Over the previous decade, we’ve visited Memphis 16 occasions to hold with our household and discover the town. When my sister Kate & brother-in-law Will moved right here from Los Angeles, everybody was a bit skeptical. “Isn’t that the deep south?” “What’s there apart from Graceland,” individuals scoffed.” Grind Metropolis is completely misunderstood by outsiders, and even people who go to, usually simply go to Beale Avenue for reside music and BBQ, then go away with no clue. It isn’t fashionable or polished like Nashville; it’s refreshingly uncooked and actual.
Music runs deep within the metropolis’s soul. It’s the place complete genres have been invented…rock n’ roll, soul, and the blues. Grind Metropolis was a lynchpin within the Civil Rights Motion and at this time it’s residence to 6 websites on the US Civil Rights Path. It’s surrounded by nature, with the mighty Mississippi River and one of many largest city parks on the planet. CNN Cash acknowledged Memphis as one of many 10 greatest locations within the U.S. for startups, and even huge firms like Ford’s e-vehicle operations are organising store right here. In our 10 years of visiting, we’ve watched the town hit its stride with extra entrepreneurs, artists, cooks, brewers, and hoteliers creating so many cool spots. The humanities are certainly one of Memphis’ biggest strengths and the town has channeled it’s their unifier and catalyst for change.
Memphis has been our household hub for holidays and a little bit of a protected haven in our nomadic lives. After we obtained the compulsory go to to Graceland and the Civil Rights Museum beneath our belt, our Memphis journeys grew to become about hanging out and doing because the locals do. And after I say this, it doesn’t imply sitting in a rocker on the entrance porch. My sister and her husband are music lovers, foodies, outdoorsy, and social individuals, all the time trying to strive the newest haps and share the very best of them with us. We put our heads collectively for this information on the very best issues to do in Memphis to journey like a neighborhood.
GET ORIENTED
Earlier than we get into all the chilliness native spots, Memphis has loads of layers to unpack…Civil Battle historical past, music legends, civil rights monuments, and a layer of grit that may make it onerous to see Memphis clearly. These are the important excursions and museums to get your bearings.
Backbeat Excursions
Neglect these tacky double-decker buses, and go away your Memphis introduction to the historians and musicians at Backbeat Excursions. Began by Invoice Patton (creator of The Information to Historic Downtown Memphis), this tour firm is aware of how intrinsically tied Memphis historical past is to music, so the information has a microphone and guitar to offer a bit context to every web site. Like singing early Elvis tunes in entrance of Lauderdale Courts the place The King of Rock n’ Roll spent his teenage years, and taking part in songs central to the civil rights motion in entrance of I AM A MAN Plaza, honoring the 1968 sanitation employees strike that introduced MLK to city. We hit the town highlights of historic Cotton Row, the Victorian neighborhood of Courtroom Sq., Central BBQ (with a tasting), Lansky Brothers (clothier to Johnny Money, BB King, and Elvis), and a bunch of different key websites. Enjoyable and informative, Backbeat’s Memphis Discovery Tour is one of the simplest ways to get oriented and have a good time. Additionally they do strolling and bike excursions masking quite a lot of extra Memphis-specific subjects.
Experience the Classic Avenue Vehicles
Memphis’ authentic streetcar community closed in 1947…however now the MATA trolley is again with beautiful heritage automobiles. Sourced in every single place from Portugal to Australia, that is a formidable worldwide assortment of classic automobiles with intricate woodworking, vintage lighting, and chiming bells. After we got here to talk at TravelCon Memphis, we piled in with a dozen blogger associates and had a selfie spectacular. Using the Principal Avenue Line and the River Entrance Loop throughout the day offers an ideal overview of city and a glance into native life, and by evening it’s a wise approach to bar hop. Higher nonetheless, it’s $1 a experience and a neighborhood expertise! Be sure you chat with the conductors, each we’ve met is a Memphian, stuffed with appeal and sass.
MUSEUMS & MUSIC HISTORY
Civil Rights Museum
Memphis has an unbelievable quantity of high-quality museums, lots of that are the undisputed authority on the subject. Make sure that to see at the least two of those!
