Walking in Memphis!

This zoo had a really nice primate collection!

Sea lion show! These animals are always fun to watch

Camel friend I made at the zoo

My first time seeing pandas! 

Komodo dragon- forever one of my favorite species 

                        After four very fun days in Memphis, I’m writing this blog post from my home back in San Antonio. I was going to make this post yesterday, but after a full final day walking around Memphis, and having to be up early this morning to catch a flight, I decided to hold off and do it today.

            As I mentioned in the last post, our plan for the last day in Memphis was seeing the zoo. After having breakfast down in the hotel lobby and heading back up to the room to grab a few things, we called an Uber and headed off for the Memphis Zoo, one of only four zoos in the US that has pandas! I’d never seen pandas before, so I was definitely very excited to cross that off the bucket list.

            We got to the zoo at about ten o’clock- we definitely picked the best day of our trip to do the zoo! The weather was really nice- sunny, breezy, warm but not humid. It turned out to be a really nice zoo, and not just because of the pandas. The Memphis Zoo has a really impressive primate collection, including gorillas, orangutans, gibbons and more. The enclosures for them are really nice, very open and filled with places for them to climb and play on. They also have a decent reptile collection, including several Komodo dragons (one of my favorites!). There’s a tram that goes all around the zoo, and we got two all day passes for it, which was really nice because it meant we could hop on and off whenever we wanted to. It was a really relaxing and peaceful way to get around and just see the zoo.

            Not long after we got there, the tram driver let us know that the sea lion show was coming up, and we decided to get out and see that. We haven’t had seals or sea lions at the San Antonio Zoo for quite a while, but seeing the group of them there in Memphis definitely reminded me of visiting Seal Island and watching the keeper connections when I was really young.

            We did a lot of walking around exploring this new zoo throughout the rest of the morning, including stopping by the camels, which, unexpectedly, was one of my favorite parts of the zoo. The zoo actually offers camel rides, and though we chose not to partake in that, the keeper did bring the camel right over to us at the gate so we could see, touch, and get some close up pictures of. There was also a female camel off to the side of the exhibit, which the keeper told us was pregnant. I’d seen camels at a couple of other zoos before, but I’d never been that close to one, and being that close to them reminded me of something I’d forgotten- camels are really big animals! I know it sounds obvious, but it’s something I don’t think you can fully understand until you’re up close with them.

            After hanging out with the camel and his keeper for a while, we moved on to the pandas. Yes, they are just as cute in person as they are in pictures. There were two in separate indoor exhibits- one just laying down right in front of the glass, the other munching on some bamboo shoots. We stayed around the exhibit for a good length of time, taking lots of pictures and some video of them.

            After eating lunch at one of the restaurants within the zoo, riding the tram around some more, going through the reptile house, and making one last stop at the gift shop, we decided we’d seen the large majority of it, and were ready to go back to the hotel for a while. We’d spent over four hours walking around exploring the zoo, and I think there may have been a few things that we missed, but we got a good look at most of it. Definitely a zoo I’d recommend checking out!

            After relaxing in the hotel for a while, we decided to have our last dinner in Memphis at a place four of five people had recommended to us. When one of the Uber drivers told us about Rendezvous, they said, “It looks kind of weird from the outside, because you have to walk down an alley to get to the entrance. Just trust me, if you give it a chance, it’s delicious.”

            When we got dropped off, we saw what they’d meant. The entrance to the Rendezvous really is right in the middle of a back alley. You can immediately tell it’s a barbecue place- the entire area smells like cooking meat. From the outside, you’d never guess how big the restaurant is. Right inside the front doors, there are stairs leading down- yes, most of the restaurant is underground. Once you get down there, though, it’s a really big space. There are several seating rooms going pretty far back- even though it was a pretty busy night, we got seated immediately. I ordered the ribs, which are made with a dry rub instead of a sauce. I don’t think I’d ever had barbecue that was just dry rub before, and I honestly wasn’t sure I’d like it, but decided to give it a chance. When the waiter brought the plate to me, he pointed to two bottles of sauces that were already on the table and said, “That one’s hot sauce, and the other one’s mild sauce. But try it dry first, before you add sauce.” I was glad he told me that, because as soon as I took a bite, I could tell that it didn’t need any extra sauce. It was a great way to wrap up our trip.

