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Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Got the Memphis Blues?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Memphis. Most people I know either love this city in the southwest corner of Tennessee or they hate it. I’m one who loves it. I realize the city might have its problems, but the romance of the Mighty Mississippi, those soulful Blues and mouthwatering barbecue always prove too much for me to resist. My last few trips, however, have been work related, and I’m itching to go back for a proper visit.
As our kids are growing older, we have begun to throw a little history into the mix when we take our family trips. Memphis will be one of those educational tours we take this summer, in part because we want them to experience the National Civil Rights Museum. The museum is housed at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 40 years ago.
If you’re able to pick up and go this week, the museum and the city of Memphis will be hosting many events to mark the anniversary of Dr. King’s death on April 4, 1968. Of course, our own city of Atlanta will be hosting similar programs too. You can check out event schedules in both Memphis and Atlanta here.
While the Civil Rights Museum sets a serious tone, Memphis has a lot to offer a wide range of visitors. Music fans — and Elvis fans in particular — can tour Elvis’ Graceland home, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music and Sun Studio, where Presley, B.B. King, Johnny Cash and many others got their start. There’s also the famous Beale Street, a big tourist and entertainment spot to catch live music during your visit.
If you can handle the crowds, check out the Memphis in May International Festival, held throughout the month of May and featuring lots of music and some of the best barbecue you will ever eat at the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest.
Then there’s Peabody Hotel, with its famous marching ducks and the Pink Palace, which you can visit any time. The palace is a pink marble mansion built by the man who created the grocery store chain I thought was so cool when I was a child - the Piggly Wiggly. It now houses a planetarium, a museum and an IMAX theater.
So, what’s your favorite place to visit when you hit Memphis? Is it a “been there once, seen it” type of place for you, or does the city call out to you for another visit?
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