You possibly can name The Nationwide Civil Rights Museum a vacationer attraction, however it’s important training for each American. Set within the Lorraine Motel, the place Martin Luker King Jr. was assassinated, and expanded with state-of-the-art displays that earned them Smithsonian standing, this museum profoundly covers 5 centuries of African American historical past and race relations. Going with my household was a captivating expertise, and sparked some deep conversations with our little niece who is essentially color-blind to race, and my mother who lived in San Francisco throughout the Civil Rights Motion. (Enjoyable truth, her school roommate was a Freedom Rider, and she or he noticed her within the museum’s picture of a jail lineup!)
Considerate signage, a whole bunch of artifacts, and greater than 40 movies cowl subjects from slavery, the rise of Jim Crow, and optimistic modifications of the late 20th century, to the challenges we face at this time. You may even stroll into the lodge room MLK spent his ultimate hours, and go throughout the road to the buildings linked to the assassination and the mysteries round it. Throughout our go to, the King of Ghana and his dignitaries simply occurred to be touring the museum, which supplies you a way of how internationally revered the Civil Rights Museum actually is.
Stax Soul Museum
With regards to soul music, Stax is the middle of the universe. On the unique web site of Stax Information, which produced 900 singles and launched legends like Otis Redding and Issac Hayes, is the world’s solely museum devoted to American soul music. Celebrating their 20th anniversary in 2023, they’ve simply renovated with new displays and interactive shows, now totaling 2,000 gadgets of memorabilia, from costumes to basic automobiles.
On our current journey, we heard concerning the Tuesday concert events with the Stax Academy Alumni Band (the Soulsville Basis has two spectacular faculties nurturing native expertise), so we introduced my mother and nieces for some enjoyable. Energetic eight-year-old Maisie ran forward and sprinted again, saying “Aunt Anne, they’ve a disco dance ground!” We proceeded to spend the subsequent 20 minutes booging to episodes of Soul Practice beneath the stage lights. Then got here time for the eight-piece alumni band; they have been soooo good, they’d everybody within the aisles shaking a tailfeather. I didn’t know my mother was a soul fan, however these songs completely introduced her again and had her buzzing Aretha for days and saying, “That was a lot enjoyable!”
Blues Corridor of Fame, Solar Studio & Extra Music Museums
Whether or not you’re a soul, blues, or rock n’ roll fan, Memphis has a top-notch museum to get your foot tappin’.
Memphis Music Corridor of Fame: Do you know 20 % of the early inductees within the Rock ‘n’ Roll Corridor of Fame got here from inside a 100-mile radius of Memphis? From Tina Turner to Justin Timberlake, meet the hometown heroes.
Solar Studio: Birthplace of Rock n’ Roll & the Million Greenback Quartet (Johnny Money, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis)
Memphis Rock n’ Soul Museum: What it appears like, however even higher, with its Smithsonian-accredited shows.
Graceland: The house of all issues Elvis (mansion, automobiles, airplanes, jumpsuits, and the complete story of his legacy. (Expensive, however value it!)
Blues Corridor of Fame Museum: Homage to the Residence of the Blues and the way far its sound has traveled.
MUSIC VENUES & ROCKIN’ BARS
Our bro-in-law, who is aware of that Mike & I love dive bars and reside music, would make some extent to take us to a brand new gem every time we have been on the town. Incomes true dive bar standing in Memphis doesn’t simply imply you’ve neon beer indicators, it means your partitions can discuss. Aspect word and wacky truth: Memphis liquor legal guidelines are such that if a bar doesn’t promote onerous alcohol, and the institution is cool with it, you possibly can deliver your individual!
