My 2009 Visit to Memphis

In March of 2009, I packed my car and started the long drive from Phoenix, Arizona to Duluth, Minnesota to spend my vacation with family and friends. I figured this was a golden opportunity to finally visit Memphis, Tennessee, which was a few hundred miles out of my way, but the long drive through Arkansas was well worth the effort to walk around this great town on a warm and sunny spring day.

Upon entering the city, I took a drive down by the Mississippi River and looked up to find a statue of Elvis peering towards downtown from one of the local parks. Not seeing the city since I was four years old, I was expecting a touristy, musical version of Disney Land, with 100 foot Trinitrons everywhere of Graceland and BB King. The downtown portion of city was pretty actually pretty tranquil and laid back with just a few cars passing by on the streets coupled with the occasional street car. I noticed he leaves were already budding on the trees, which was a nice site coming from Phoenix, Arizona and eventually to snowy Duluth.

Beale Street

If you see nothing but Beale Street while in Memphis, your trip will still be worthwhile. I was only here during the day, but I imagine the night lights up with music. Vintage restaurants and dinners, which in many cases have been open for business for over 80 years, can be found up and down Beale. Clubs with live music are everywhere along with some neat little bars. There was a small park where a blues band was playing around midday. I heard most of the concert while eating across the street at an old school burger joint called Dyer's. The best part of Beale is the live music. At any time during the day, there are live bands playing on the street. There was a honest energy here which revolves around raw blues music from the past and present. The Gibson guitar factory is also here, and I stopped in to check out the guitars I might purchase someday instead of that overrated new car or home.

The following day I figured I'd check out Graceland. I'm not the biggest Elvis fan, but I decided to check it out since it was near my hotel. I just walked up to the gates and took a few photos, and the experience itself was fairly nondescript since I didn't pay the entry fee to take the tour until I met this guy on the street who told me he was selling coins. Of course, I thought at first he was trying to sell them to me. He mentioned, however, he was taking them to a pawn shop down the street. I don't know anything about coins, but these were very nice coins--gold platted half dollars and buffalo nickles kept in a really nice case. All the coins seemed like they were in mint condition. So, we walked into the store and they offered him virtually nothing. And we walked outside and I told him "just sell it on Ebay." He replied "what's Ebay?" So I wrote down step by step what he needed to accomplish, and that's how I spent the better part of my afternoon on that side of Memphis. I hope he made out alright with those coins....what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, Graceland...it was nice.

Thank you for reading about my stop in Memphis.  It was an awesome experience, and I hope to visit again soon. On the way back I stopped in Dyess, Arkansas where Johnny Cash grew up. Look for that story on a upcoming Hubpage.