Over spring break of 2021 my best friend Tommy and I decided to take a road trip, and we’d been eyeing Memphis for awhile. After spending two days in Louisville we drove the 5 hours to Memphis. We didn’t have a lot of time to spend on our trip, but we figured out how to pass two incredible days in Memphis. Keep reading to find out my suggestions for what to visit, sites to see, and where to eat and drink.
Graceland- Home of Elvis
Memphis and Graceland go hand in hand, and you can’t visit Memphis without making a stop at the home of Elvis Presley. We started our morning with a tour of the famous mansion. We then spent a few more hours wandering the museums that make up the massive complex of Graceland. Visitors are able to visit the uniquely decorated lower-level rooms in the mansion, cars, jumpsuits, gold records and more. Tickets were $75 for adults to tour the mansion and museums, and I recommend getting tickets in advance by visiting their website. Read all about it in this previous blog post about visiting Graceland. I HIGHLY recommend visiting Graceland during a trip to Memphis.
National Civil Rights Museum
One of the most impactful museums I’ve ever been to in my life is the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis. Its exhibits trace the history of civil rights in the United States from the 17th century through today. The museum is built around the former Lorraine Motel. This is where Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
The museum opened in 1991, and has gone through a few renovations since. One in 2004 added a large exhibit with a replica of the US Supreme Court room that heard the 1954 decision of Brown v the Board of Education. Scroll through the slideshow below to see some of the types of exhibits visitors can see at the museum.
This exhibit focused on the process and struggle of integration of black students into the educational system in the United States. 
Green Books that black people would use to travel the US. The green books would let them know where it was safe to stop in order to travel with ease. 
Pullman porters were former slaves hired to work on the railroads as porters on sleeping cars. 
Kenneth and Mamie Clark were a husband & wife team of psychologists. They used dolls to see how young Black children viewed their identities. Finding that given the choice between black and white dolls, the majority of children preferred the white dolls.
Exhibits at the National Civil Rights Museum
There are several interactive areas where visitors can access audio images, texts and videos about the full civil rights movement. This includes lots of short films that really enhance the effects of the exhibits. One interactive exhibit is a replica of a Montgomery bus. When visitors climb aboard the they see a lone statue, representing Rosa Parks. There is also a statue of a bus driver yelling at her, telling her she must move to the back of the bus. This moment led to an over-year long boycott of the Montgomery buses, and is regarded as the first large-scale boycott against segregation.
One section of the museum focuses on the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins that started in 1960 and spread throughout college towns in the south. An audio plays actual recordings of people spewing the most hateful speech, all because a black person wants to sit and dine. Another section is about the Greyhound bus fire. Freedom Riders, on their way to Washington DC, were attacked, pulled off the bus and beaten. The bus was set aflame, and this bus recreation is a somber reminder of the awfulness of that event.
I was quite emotional at the museum. It was hard to take in but only because they are so real and show the truth. But also because of the fact that the struggle is still ongoing for ALL people to have equal rights in the US. It’s so important to not forget this history, to remember the people who fought so hard, many losing their lives, in the fight for freedom and equal rights. The history is awful, and that is why we must remember it, so we stop repeating it.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at the Lorraine Motel
The National Civil Rights museum is built inside the renovated hotel, and it doesn’t look like a hotel at all. There is, of course, TONS of information about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr here- he played such a pivotal role in the civil rights movement of the 60s.
King traveled to Memphis in 1968 because of a sanitation workers strike that was occurring. After Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, the owner of the hotel, Walter Bailey, withdrew the rooms where Dr. King and his friends were staying, maintaining them as a memorial to him. Bailey’s wife tragically suffered a stroke hours after the assassination and died five days later. This led him to reduce the operation of the motel, eventually changing it into single occupancy low-income residential rooms and later working to save the hotel as a memorial.
Room 306
After seeing all the exhibits in the museum, the halls lead you to the rooms where Dr. King and his friends were staying. Visitors can view the rooms through plexiglass. Room 306 is frozen in time, with everything exactly as it was, down to the cigarette butts in the ashtray and open books that were being read. Outside the hall window, you can see a wreath at the location where MLK was standing when he was assassinated.
Another part of the museum is the building across from the former motel. This is the boarding house where James Earl Ray stayed and is believed to have fired the fatal shot. This part of museum goes through the hunt for James Earl Ray, his trial and conspiracy theories that are involved around the assassination.
Expect to spend a long time at the museum. There was so much to read and look at! We were there two hours and I could have spent longer, but we had tickets for our next site. The price for admission is $16 for adults, $14 for seniors, $13 for kids 5-17 and free for younger children and active military. Visitors must pass through a metal detector and have purses searched before entering.
