Driving East toward Tennessee from Little Rock it felt like we were closer to home than we had been in ages. In reality we were over 1100 miles from our hometown but after crossing the Mississippi River we were in the “East” for the first time since August 2017. Needless to say Memphis seemed like a coming home occasion for us.
As the drive from Little Rock to Memphis is only a few hours we arrived in the early afternoon and wanted to start our tour of Memphis off right. So we went to where most people start their tour of Memphis at Elvis’ Graceland. Driving in it seemed that the entire experience has been Disneyfied. The actual mansion is on one side of the street, while you park and enter into a huge building on the other. After parking and purchasing a ticket (you can either buy a ticket for just the mansion and Elvis’ planes or for the entire experience which includes a newly built museum.) As the mansion was what we had really come for we chose that option, hopped into a shuttle and we were off. After a 30 second ride we were dropped off in front of the mansion and given iPads and headphones. This part was pretty neat. We were told to start up the iPad which directs you where to go in the house and you simply press next when its time to visit the next room. The best part was that John Stamos was the narrator on the iPad. Apparently he was a huge Elvis fan.
The entire tour of the mansion was really neat. It was left just as it was when Elvis died in 1977. We walked room-to-room learning what took place in the room and any changes throughout the years that Elvis had done to the room. We also toured the property, which also included a small horse farm, raquette ball court and the family pool. Elvis was also buried on the property as well. This was unexpected for us but learned that initially he was buried elsewhere but was moved to the property to keep his headstone and area from being vandalized in the initial cemetery that he was buried in. Once the tour of the mansion was over we hopped back to the shuttle, crossed the street then walked over to Elvis’ planes. He had two planes that we were able to tour, a large Convair 880 (huge plane) named the Lisa Marie and a smaller Lockeed Jetstar (smaller plane), named the Hound Dog 2. The Convair had been totally refurbished in 1975 with stereo systems, conference room, bedroom and even gold plated toilets. It was quite a sight to see. After getting our Elvis fix in for the day we headed to the campground for the night.
The next morning we woke up early, excited for our day in downtown Memphis. We drove into the city, found parking and headed to the famous Peabody Hotel. When visiting cities our normal tourist activities do not normally take us to a hotel but the Peabody is not a normal hotel. The Peabody is one of the nicest and historic hotels in downtown Memphis that has live ducks as their mascots. Every morning they waddle from their rooftop house into an elevator, then following a human leader through the lobby of the hotel into a fountain in the hotels center. Then every afternoon they reverse the process and head back to their home on the roof for the night. This is a big spectacle every day and Julie and I wanted to see it. The story goes of how this got started was that in the early 1930’s the general manager at the time after coming back from a duck hunting trip in Arkansas had a bit too much whisky and decided it would be funny to put a few live decoy ducks in the hotels fountain. He thought that people would be alarmed that there were live animals in the hotel but in fact it had the opposite effect. People loved it. Then in 1940 a former circus animal trainer teamed up with the hotel to teach the ducks how to march on command daily. The rest is history.
We arrived at the Peabody around 1030am (the ducks arrive promptly at 11), found a seat by the bar and ordered a mint julep. The scene was a little different than what we had imagined. They had security set a perimeter from the elevator to the fountain and all around the center of the hotel. Seats were first come first serve. Once they were full you could not just stand close to the action, you had to stand on the other side of the rope. Julie and I luckily got the last remaining table. A few minutes before 11 a voice came over the hotels intercom telling guests what was about to happen and if there were any kids in the audience that they could come forward and sit the closest if they wanted to. Then promptly at 11 music started playing, the elevator door opened and the human duck commander (his official title), walked out followed by 5 ducks, which he led over to the fountain. The ducks hopped up a few little stairs and started to swim around. The whole process took about a minute and was one of the most interesting things that we had ever seen at a hotel.
From the Peabody and its ducks we walked over to Memphis’ most iconic building, the Memphis Pyramid. This is not a older building with the name the Pyramid but an actual 32 story building built in the early 1990’s to house the Memphis NBA team at the time and the University of Memphis basketball team. Today however, the venue has changed quite dramatically. No longer does the building house a basketball arena but it is now the worlds largest Bass Pro Shop location. Walking in the building caught us off guard. Unlike a normal store with the ceiling height being maybe 2 stories tall, as this was a former arena, the inside of the building was hundreds of feet tall. Since it had a huge footprint they were able to do a few crazy things in terms of retail. Not only were there the normal racks for outdoor clothes, camping gear and fishing gear but, there was an entire lake system with actual boats for purchase. Also in this lake system inside were actual fish swimming around. There was also an archery range, multiple restaurants, bar and a hotel that overlooked everything. The most famous piece of engineering in the building is its elevator. This Bass Pro Shops has the world’s tallest freestanding elevator. For this you had to pay a small fee and you were off, 28 stories straight up. Julie and I of course did this. It was a bit unnerving traveling straight up with nothing on either side but making it to the top was well worth it. At the top there was a restaurant with a walkway on the outside that gave us great views of Memphis. Julie and I have been to quite a few stores on this trip but none like this Bass Pro Shops. Just amazing!
From the Pyramid we walked over to Memphis’ most famous street, Beale Street. Walking down Beale Street we couldn’t help but compare it to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. They are quite similar with bars lining almost every inch that you could see. The big difference of course was that in New Orleans you heard Zydeco music and here in Memphis, it’s the blues. We stopped in a few bars on the search for a blues band before going to the end of the street and finding Lew’s Blue Note. Playing was the house band, Lew’s Blue Note All Stars featuring Albert King Jr. As it was a bit early in the day we were the only ones there. This didn’t matter to the band as they still played great. Albert stole the show playing his bass with his phone; ketchup bottle or it seemed anything within arms reach. They were a great band and a ton of fun to watch.
As it was starting to get late and we were getting hungry it was time to go to another famous Memphis establishment, The Rendezvous BBQ. The Rendezvous is known for their ribs and we were hungry. After a few blocks walking, we were there and seated. Unlike the normal “Low and Slow” style of BBQ cooking the Rendezvous uses a coal fired pit and cooks the ribs at a high temperature ensuring that they cook fast. As the restaurant has been around for 70+ years there is a ton of history in the place. Not only has the restaurant been there for a long time almost every one of the waiters had been there for 20+ years as well. Our waiter Fred had been there for over 15 years in his section. He even had pictures of himself with celebrities on the wall for everyone to look at. Soon enough the food came and it was awesome. The ribs were to die for, the best that we had eaten so far on our trip. An hour or so later we were stuffed. We got a few to go bags, went back to Bubbles and headed to the campground for the night.
Up next…Family comes to visit as we head south to Jackson, Mississippi!
