Top Attractions, Things To See & Do In Memphis, TN

So, you’ve probably heard plenty of things about Memphis, TN, as I have. It is the “Home of the Blues”. It is also the Birthplace of Rock n’ Roll. The Barbecue is phenomenal. Graceland, the home of “The King Of Rock n’ Roll” (Elvis Presley), is something to see. Jazz, Soul, Gospel have all made their beautiful presence known.

In a Nutshell… Memphis, TN is the place to be if you have even a little bit of interest in Culture, Music, History, or Food. It is an awesome experience!

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On the fly…

You can visit any of the thousands of websites out there, that will guide you on where to stay, where to eat, things to do, etc. You will see all of the expected tourist talking points. Other bloggers and visitors can also be found online with their own little tips and secrets, (which help immensely!)

I’m here to share with you my own recent experience with Memphis, TN. We didn’t follow any real itinerary provided on any of those sites. In fact, none of us spent any real time doing a google search on the area and what to do, when we got there. Our trip came together with a combination of lodging plans, a vague idea of two tourist attractions we wanted to visit, and directions on how to get to where we were staying.

That is it. As I said, no real planning here!

This was a Mother/Daughter sort of retreat. My sister and I decided at the beginning of the year that we wanted to take my mother to see the ever so famous Graceland. As I have mentioned in a previous article, my mom had a large musical influence on me and Elvis Presley has always been one of her favorites. At the time the idea came about, all three of us were feeling the itch for a long road trip somewhere fun. Just a little girl bonding time. When my sister and I mentioned the idea, mama seemed all to happy to agree 🙂

Side Note – I have actually seen a little of Memphis during a brief stop before, but it was only Graceland. That was on my cross country trip with my husband years ago, and we were being chased by storms the whole way through! That story will come later.

In any event, the three of us knew Graceland was a must. For me, I really wanted to glimpse Beale Street if we found time…well, just because I’ve heard so much about how festive it is.

The Basics

By the end of February, we began thinking about lodging arrangements. We decided we would be taking about 4 days out of Spring Break to make the trip and big dates always get filled up rather early. All we knew is that we preferred a small rental in a quiet neighborhood, close to Downtown Memphis and Graceland. We wanted a kitchen to cook in and enough space to “move around”. So, we went straight to Airbnb to look at available options.

In the end, we chose a small three bedroom bungalow in White Haven, TN. It is a rural little area, with a 10 minute drive to Graceland and about 20 minutes from downtown, where Beale Street can be found. The photos, reviews, surrounding stores, restaurants within a few minutes, etc…it all seemed well suited for what we were looking for.

A Looong drive

The day of departure from our home base, came. We were packed with everything we would need and set out for our 17 hour long road trip to reach our destination. It ended up actually taking about 20 hours one way and we rarely stopped! That was probably the only negative I can say about the trip…I am no longer a spring chick and sitting couped up in a tiny space of a car for that many hours, started to remind me of that. A bigger car is needed next time!

When we reached our rental, it was about 7:30pm. We took a quick inspection of the place, unloaded bags and headed on out to pick up dinner and a few necessities. Aside from that, we were in for the night. We certainly caught up on a bit of sleep that night! The next morning…we got up, ate breakfast, and set off for our Graceland tour.

Graceland

Graceland is every bit as Fabulous as you may have heard! I absolutely love it. Certainly, there are negative reviews out there, as well. I think some folks just can’t wrap their heads around the flamboyancy of the property. Then, there are simply those of us who appreciate the absolute gaudy of that era of style…that complete embracing of the fact that Elvis Presley was a man who knew what he was to the world and enjoyed every single benefit that came along with it.

He was indeed, a King. He knew it and reveled in it. HIs entire essence is captured very nicely within the property boundaries, as well as throughout the area as a whole. Graceland is definitely a must see for fans (and even for some who are not fans!) It is in deed an experience like no other 🙂

I’m glad to have revived my memory on how much I enjoyed the Graceland tour the first time around!

The Local

While we had been standing in line waiting to get into the Graceland tour, we got to chatting with 4 other ladies in front of us. One happened to be from Memphis and gave us a bunch of pointers. Her three friends were all from out of town as well, so it was quite an educational discussion for us all! I’m glad we took it all in, because it led us to the next fun part of our trip!

Big River Crossing

It was probably about 5:00pm when we left Graceland that first full day. We debated on where to go from there. While we still had daylight left, we decided to leave Beale Street for the next day. A few different sources had mentioned that Beale Street is better left during the day for the more popular tourist attractions. The evenings were best for those who are bigger into the night life scene. (We are not so much the night life types! Lol!)

Anyway, we decided to take the one lady’s advice on the Big River Crossing. Big River Crossing is the longest public pedestrian bridge across the Mississippi River. It provides beautiful views of Downtown Memphis on one side with the contrasting prairie like views of Arkansas on the other side. It was indeed a lot of fun, when we finally found it! (The GPS was quite confused by a few detours along the way.)

When we finally found where the starting point was, we parked and prepared for our nearly 2 mile (round trip) walk across the Mississippi River from Tennessee into Arkansas. Not a few feet from our car, we discovered E-Bike rentals. A whole rack of them ready to go.

Mind you, we are 3 middle aged women (and slightly above), who hadn’t gone on a bike ride in many years. We definitely had Zero experience with more tech savvy instruments like the E-Bike. Second, Collectively speaking, we three women have very minimal skills when it comes to overall footing and physical balance. Clumsy runs in the family.

What did we do? We said, “To hell with it!” We downloaded the BCycle app, paid our fee, and put our lives into the hands of fate! (Truth be told, we were more afraid for the other pedestrians!)