Sun Studio
Another landmark that we visited during our two days in Memphis was Sun Studio. This infamous recording studio is where Elvis Presley, BB King, Johnny Cash and countless others recorded music. It is open to visitors 7 days a week from 10-5:15 (or 6:15 on Friday and Saturday) with tours every half hour. Tickets are $15 for adults, or $10 for children, and are NOT available online; they are given on a first come, first serve basis. You can go in early in the day and request tickets for later in the day, which is what Tommy and I did. In the main room is a café and lots of souvenir available for purchase, along with some pictures and memorabilia.
History and Significance of Sun Studio
Opened by Sam Phillips, a rock ‘n’ roll pioneer in 1950, Sun Studios is reportedly where the first rock ‘n’ roll single- Rocket 88- was recorded in 1951 with Ike Turner blues.
The first hit record for Sun Studios was by Rufus Thomas with the song “Bearcat”. This song was similar to Hounddog and almost bankrupted the record label because of a copyright infringement lawsuit. R&B singers like the Howlin’ Wolf, BB King and Roscoe Gordon recorded here in the 1950s.
Another thing to see at Sun Studio was the reconstructed DJ booth of Memphis radio personality Dewey Phillips. He was reported to have more listeners than all the other deejays combined. Whether or not a new song was a hit was determined by him. He was also known to smash records on air when he didn’t like a song (see the broken record remnants on the ground?).
Elvis & Sun Studio
In 1953, 18-year-old Elvis Presley came to Sun Studios to record a few songs for his mother. Receptionist Marion Keisker heard and loved the records but nothing came of it. At first…
A year later Phillips was on the lookout for a new singer. He said he was looking for someone who could bring the sound of a black musician. Marion Keisker rememberd Presley, and Phillips brought him in for a test run with musicians Bill Black and Scotty Moore. A nervous and young Elvis Presley kept messing up and after three hours he was about to be dismissed. Phillips told him to relax and sing something he felt comfortable with, and that is when he sang the song “That’s Alright (Mama)”.
And the rest is history. The above mentioned Dewey Phillips heard the record and loved it and kept receiving calls over and over to replay the song. During the tour visitors gets to see recording space where this took place.
Sun Studio after Elvis
Within months of selling that album Sam Phillips saw his label expand as radio stations and record stores all over were playing his artists. A year later he agreed to sell Elvis’ contract to a larger label and made $35,000 as a buyout. This was an unheard of amount of money for a recording artist back at the time. Phillips used that money to help advance the careers of other artists such as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Roy Orbison.
In 1959 Phillips moved Sun Studio to a larger premises nearby. In 1987 the space was converted back into a recording studio. and luckily it had never been renovated. It became a tourist attraction but also a spot where lots of current artists (such as U2, Def Leppard, John Mellencamp to name a few) wanted to record. In 2003 it was recognized as a national historic landmark. During your tour, you can also sing into the microphone that Elvis Presley himself sang into. Our tour guide was so passionate and knowledgeable, I definitely recommend the tour during your trip to Memphis.
Riverwalk
Near downtown Memphis there’s a paved trail of rougly 3 miles that borders the Mississippi Rivers called Riverwalk.
The most picturesque and crowded section of the Riverwalk is near Beale Street Landing which looks out on Joe Curtis point. The night that we visited (a Sunday, and our first evening in Memphis) it seemed to be THE place to be seen by young people.
One of the most odd things I noticed during the walk is the Memphis pyramid you can see in the distance. “What is that?!?” I wondered. The answer- a Bass Pro shops megastore. (Weird- right?) Across the way you can see Mud Island with its amphitheater, yacht club, and Mississippi river museum.
Along the river there are lots of signs with history and information of the area. Tommy and I especially liked Beale Street Landing, located at the end of famous Beale Street. The multi-million dollar riverfront project is part restaurant, part recreation/park, and part dock for steamboats and scenic river cruises on the Mississippi. The historic cobblestone landing was the original dock for steamboats and barges in downtown Memphis. The recreation area has a children’s playground with water features, and viewing platforms are located at the top of the grassy roof of the structure.
Across the street from Beale Street landing there is a hill with steps, and from there Riverwalk continues, following along the railroad tracks.
Beale Street
Beale Street, located in downtown Memphis, runs from the Mississippi river and is almost 2 miles long. This is where you go to party, but it has a pretty significant history of blues music. The street is lined with clubs and restaurants that tourists flock to. In fact, when we drove by it on Sunday evening after walking the Riverwalk, it was so packed we decided to not stop.