            Well, like I said, I’m writing this post from back home. I planned this trip very spontaneously- I went from just being in a mood to plan a trip to actually having the flights booked within two hours. I’ve certainly never done that before, and I don’t regret it at all. It was a really fun four days in Memphis, and I’m definitely glad that I made these spur-of-the-moment plans. Memphis, thanks for keeping my wanderlust at bay for now. You’ve been a lot of fun. This post’s food for thought: “Quit hanging onto the handrails. Let go. Surrender. Go for the ride of your life. Do it every day.”- Melody Beattie

Civil Rights Museum and More! Another Day in Memphis

The balcony where MLK was standing when he was shot 

The motel has been turned into the Civil Rights Museum

The Mississippi River! 

Just one little peek of the Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid

            Another successful day playing tourist in Memphis! When we were eating breakfast in the hotel lobby, we noticed that, though it was still overcast, it wasn’t actually raining anymore. There were a couple of very light showers on and off throughout the day, but for the most part the rain itself was past. After returning to the room to grab a few things, we headed off for the Civil Rights Museum, arriving there at around ten. The museum itself is built up around what used to be the Lorraine Motel, the place where Martin Luther King Jr. spent his last few hours. At you first walk up to the museum, you can see the balconies of what had been the motel rooms. There’s a wreath hanging from the railing of the balcony of room 306, the exact spot where MLK was shot.

            The museum covered a very wide range of history, starting way back with the transatlantic African slave trade, hundreds of years ago. The displays and exhibits were broken into different sections, from the history of slavery throughout the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, the Civil War, Jim Crow laws, the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Freedom Riders, and the life- and death- of Martin Luther King. The main building of the museum ends at the motel room where MLK spent the last few hours of his life. They’ve kept it as close as possible to how it looked that day, with a newspaper sitting on the bed, a suitcase by the door, and a cup of coffee on the table.

            When we left the main section of the museum I got some pictures of the balcony from the street, then we crossed the street to where the museum continued. The other building- where the shooter who killed MLK had been standing- has also been made into an exhibit. That section went into a lot more detail about the shooter, James Earl Ray, including where he’d been standing, the legal process of finding him after the assassination, and the trial. They even had the rifle he used on display. Overall, it was a really well done museum.

            When we were done with that, we decided to take up the advice of several people that we’ve talked to here in Memphis. When we first checked in on Monday, the woman helping us here at the hotel told us that we needed to see the “Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid”. At first I thought that was a weird suggestion- I mean, we have that store in San Antonio! But since then, we’ve had three or four other people tell us that we have to see it. It’s not like any other, they said. So, while it seemed weird, we decided that since so many people were telling us about it, we should give it a try. Let’s just say, this place was unlike any other Bass Pro Shops I’ve ever been! First of all, it’s huge!! I mean, there’s an entire hotel inside, as well as two restaurants, several different big pools housing catfish, bass, and other fish, and even one pool with two alligators! Not only that, right in the middle of the building is a freestanding glass elevator- the tallest freestanding elevator in the country, in fact. After exploring the ground level for a while, we rode the very long elevator up to the top, where there’s a restaurant and a viewing deck where you can step out and get a view of the whole city, as well as the Mississippi River, and even Arkansas on the other side! We ate lunch at that restaurant while admiring the view of the city.

            When we were done exploring the Bass Pro Shops, we returned to the hotel to relax for a while before dinner. The Uber driver that drove us back told us about a restaurant not far from us that was one of the best places to get barbecue, so this evening we took up his advice, and it didn’t disappoint! Sounds like another successful day here in Memphis! Tomorrow is our last full day here, and the plan is to see the zoo. I’m picking this quote as my food for thought because I think it goes with this blog post in multiple ways: “The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Going to Graceland!

The mansion that was Elvis' home

The famous jungle room!

This room was just sensory overload

The king himself

This guy clearly had a thing for nice cars- his car collection was very impressive! 

            This morning I was reminded of why I typically don’t plan out a strict itinerary when I travel. Instead, I prefer to just have some ideas of things to do and see in a city, but leave some space for other opportunities that may pop up unexpectedly, and be flexible with plans. As I said near the end of yesterday’s blog post, the (loose) plan was to do the Civil Rights Museum today since it’d be raining. Well, it wasn’t until we were eating breakfast in the hotel lobby this morning that I actually looked it up on my phone, and discovered that the museum is closed on Tuesdays. I honestly wasn’t too surprised to learn that- yay for being flexible with plans! It was gray and drizzly outside, but it wasn’t raining hard, so we decided to do Graceland today and bump the Civil Rights Museum to tomorrow. So, after booking tickets online and returning to the room to get ready, we headed off to the home of the king!

