Memphis

After leaving Nashville, we took a roadtrip down the Memphis. But before I talk about that, we made some awesome stops along the way that are definitely worth making the trip for, even though some of it was a little bit out of the way. 

Our first stop was the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchberg, Tennessee. It was really cool to learn about the process and the history of Jack Daniels. The most interesting part by far is that the distillery is in a dry county, so liquor cannot be sold here. They get around this by “selling special edition bottles and giving the liquor for free inside the bottle”. Word of wisdom: Do not buy the bottle and then leave it, completely full, in your rental car. The car rental place will “not find it”, and you definitely will not get it back. 

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After the distillery, we hit up the U.S. space and rocket center in Huntsville, Alabama. This was a really cool museum with a ton of exhibits teaching about life in space. There were indoor and outdoor exhibits, and even a ride or two. It was super hands on, and I highly recommend this place.

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I didn’t have kids at the time, but now that I do, looking at these pictures makes me want to take them there.

And why, you might ask, would we drive from Nashville to Alabama to get to Memphis? Well to surprise Jordyn at the University of Alabama of course. Now that drive from Nashville to Memphis with stops at Jack Daniels and the rocket center would have been a little longer than going directly to Memphis because it would’ve been like driving the legs instead of the hypotenuse. But not too much longer. However, adding in Tuscaloosa added an entire new triangle in. (If you don’t get this, ask a geometry teacher, I’m retired.) Worth it for the excitement in Jordyn’s face when we showed up.

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After some time checking out the campus and getting dinner with Jordyn (and a night in a hotel), we continued on our journey to Memphis.

Memphis is like a much more rundown version of Nashville, but I have to admit I liked it more. It felt more original and less touristy, and the main music street was much more relaxed and low key than the craziness in Nashville.

We stayed at the Peabody Hotel, which is famous for their ducks! There’s a whole history behind the Peabody Duck March dating back to some drunken debauchery in the 30s and then a circus master in the 40s – you can Google it. But basically the tradition now is a duck march down the elevator and through the lobby to the fountain every day at 11 am, and then the same march to bring the ducks back home at 5 pm. It’s super cute and fun. It’s hard to get pictures of the ducks because of the crowds, but if you look closely you’ll see me and Brian in the back of this picture on the balcony. We were watching ducks from above.

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We began our music journey through memphis at the Gibson Guitar Factory. The tour was fascinating. They took us through the making of a guitar step by step, starting with carving the wood and ending with adding the string and painting. 

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Continuing on our music tour of Memphis, we hit up Sun Studio and did a little self guided tour of the “Birthplace of Rock ‘n’ Roll”, according to their website.

Then we went to Beale street and just sat outside listening to some blues. There’s some really great talent in Memphis.

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That evening we took a carriage tour through the old rundown streets. It was a nice night and the driver was entertaining and knew a lot about the city, but everything was just old, depressed, and broken. I hope it’s been build up some since we were there.

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Then we had some dinner and went to bed.

The next day we went music museum hopping, starting with Graceland. It was really well done and definitely worth doing if you’re in Memphis. Here’s some pics.

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Then we went to the National Civil Rights Museum. Eric was probably really interested. 

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We also went to the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, but I don’t have any pictures. 

Then we went back to Beale Street for a little more music, and some BBQ for dinner.

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That night we went to the Memphis Red Birds game, which Eric tells me is a “triple A affilliate of the St. Louis Cardinals,” whatever that means. 

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Before the airport the next day, we went to a cemetery because we love cemeteries. 

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While this concludes our Nashville Memphis roadtrip, there’s a lot more of the South to talk about, so stay tuned.