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Memphis in May
noir_blood
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So this board has helped me out when I taken trips to other cities, so let's see what you guys recommend.
The GF and I are heading out to Memphis this weekend as a sort of mini vacation. This is our first time doing Memphis in May, and we're getting there for the BBQ event. I'm curious if anyone has done it before, and if they have any tips or things to watch out for.
We're also planning to do Graceland, but are there any other tourist spots we should check out?
The GF and I are heading out to Memphis this weekend as a sort of mini vacation. This is our first time doing Memphis in May, and we're getting there for the BBQ event. I'm curious if anyone has done it before, and if they have any tips or things to watch out for.
We're also planning to do Graceland, but are there any other tourist spots we should check out?
noir_blood on
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You have to check out Gus' World Famous Fried Chicken. It's a great place and, being Memphis, you can buy Yuengling, a beer of champions that is largely unavailable west of the east coast.
Rendevous, the BBQ place, was a little overrated in my opinion, but might be worth a look if you're a BBQ person.
1. Memphis in May gets nasty, wear shoes that can handle steaming, stinking mud pits.
2. Skip rendezvous and BB King's. Go to Blues City Cafe, which is across the street from BB King's. Wander up and down Beale street for a bit, but be aware that it's pretty limited in its entertainment options.
3. If you can take one of the free tours at the Gibson Guitar factory, consider it. They can be hit or miss, but if you get to go in while they're actually at work you can see some neat stuff.
4. Go to Young Avenue Deli and cruise around midtown. Midtown is Memphis goes the saying. Beale Street is for tourists and has a few neat sights, but it gets old quick. Midtown is where you'll get to do the "local thing."
5. If you like beer, Flying Saucer has a wide selection. There is one on Beale Street, and it is not a terrible place to just hang out for a few hours. There is sometimes live music.
Edit:
Consider trying to see the Peabody ducks. It's a bit ridiculous and silly, but I swear, if any human being has ever been to Memphis and seen them, they may forget what state Memphis is in, but they will remember the ducks. It is a universal contribution to discussion on Memphis. Half the time when I mention Memphis to someone, they say, "Oh yeah, there's that hotel with the ducks, right?" If you don't get to see them, consider lying to everyone and saying you did. It works about the same. I saw Shaq there once, watching the ducks. I have no idea why.
Edit edit: If there is not a zoo where you live, the Memphis zoo is not terrible. Or, it wasn't like 15 years ago when I last went. So I guess I have no idea.
Dyer's burgers on Beale St. is really good and fairly inexpensive for touristy food. Greasy burgers and good fries.
Oh yeah, Dyer's. Their schtick is that the burgers are cooked in the same grease that has been used since 1912. When they had to relocate they hired an armored car to securely transport the grease to the new location.
I was at the zoo there 2 years ago, it isn't great but it was fun. They had a couple pandas at the time, some bigass polar bears, pengiuns, seals, dozen different large cat species, various monkeys and all the other crap you normally see at a zoo. There's the nocturnal building (no clue it's actual name), reptile house, and a SMALL aquarium building. Food there was pretty scarce unless you dig Backyard Burger.
The actual event of Memphis in May is fun if you dig that sort of stuff. If you haven't been to a BBQ competition before try to find a schedule when the food and crap goes down, before that a lot of people are more focused on getting their entries ready and there isn't a whole lot of action or BBQ going around until after the last turn in time, but there is usually always a couple people with samples before then(at least that has been my experience at other competitions).
I'm more familiar with the music festival than their BBQ contest, but the music was a couple weekends back.
I'm told we went to the Flying Saucer after Coyote Ugly, but I don't remember anything of that night from the time that we entered the Flying Saucer.
The reason I suggested BB King's place is because of the music earlier in the evening. His house band is pretty great, but it plays the same set over the weekend. Around 5-6 ish there was this 16 year old kid who was just amazingly good, I went back to see him again.
Memphis was fine for a weekend, but I couldn't imagine spending longer than that for a vacation. I also played golf (well, drank, putted, smoked cigars, and drove carts) on Justin Timberlake's course just outside of town.
It made me really appreciate this comic:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/07/09/
The zoo here is fantastic and I would definitely go if you can, just don't go on a Tuesday (that's the day it's free to TN residents and there is a lot of young kids and "undesirables" there). I live on Mud Island and there is a nice park to walk down right by the Mississippi (although it's pretty flooded right now). Beale Street is a must even if it is touristy, it's still only found in Memphis. You're bound to see at least one Elvis impersonator down there on any given night. There's live music pretty much everywhere on Beale. Oh, and if you see a giant glass pyramid in north Memphis, you aren't going crazy. Graceland is always a must in Memphis and you can even take a ride in a pink Cadillac at Marlowe's right across the street. They have some pretty great food as well http://marlowesmemphis.com/.