Better of Beale Avenue
The place W.C. Helpful printed the blues, the place Elvis and BB King obtained their begin, and the place the subsequent huge acts reduce their tooth, Beale Avenue is perpetually glowing in a neon halo. This strip of juke joints, blues halls, and bars has vacationers for a motive, however there are nonetheless spots that locals go. The ladies and I all the time have enjoyable popping into A. Schwab (est 1876), with its old-time soda fountain, variety-store treasures, and artifacts from its Seventies stint as The Beale Avenue Museum. We generally go as much as Patio Bar for the unbelievable people-watching, or get out of the fray with a frosty one on the native brewery, Ghost River Faucet Room. And once we really feel like some Blues in Blues Metropolis, there may be the Itta Bena Bar above B.B. King’s.
Blues Metropolis Cafe’s Band Field
With regards to music on Beale Avenue, we love the Blues Metropolis Cafe. That is clearly not a hidden gem if acts like Queen Latifah & Rufus Thomas have graced the stage, and company like President Invoice Clinton & Samuel L. Jackson have popped in for a present, however this place is legit. One among Kate & Will’s favourite bands, The Eskimo Brothers commonly performs right here and we all the time attempt to catch them. To present you an concept of how cool these guys are and the way intimate this venue is, The Eskimo Brothers truly took the time to name me from the stage when my sister stated I used to be late for the present. It’s simply that type of place.
Hernando’s Cover-A-Manner
A spot Elvis performed within the Fifties and the place Jerry Lee Lewis visited so usually within the ’80s he known as it his “workplace,” is the “World Well-known Hernando’s Cover-A-Manner.” Resurrected in 2018 to honor their rockabilly and honkey tonk previous, they’ve reside music Wednesday via Saturday, and inventive cocktails like The Johnny Money Smash and All Shook Up Daiquiris. It’s a throwback dream, definitely worth the Uber experience a bit out of downtown.
Wild Invoice’s Juke Joint
After we noticed this bar title title written on wood boards, in black marker, and lined with Christmas Lights, we immediately knew Wild Invoice’s could be good. A reside blues dive bar situated within the Vollintine-Evergreen district, Wild Invoice’s is simply 5 minutes from world-famous Beale Avenue, however nearly completely missed by vacationers. Of their quarter-century historical past, they’ve pulled among the South’s largest names and are all the time bringing in rising expertise. After we went, there was a 70-year-old girl killing it on electrical guitar and a singer who would have made W.C. Helpful proud.
Earnestine & Hazel‘s
Arguably the very best dive bar in America (featured in Esquire, Playboy, and 9 motion pictures), this former Thirties pharmacy-turned-barber-shop-turned-brothel-turned-bar, has (ghost) tales to inform. Earnestine & Hazel’s truly went up on the market lately and our brother-in-law thought of shopping for it for safekeeping! Excellent news, it’s within the arms of excellent associates respecting the legacy of this place, leaving its creaky flooring and chipping paint, and providing good reside music and luxury meals (together with the nationally acknowledged Soul Burger). Should you see the outdated “Sundry Retailer” signal exterior and suppose this place appears shady, you’ve arrived.
RIP: Wind Jammer
Now we have to pour one out for the best Karaoke bar of all time, a spot so divey it sadly met its demise (perhaps having the car parking zone double as the lads’s lavatory was going too far.) After we went for his or her closing social gathering, the very best singers on the town got here to honor this plywood home of music, everybody was dancing like an enormous hug, and PBR flowed just like the Mississippi.
Live performance on the Overton Park Shell
This venue isn’t just scenic and enjoyable, however the place historical past was made. The very first time Elvis carried out his loopy idea of Rock ‘n Roll was right here, on the now Overton Park Shell. In the present day, this open-air amphitheater is utilizing music as a approach to construct group and have fun variety. Come for his or her signature free reside music concert events that run from Could via October, a number of days per week. A night at this small venue beneath the shady bushes and dancing alongside Memphians is all the time a pleasure. Come to the park just a few hours earlier than a present and take a look at the neighboring Memphis Brooks Museum of Arts.
