Memphis Tennessee Sights

Eventually your travels will take you though Memphis Tennessee. If you are a music fan then you are in luck. If not, you'll still get an appreciation for where certain types of music came from and it's influence on the world. The city itself, although on the Mississippi, the town is set back away from the waterfront. Below are some of the sights we saw:

Memphis, Tennessee

Graceland

National Civil Rights Museum - Lorraine Motel

Beale Street

Elvis fan or not, Graceland should be visited if you are in Memphis. There is an audio-guided tour so you decide on how much you want to hear. Touring his mansion is the main event but Elvis fans will want to pay the extra fees to see his airplanes, cars and other exhibits. The basic mansion tour gets you into all the outbuildings full of memorabilia as well as on the grounds to the grave site. Surrounding the area are about a dozen shops all selling Elvis stuff, it's quite overwhelming!

The Lorraine Motel appears as it did the day Martin Luther King Jr. was killed there. The motel is now part of the Civil Rights Museum that is attached.

Beale Street is a famous downtown Memphis street full of Blues clubs and restaurants. It's said that this is the Home of the Blues and the birthplace of Rock 'n Roll. There are often festivals and outdoor concerts in the street.

Overton Park

Overton Park is a large public park in the heart of Memphis. The park contains a nine-hole golf course, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis College of Art, Memphis Zoo, Levitt Shell, Rainbow Lake, Veterans Plaza, the Greensward, two playgrounds, and a 126-acre Old Forest State Natural Area. If you go to the backstage area, this was the site of Elvis Presleys first live, professional appearance.

Sun Studio

Sun Studio is known worldwide as The Birthplace of Rock'n'roll. It is the discovery location of musical legends and genres of the 50's from B.B. King and Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis; from Blues and Gospel to Country and Rock'n'roll. Stand in the very same spot that Elvis first recorded. Your tour guide will tell you the inside stories and show the priceless memorabilia from the musical legends that blended blues and country music to explode in the "big bang" of Rock'n'roll. The studio is open for 45 minute guided tours.

Elmwood Cemetery Audio Driving Tour

Elmwood is the most historic location in Memphis. The entire 80 acres is on the National Register of Historic Places and is an official Bird Sanctuary. The only entrance in and out is via an entry bridge with a gothic office. The oldest trees in the region reside inside the cemetery. The graves are of the most honored and revered. The famous and infamous. The most loved and feared. There are veterans of every American war, side-by-side with generals, senators, governors, mayors and madams.

St Jude Hospital Tour

Guided tours of the hospital are available, but you must schedule the visit in advance.
The Danny Thomas/ALSAC Pavilion and the surrounding area are open to the general public for self-guided tours, including visitors of all ages, tour buses and large school groups.

Historic homes

Victorian Village is a collection of 26 historic mansions and homes in the downtown and midtown areas of Memphis. Guided tours currently are only available for the Woodruff-Fontaine House, but Victorian Village Inc. provides a map of the historic mansions for self-guided walking tours.