Sights in Memphis
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Sun Studio
Sun Studio doesn't look like much from outside, but this dusty storefront is ground zero for American rock and roll music. Starting in the early 1950s, Sun's Sam Phillips recorded blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf, BB King and Ike Turner, followed by the rockabilly dynasty of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison and, of course, the King himself (who started here in 1953). Today packed 40-minute guided tours through the tiny studio offer a chance to hear original tapes of historic recording sessions. Guides are witty and full of anecdotes; many are musicians themselves. Pose for photos in the old recording studio on the 'X' where Elvis once stood, or buy a CD of the …
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National Civil Rights Museum
Housed in the Lorraine Motel, where the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr was fatally shot on April 4, 1968, is the gut-wrenching National Civil Rights Museum. Five blocks south of Beale St, this museum's extensive exhibits, detailed timeline and accompanying audio-guide chronicle the ongoing struggles for African American freedom and equality in the US. Both Dr King's cultural contribution and his assassination serve as prisms for looking at the Civil Rights movement, its precursors and its indelible and continuing impact on American life. The turquoise exterior of the 1950s motel and two preserved interior rooms remain much as they were at the time of King's death, and …
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Graceland
In the spring of 1957, the already-famous 22-year-old spent $100,000 on a Colonial-style mansion called Graceland. Priscilla Presley (who divorced Elvis in 1973) opened Graceland to tours in 1982, and now millions come here to pay homage to the King and gawk at the infamous decor. The King himself had the place redecorated in 1974; with a 15ft couch, fake waterfall, yellow vinyl walls and green shag-carpet ceiling - it's a virtual textbook of ostentatious '70s style. Elvis died here in 1977, killed by heart failure in the upstairs bathroom. Throngs of fans still weep at his grave, next to the swimming pool out back.
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Pink Palace Museum & Planetarium
The 1923 Pink Palace Museum & Planetarium was built as a residence for Piggly Wiggly founder Clarence Saunders and opened in 1996 as a natural- and cultural-history museum. It mixes fossils, Civil War exhibits and an exact replica of the original 1916 Piggly Wiggly, the world's first self-service grocery store. It also has an IMAX theater.
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Memphis Zoo
The world-class Memphis Zoo hosts two giant panda stars, Ya Ya and Le Le, in a $16-million exhibit on native Chinese wildlife and habitat. The Northwest Passage section is home to polar bears, sea lions and eagles. Other residents include the full gamut of monkeys, penguins, African wildlife, etc. Imagine an animal, the zoo probably has it.
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Brooks Museum of Art
At the park's edge is the Brooks Museum of Art, with an excellent permanent collection encompassing everything from Renaissance sculpture to Impressionists like Renoir to abstract expressionists like Robert Motherwell.
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Woodruff-Fontaine House
The grand 1870 Woodruff-Fontaine House, which carefully preserves Victorian clothing and furnishings.
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Stax Museum of American Soul Music
Wanna get funky? Head directly to Soulsville USA, where the 17,000-sq-ft Stax Museum of American Soul Music sits on the site of the old Stax recording studio. This venerable spot was soul music's epicenter in the 1960s, when Otis Redding, Booker T and the MGs and Wilson Pickett recorded here. Dive into soul-music history with photos, displays of '60s and '70s peacock clothing and, above all, Isaac Hayes' 1972 Superfly Cadillac outfitted with shag-fur carpeting and 24-karat-gold exterior trim.
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Full Gospel Tabernacle Church
If you're in town on a Sunday, put on your least-wrinkled pants and head to services at South Memphis' Full Gospel Tabernacle Church, where soul music legend turned reverend Al Green presides over a powerful choir. Visitors are welcome, and usually take up about half the pews. Join in the whooping 'hallelujahs, ' but don't forget to tithe (about $1 is fine).
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Mud Island River Park
A monorail ($4, or free with museum admission) and elevated walkway cross the Wolf River Lagoon to Mud Island River Park. Jog, rent bikes, or wade in the park's awesome scale model of the Mississippi, which empties into a 1.3-million-gallon 'Gulf of Mexico' where visitors tool around in pedal boats.
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Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum/Burkle Estate
Slave Haven Underground Railroad Museum/Burkle Estate, in an unimposing clapboard house, is thought to have been a way station for runaway slaves on the Underground Railroad, complete with trapdoors and tunnels.
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Gibson Beale Street Showcase
Take the fascinating 45-minute tour of the enormous Gibson Beale Street Showcase to see master craftspeople transform solid blocks of wood into legendary Gibson guitars. Tours leave on the hour.
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Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum
The Smithsonian's Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum examines how African American and white music mingled in the Mississippi Delta to create modern sound. The audio tour has more than 100 songs.
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Children's Museum of Memphis
Children's Museum of Memphis gives the kids a chance to let loose and play in, on and with exhibits such as an airplane cockpit, weaving loom and waterwheel.
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Wc Handy House Museum
On the corner of 4th St, the WC Handy House Museum is a shotgun shack once belonging to the composer called the 'father of the blues.'
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Mississippi River Museum
The Mississippi River Museum has a cool full-size replica of a packet boat and other historical displays.
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