MEMPHIS OUTDOOR FUN
Shelby Farms
At 4,500 acres, Shelby Farms Park is greater than 5 occasions the dimensions of Central Park! Among the many largest city parks on the planet, it’s obtained 20 our bodies of water, 40 miles of paved and single-track trails, and nearly each out of doors exercise…disc golf, ziplining, kayaking, horseback using, and extra. My sister and her household go right here each month, so we requested them to explain their good Shelby Farms day they stated, “Biking round Hyde Lake, getting a chew at Coastal Fish Firm, and watching the bison roam.” (Sure, Shelby Farms is residence to a herd of bison.)
Wolf River Seaside
Our favourite Memphis nature day of all time was taking a stroll via the Lucius Burch Jr. Forest for a Wolf River Seaside Day. Whereas we ladies have been swimming and constructing sand castles, the boys went mountain biking within the surrounding forest, then all of us reunited for a picnic and a recreation of river bocce. Having nature like this only a bike experience away from downtown made us respect the town much more. For extra intense mountain biking, do the six-mile Tour de Wolf single-track loop.
Sundown on the Mississippi River
The mighty Mississippi is without doubt one of the world’s main river methods and a waterway that has linked the middle of the nation because the daybreak of time. It’s the stuff of legend, evoking the phrases of Mark Twain, the songs of Tina Turner, and the origin story of Memphis. By day, you possibly can see it’s the hard-working river it’s all the time been, however by sundown, the magic of the Mississippi shines in golden hues. Get pleasure from it from high-flying rooftop bars like Beck & Name, Hu. Roof, or the historic Peabody Resort. To be even nearer to the water, head to Beale Avenue Touchdown or Mud Island.
Memphis Purple Birds Ball Recreation
Going to a baseball recreation has turn out to be a dear and commercialized affair—not on the Memphis Redbird’s stadium. This Triple-A workforce, an affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, nonetheless has the fun-loving spirit of baseball. You will get tickets for $6 and lay out your picnic blanket on their grassy bluff seating, whereas consuming pulled pork nachos. In current information, we love to listen to that AutoZone Park has been named a Prime 10 Vegetarian-Pleasant Ballpark and that they swapped out their VIP suites for an all-inclusive membership.
Information Quest Group Occasions
On our 16th journey to Memphis, we have been on the lookout for contemporary methods to discover the town and got here throughout Information Quest’s South Memphis Group E-biking Occasion. We rapidly realized this wasn’t only a scenic experience to the Mississippi River, this was certainly one of KQ’s many common occasions and brokers for social change in inner-city Memphis. Modern packages like their three-acre city educating farm, Teen Tech Middle, and common wellness occasions—from Tai Chi to beekeeping—are revolutionizing this group and galvanizing others. Our experience throughout city, stroll via the natural educating farm, and chats with the founder Marlon Foster have been so invigorating! Try KnowledgeQuest.org for how one can take part of their occasions (or be a part of us in making a donation)!
BEER GARDENS & SUNDAY FUNDAYS
Being within the Solar Belt, Memphis has gentle winters, beautiful springs, scorching summers, and colourful autumns…all conducive to spending a lot of the 12 months outside with a drink in your hand! Consequently, the town has a bunch of beer gardens, many household and pet-friendly.
Railgarten
Midtown Memphis is a hip native neighborhood, with cute outlets, eating places, and bars. Nevertheless, if there may be one midtown institution that wraps all that coolness into one package deal, it’s Railgarten. Unfold throughout 1.5 acres of out of doors house, outdated delivery containers at the moment are bars, eateries, and phases. Within the center, you’ve obtained a correct volleyball court docket, an out of doors display for giant video games and film nights, and seating with firepits or umbrellas to maintain the enjoyable going irrespective of the climate. My sister and I’ve a robust volleyball connection (it’s how we communicated in our feisty teenage years and not directly how we each met our husbands). We love coming right here as a household (Lexie Canine included), to hit the ball round, have just a few beers, and catch new bands. Test their schedule for enjoyable music and occasions.
Tom Lee River Park
The much-anticipated grand reopening of Tom Lee River Park is poised to be the final word hangout spot alongside the Mississippi. Greater than 1,000 new bushes and 50,000 native flora have been planted for this manicured inexperienced house with fountains, raised walkways, and suave playgrounds. There will even be a stage for reside music and a number of eateries for enjoyable into the evening. Opening September 2023.