The Ride…

Renting the E-Bikes was one of the best ideas on the trip. It truly was that much fun once you got the hang of it. They don’t exactly do all of the work for you, but they do take a lot of pressure off of your legs. You pedal from time to time and coast for a bit. Loved it!

Yes, there were a few tense moments when navigating around other pedestrians, but overall, it was well worth the new experience. Another thing to cross off of my Bucket List.

It was recommended that we try to make that crossing a little closer to sunset, for the spectacular views. We were running a bit early for that. Now that I have since realized the whole bridge lights up at night, I kind of wish we had seen that. Oh well, next time. We did still get a bunch of really good photos in the end and a lot of laughs in between. None of us had to go to the hospital either. Win/Win.

Pop’s Deli

We decided on Pop’s Deli for dinner, after our Big River Crossing excursion. They were conveniently located within 15 minutes of our rental and the only place that seems to keep their grill running after 8:30pm. We were running on the late side after such a long day.

We all ordered the Pop’s Famous Philly Steak and they were absolutely delicious! I do admit…we northeast people are perhaps a bit biased when it comes to our idea of what a cheesesteak should be. Pop’s Deli did an awesome job…home away from home. I highly recommend. Yum!

Downtown Memphis

The second day of sight seeing did end up being all about Beale Street. We were planning on being on the road back home late that night, so we only until about 6pm to explore. We parked in a paid parking lot across from the Peabody Hotel and it was perfect. It was a 2 block long walk to get to the center of Beale Street.

Along the way to Beale Street, we were enticed by another thing I suppose is common for tourists in downtown Memphis…a horse carriage ride. Yes, we were pulled in by our not so aggressive tour guide, Renada. No…she didn’t point out all of the landmarks like you might expect. She simply gauged what kind of music we might enjoy and set her playlist in motion through the little boom box set on the side for our enjoyment. She was not only spot on with the music, but she was low key, professional, and provided a nice start to the downtown experience. We relaxed and took it all in. Awesome little side tour, and another first time experience for all of us.

Beale Street

I must say, we were taken aback by just how small the main tourist area of Beale Street, actually is. The main attractions really do only occupy a couple of blocks. I guess I was anticipating a slightly longer strip of road…lol! In any event, we saw one small act in the street…a guy who cart wheeled about 3 times down the center of the road and that was all of the street festivities we ended up seeing. However, there is a little more…

Coyote Ugly

Okay…I know I said I’m not much of a party girl, but I absolutely had to check out Coyote Ugly downtown Memphis. I loved the movie when I saw it years ago and just needed to get a feel for the place. Of course, there were only a handful of patrons…it was after all, only about 2pm. It was still festive in spirit and I’m glad we stopped in briefly.

The bar maid knows what she’s doing with a pineapple margarita and was quite good at encouraging tourists to do silly things! Apparently, it is a thing for tourists to come in and do the little cat walk down the length of the bar top. It doesn’t matter if there are other patrons there with drinks at the bar. They simply are given a nod to push their drinks back and let the cat walk happen. Oh…and the bar maid will take your photo or video for your souvenir.

Yes, I must admit…I am proud to say I am one of those dorky little tourists that did a little jig down the middle of the Coyote Ugly bar in Memphis, just to say I did it. The photo will go to my grave with me!

I will, however, show the extraordinary collection of bras that hang over top of the bar…all donated by patrons. I can only imagine what that place looks like after dark!

B.B. King’s Blues Club

Now that is what I’m talking about! B.B. King’s is where we decided to stop for dinner, before heading back to our rental. I absolutely loved it! It was exactly what I needed to end the trip. We had been hearing music all day while traveling around the Beale Street area. Music is everywhere from a park right downtown, to every restaurant, club, street corner you see. It is indeed, very festive. But, B.B. King’s was ultimately the best entertainment.

The band that performed was Flicks Picks and they were just what you would expect in a blues club. They did great with keeping that good vibe going all through dinner. My Mom finally had those yummy pork ribs that she had been anticipating the entire weekend through. My sister…what can I say? The woman goes to a place she’s never been to and meatloaf was her go to. In hind sight, I should’ve actually taken her lead on that.

Gumbo Yaya

I decided to be brave and embrace the entire experience, right down to ordering something I have never ordered before on my own accord. Gumbo. Don’t get me wrong. I know there are a lot of fans out there when it comes to Gumbo. My experience is limited to just a spoonful of gumbo on a few occasions. The result has always been the same. Not really a fan.

But, I tried the Gumbo Yaya at B.B. King’s that night…who knows, right? The overall flavoring was spot on…it was really good. I even got through about 8 bites before I caved into my sensitive burning lips. I then ordered mashed potatoes with gravy on the side to quell my burning throat.

Alright, lesson learned. Gumbo is just not my thing. I am simply too much of a light weight when it comes to heat.

In conclusion, I highly recommend B.B. King’s Blues Club as a place to stop, whether it be lunch, dinner, or just a drink. It is lively. The food is delicious and the staff is super polite. It really is just an overall place for good music and vibes all the way around.

Final Thoughts…

I am really glad I took a bit of a breather for this trip. I wish we could have squeezed a few more things into that time. Unfortunately, we had just 4 days from start to finish and nearly two of those days were spent in the car. I do think we chose wisely when it comes to how we spent that small amount of time in Memphis.

We did a few spontaneous things just for fun. We experienced a couple of the major points of interest. AND…that little Road Trip Spotify List I put together a month or so ago, was a huge help in keeping our sanity during those long hours in the car. The stunning mountain views in the background, does make that long drive much nicer as well 🙂

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