section of the park.
Memphis was Tennessee’s largest city before Nashville overtook it in 2020 and there’s so much to do and see there. Beale Street is a great place to lunch or just spend an evening listening to the blues.
Hotels and motels are plentiful in Memphis, including the historic and comical Peabody Hotel downtown that features a parade of ducks in the main lobby twice a day. The elevator opens and the ducks waddle into the lobby and take a dip in the fountain there. It’s a free event and kids often line the duck path in great fun and excitement.
Memphis has Graceland, the historic home of Elvis Presley and his family. There’s an admission but you can visit the grave of the “King of Rock and Roll” without charge. The mansion is unique, kept as Elvis designed it, and complete with museum pieces. When we were there, we could not visit the upstairs where, back then, members of the Presley family still resided.
Elvis played a big part in Memphis, putting Rock and Roll on the charts in the Sun Studio there. That building continues to exist and you can tour the iconic recording studio for $20. Elvis wasn’t the only person to emerge from Sun Studio as a star. Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and many others cut records there. Presley recorded there just one week after graduating high school.
The Lorraine Motel should never be missed while in Memphis, which also houses the National Civil Rights Museum. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated there outside his second-floor room and that room has been preserved. When we were there, you could actually look into the room and visit the balcony where he was shot and killed.
The museum features lots of relics, information, tours, speakers and scheduled events.
While in Memphis, take the bridge across to Mud Island on the Mississippi River and the nearby Memphis Pyramid, now the Bass Pro Shop headquarters. Many events took place there and it’s worth a photo and a visit if nothing else than to ride what is claimed to be the world’s largest free-standing elevator. The pyramid also has restaurants and lodging.
Occasionally, my wife and I have taken Highway 61 south of Memphis to Tunica, Mississippi, to visit the casinos there to contribute a few dollars and grab a lunch. Tunica is about 45 miles from Memphis and a good getaway from Tennessee’s no gambling law except for the lottery, online sports wagering and scratch-off sheets.