Loflin Yard
Hiding behind the railroad tracks in downtown Memphis is Loflin Yard, an oasis of historic buildings, eateries, bars, and out of doors areas, even a stream! Akin to Railgarten with reside music, garden video games, and chill areas, however swankier.
Carolina Watershed
Simply throughout the road from Loflin Yard, Carolina Watershed has the prime spot overlooking two waterfalls with an enormous patio to take them in. And also you’ve gotta love their round bar inside a silo and luxury meals.
BEST RESTAURANTS IN MEMPHIS
With a wealthy culinary custom and an inflow of scorching new cooks, eating is among the many greatest issues to do in Memphis. After all, you’ve gotta strive each their wet- and dry-style BBQ however there may be a lot extra to Grind Metropolis delicacies. Lots of the beer gardens and bars we listed above even have nice meals (notably Blues Metropolis Cafe and Loflin Yard), however the next locations are all about good grub.
Brunch: Dawn Memphis
Restauranteur Ryan Trimm partnered with the world-famous Central BBQ to create this funky, feel-good diner. Recognized to be “the very best breakfast in Memphis,” this place has strains out the door for his or her McBetter Breakfast Sandwich, 3 Hermana Tacos, and Breakfast of Champions sriracha tofu bowl. Open from 7am till 1pm…as they are saying, “Stand up ‘n Grit-it!”
BBQ: The Bar-B-Q Store
We ate at this Midtown mainstay throughout our omnivore days and may vouch for its legit Memphis BBQ and downhome appeal. The Bar-B-Q Store is my bro and sis’s #1 BBQ choose to this present day. Strive their signature BBQ Spaghetti (it’s approach higher than it sounds).
Vegan: Think about
Lastly, a restaurant that understands that simply because some people don’t eat meat doesn’t imply we don’t need good BBQ! In reality, Think about is so good at Southern cooking, that their Vegan Memphis Sandwich Platter was featured in USA In the present day’s Finest BBQ within the States (in opposition to ALL BBQ)! And when my mother had the shrimp po’ boy, even the meat eaters on the desk have been asking for one more chew.
Extra Vegan Eating places: Plant-Based mostly Warmth, Son of a Vegan, and Metropolis Silo (for its bountiful plant-based choices).
Wonderful Eating: ACRE
Fashionable Southern delicacies with an Asian twist is an unexpectedly pleasant mixture that has earned ACRE awards. Set in a renovated home on a tree-lined avenue, this modern house is tremendous inviting and romantic. As vegans, we have been impressed with the Hamachi Crudo cucumber and carrot ginger salad, the Roasted Carrots with Avocado, walnut, labneh, and white truffle honey French dressing, and meat eaters will certainly love this place too.
Wonderful Eating Honorable Point out: Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen
BEST BOUTIQUE HOTELS IN MEMPHIS
The Central Station Memphis
Actually atop the century-old (working) prepare station, the not too long ago opened Central Station lodge has stored its excessive ceilings, large home windows, and marble flooring for the right steadiness of hip and historic. Plus, it’s residence to the unbelievable Southern-French fusion restaurant, Bishop.
Arrive
The economic-chic Arrive Resort has been the traveler hotspot since its opening in 2019. Punchy decor within the foyer is complemented by serene suites for a well-rounded feel and appear. Situated within the South Principal Arts District, it’s simply off the primary vacationer drag however nonetheless within the coronary heart of all of it.
James Lee Home
Set within the metropolis’s Victorian Village Historic District, this grand residence from 1848 on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations, is now an opulent and completely distinctive B&B. The James Lee Home will get the adore it deserves from everybody from Journey & Leisure to New York Journal.
Have you ever been to Memphis currently? It’s time for a getaway! Try our Tennessee Highway journey weblog for our itinerary from Knoxville to Memphis.
Particular due to Tennessee Tourism for supporting our storytelling and an enormous due to my household for sharing your Memphis world with us all these years!