Trolley in Memphis. Click to enlarge.
photo by Charles Siskin
I’d forgotten what a real Tennessee summer feels like until I stepped outside the doors of the Memphis airport this past August. It was serious over-the-top egg frying on the sidewalk hot!
I’d flown up from the cooling breezes of our Florida Gulf Coast to join my childhood friend in celebrating his granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah. This is a traditional “coming of age” ceremony for boys (13) and girls (12) in the Jewish religion.
My first stop on this weekend trip was Beale Street and downtown Memphis which has been enjoying a renaissance similar to many other cities throughout the country. Our route brought us along the mighty Mississippi River where expensive new real estate dots the hill overlooking the river.
The architectural mix of homes, contemporary to very traditional, happens to include one of Memphis' more famous residents, the star of the old Moonlighting series, Cybil Sheppard. The river, however, belongs to a mix of barges, paddle wheel cruise ships and local sightseeing boats.
Beale Street itself is replete with barbeque places, music joints and souvenir shops. A. Schwab, a pastiche of every imaginable trinket, clothing or knick knack you might ever want or need, should not be missed as well as the Memphis Police Museum which happens to be the only working police precinct in the nation.
Nearby is the Orpheum, a loving restored art deco theater where Broadway shows and classical music is presented on a regular basis and a trolley system that glides the streets of downtown. During cooler weather (they are not air conditioned), it is the perfect way to see how Memphis is reinventing itself.
Mention Memphis to anyone and their immediate thoughts are of Elvis and Graceland, but consider other options like riding the monorail to Mud Island where there is a multitude of fun and educational attractions to visit. Within walking distance of Beale Street there is the new Peabody Place which houses not only shopping but a museum as well.
Another must stop is a trip to Tunica about an hour west of Memphis just across the border barely into Mississippi. While not having either the glitz or glamour of Las Vegas, for now following Katrina’s incredible devastation of Biloxi and Gulfport, it will be a viable option.
Tunica sits out in the middle of cotton fields that lend a nostalgic touch to the winding roadway that brings you up to the hotels and casinos that dot the landscape. There is irony in those few rows of cotton waiting to be picked. The real pickings today, of course, are the gamblers who flock to Tunica for the slots, blackjack, dice tables and roulette wheels.
Besides the “All You Can Eat” buffet with an international selection of sleep inducing carbohydrates at the Grand Casino, there is an entire area off from the hotel and casino, Kids Quest, where you can drop off your older children to spend an entire day playing electronic games. You can be sure that Elvis would not have left this room.
Not being a gambler, I enjoyed walking among the various tables observing the players or watching innocent looking blue-haired ladies pony up to the video poker machines dollars in hand, cups at the ready to catch those flying quarters. Actually in today’s gambling world it is all done by electronic card that you swipe and points that you receive on your card. It is like being witness to a “priceless” credit card moment.
You need to set aside more than just a weekend to really see what Memphis is all about from its music scene to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where miracles are taking place every day to maybe one more visit to Graceland because…it’s there!
Where To Stay
The Peabody Hotel
149 Union Avenue
1-800-PEABODY (732-2639)
There is really only one choice, the Peabody Hotel. It has been around forever but has been updated recently to reflect a golden time that has seen the rebirth of similar hotels in other downtown cities. And for now this hotel is truly the meeting place to see and be seen in Memphis.
On a sultry Thursday evening in August up on the roof of the hotel there was a mix of hip young local guys and gorgeous hotties hanging out in the sultry night air exchanging glances and phone numbers while those famous ducks hung out in their digs just around the corner relaxing and getting ready for their twice-a-day march through the lobby.
Meanwhile, down in the elegant lobby the piano player was doing his best to be heard over the voices of the visiting conventioneers and out-of-towners who congregate in a cooler atmosphere while diners enjoyed an impeccably served five star meal in Chez Philippe. Can it get any better?
What To Do
Mud Island River Park
125 North Front Street
1-800-507-6507
Showcases the Mississippi River at its River Museum; bicycle, canoe and kayak rentals; plus offers in season a chance to do some urban camping
Peabody Place
140 Peabody Place
901-261-PLAY (7529)
Retail, theaters and a museum featuring 19th Century Chinese art including carved jade sculptures, enamelware and rare ivories.
Where To Eat
Charlie Vergos’ Rendezvous
52 South Second Street
1-800-827-7427
If you’ve been to Memphis you have your favorite ‘que but the Rendezvous has been around since 1948 so they must know something!
Chez Philippe
The Peabody
Even if the food was not excellent, and it is, the service is superb. Dine in the intimate surrounding of thick linens, crystal and fine china and the sort of hushed unobtrusive and unhurried service seldom seen in the likes of chain restaurants where turnover is the name of the game.
(Charles Siskin is a former Chattanoogan now living in Florida with his wife, Diane "Cookie" Siskin. Charles can be reached at
cater1@mindspring.com.)
Mississippi River rolls past Memphis
photo by Charles Siskin