One day to see as much as we could in Memphis…. and… go!

Our first stop was Graceland. Marc had wanted to see it for a while, but when I told him it was $80 per person to tour the house and $30 per person just to see the car museum and airplanes, he decided it was something we could miss. Still, we paid for parking ($10) and went to the gift show and wandered around outside the gates. There was a virtual geocache where I had to take a picture like I was holding Graceland, and I found a micro geocache near the planes.

My daughter and son-in-law recommended going to the Bass Pro Shops in the pyramid. We saw it on the way into town yesterday. It did not disappoint. We paid the $8 to ride the elevator to the top and look out over Memphis and the Mississippi River.

We also could see St. Jude’s Hospital from here. It’s an incredible complex. There’s a restaurant and bar at the top of the pyramid, so we stopped and had some drinks and a charcuterie board. The duck and venison sausage was very good.

Next was the National Civil Rights Museum, which is in the motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. We spent a few hours here.

Here, the history of Civil Rights is traced from the slaves being brought over from Africa all the way to the present day. There are many exhibits and a few films that are very sobering. This is not ancient history – I was 2 years old when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

We didn’t go to the other part of the museum across the street. At this point, we were all pretty hungry. I had googled “Best barbecue in Memphis” and the top result was Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous. Marc & I got a brisket & ribs combo while Danny just had the brisket. I would definitely put it up there for the best ribs I’ve had. And it was as if they knew me, because the table they sat us at had a photo of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street band, probably from the Born in the USA tour. When we left, I made them wait while I found a geocache that was near the restaurant.

We had spotted The Hard Rock cafe on our way to the Rendezvous. Danny collects t-shirts from all of the Hard Rocks, so we walked down Beale Street. It’s mostly a pedestrian mall, which was nice. Before we got to the Hard Rock, though, I found a courtyard where a band was playing, so I sat there while Marc & Danny walked down to the Hard Rock for his t-shirt. We had a couple of drinks and sat for about a half hour listening to music. It was a great day!