            First of all, Graceland isn’t just his house. It’s an entire huge complex of restaurants, gift shops, and other rooms and buildings holding all kinds of Elvis memorabilia, including his impressive car collection, a movie theater always playing his movies, and more. There’s now even an entire hotel right next to the complex. After picking up our tickets at will call, we got into a shuttle that took us across the street to the mansion that was the home of Elvis and his family. From the front living room to his parents’ bedroom to the famous jungle room, it seemed like each room of the house had it’s own unique style and feel to it. After touring around the house itself, we were lead out to the pastures where his horses lived, and the meditation gardens, where Elvis is buried, next to his grandmother, father, and mother.

            When the tour of the home itself was complete, we went back across to the rest of Graceland. We got a late lunch at Gladys’ Diner, named after Elvis’ mother, then went and explored the building that housed Elvis’ very extensive vehicle collection. He clearly had a real love for nice cars, as well as motorcycles! We spent a good chunk of the afternoon wandering around admiring and taking pictures of his beautiful collection. We followed that up with dropping into the movie theater they have there and watching a few scenes of King Creole before browsing the gift shop and heading back to the hotel.

            Tomorrow our plan is to go see the Civil Rights Museum (yes, it will be open!). Other than that we were thinking about going back to Beale Street and exploring it some more, and other than that we don’t really know. I think we’ll leave the zoo for Thursday since that’s the day that they’re predicting the best weather. This post’s food for thought is not about travel, but a quote I saw at Graceland today. There was one room that focused on the influence Elvis has had throughout the world of music and entertainment. The room was full of memorabilia and quotes from other artists that say Elvis influenced them. This was one of them: “Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn’t been an Elvis, there wouldn’t have been the Beatles.”- John Lennon

How I Got To Memphis

The legendary Sun Studio!

The Millionaire Quartet! Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash

Seeing the ducks in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel! 

B.B. King's guitar "Lucille" and the Memphis Music Hall of Fame

            Greetings from Memphis! It’s been a busy day of traveling, getting introduced to this city, and eating barbecue. One thing that I didn’t mention in my last blog post is that I’m actually not traveling solo for this trip. That was originally the plan, but when my music-loving uncle, Mark, heard that I was planning a trip to Memphis, he got jealous and decided to join me.

            We were up and moving bright and early this morning, getting to the airport in plenty of time to make our eight o’clock flight to Houston. After a layover of just over an hour, we were in the air again, arriving in Memphis around lunchtime. We decided not to rent a car for this trip, but just use shuttles and Uber to get around. With the aid of the hotel’s shuttle service, we left the airport and got out to explore the city. It’s predicted to rain tomorrow, but so far the weather here is great! A nice blend of cloudy and sunny, the temperature’s in the low seventies with a nice cool breeze!

            After getting checked into the hotel and settling in, we walked over to a little shopping center right down the street from our hotel for a quick lunch, then returned to the hotel to look at some maps and tourist info to decide how to spend the rest of the day. We decided to start with the legendary Sun Studio, then see what else we’d have time for. We got an Uber and made it to Sun Studio in time for the 3:30 tour. The building itself actually isn’t very big- they’ve clearly tried to keep it as original as possible. Started by Sam Phillips in 1950, Sun Studio is (as our tour guide put it), the birthplace of rock and roll. Although it was only an active recording studio for ten years, it was the original studio for a lot of successful musicians including Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and B.B. King. While on the tour of the place, it was really cool to be in the exact studio where so much of that music originated. They even still had one of the original microphones that a lot of those musicians used.

            After the tour of Sun Studio, we headed down to the famous Beale Street, just a few minutes away. On a spur of the moment decision, we decided to run into the beautiful Peabody Hotel to see the ducks playing in the lobby fountain. The place was huge, and very packed with people, so we didn’t stay too long. Afterwards we walked down to the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, where they had a lot of cool music memorabilia. By the time we were done there it was about dinner time, so we decided to take the advice an Uber driver had given us for barbecue. Thankfully, it was right across the street from the Music Hall of Fame! The place was called Blues City Café, and a sign said that they were voted best ribs in town. We both ended up ordering the ribs, and they didn’t disappoint! This city seems to be mainly known for music and barbecue, and so far it seems to be deserving of both.

            When we were done eating we came back here to the hotel to relax after a very full day. Tomorrow it looks like rain is pretty likely, so we’ll most likely do the Civil Right’s Museum, since that should be mostly indoors. It’s so nice to be out exploring a new city! This post’s food for thought: “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.”- James Michener