After skipping Beale Street on Sunday, we went on back on Monday evening. We were able to walk the empty streets virtually alone. This is where we had an Elvis sighting!
The summer brings large crowds to Beale Street because of the festivals and concerts. The street was created in 1841 and in the 1860s many black traveling musicians started performing there. The tradition of musicians on Beale Street carried on through the years and from the 1920s to the 40s musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Muddy Waters and BB King played on Beale Street, helping to create a style known as “Memphis Blues”. In fact, BB King was billed as the “Beale Street blues boy” when he was young.
The street is so significant that it was declared a national historic landmark in 1966. Today’s attractions include the Hard Rock Cafe, BB King’s Blues Club and Coyote Ugly bar.
Beale Street highlights
We did decide to check out a couple bars on Beale Street. We first went into Rum Boogie Cafe where inside I immediately noticed the collection of autographed guitars hanging from the ceiling. They have over 200 guitars from artists like Elvis, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Billy Joel, Bon Jovi, Alice Cooper and on. They often have live music, have an extensive drink and food menu and are open seven days a week.
Across the street is Silky O’Sullivan’s where it feels like St. Patrick’s Day all year. Like most places on Beale Street they have live entertainment, including dueling pianos, and a large food menu. They have a beautiful patio, where a goat tower is located. I came for the goats, but they were busy napping while I was there (probably tired from the busy night they had the evening before).
Where to eat and drink in Memphis
We only had two days in Memphis, but we managed to find lots of great places to eat and drink. Check out my suggestions below.
Central BBQ
There is much debate in Memphis about who has the best BBQ. While I am vegetarian, I did some research before the trip so that I could ensure that my buddy Tommy got the best BBQ. After reading some posts by locals I decided on Central BBQ. Opened in 2002, this Memphis BBQ spot is known for their smoked ribs, made using hickory and pecan wood, that they marinade for 24 hours before putting it in the pit. There are four locations, one close to where we were staying, Midtown. I didn’t get anything, but Tommy enjoyed his sandwich very much.
The Beauty Shop
Also located in Midtown is The Beauty Shop. This restaurant, located in the former beauty parlor of Priscilla Presley, is designed to conjure up images of a ’50s beauty shop. Unfortunately, Tommy and I did not get to eat here, though we did try. The wait was so long even on a Monday night, but you’ve gotta imagine that means it is good!
Soul Fish
Also located in Midtown, but also at 3 spots in Memphis, Soul Fish restaurant has been voted as having the best catfish. And I have to agree. Oh yeah, I’m a vegetarian who will eat seafood occasionally, especially when traveling. And I have to say, Tommy and I loved this spot so much we went there twice! We tried the catfish, fries, hushpuppies, salad and coleslaw and loved everything we tasted. And the portions are HUGE.
Sugar Grits
Tommy and I stumbled into Sugar Grits, located in downtown Memphis This restaurant has not been open long, but features a menu full of- you guessed it- grits! I love grits, and when we arrived, after spending all morning at Graceland and feeling starving, we ordered so much! We started with the fried pickeled okra which was delicious. Tommy ordered a biscuit and declared it was one of the best he’s ever had (and he’s basically a biscuit connoisseur). He also loved the chick-a-doodle-doo sandwich. I ordered the vegetarian grits dish and it was incredible.
and now drinks…
Memphis Made Brewery
Located in midtown, Memphis Made Brewery opened in 2014. They can and keg three beers year-round and make dozens of seasonal and limited-release beers. The space is huge, with two outdoor patios and there is often a food truck on site. They are open Wednesday, Thursday from 4-7, Friday from 4-10, Saturday from 1-10 and Sunday 1-7. Make sure to visit the I Love Memphis sign on the patio.
Wiseacre
Located not far from downtown is Wiseacre Brewery. This huge 40,000 sq. ft. brewery is the second for Wiseacre, which is owned by two brothers. Dogs are welcome on the massive patio, and they had 13 beers on tap when I visited, including pilsners, sours and stouts. There is also a pizza and snack bar at the downtown taproom. They are open from 1-10 from Monday-Thursday and 11-10 on Friday-Sunday.
That wraps up my two days in Memphis. I hope you found some inspiration for your own trip to Memphis. I appreciate you reading, and your comments and suggestions for adventures. Be sure to check back soon for another adventure from Catching Katie. Until then, enjoy a past adventure, such as this one about the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky.
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[…] to Cash’s time with Sun Records. I had the fortune of visiting Sun Records during my trip to Memphis, which you can read in my blog post. Sun Records helped recording artist such as Jerry Lee Lewis, […]