The Memphis Zoo & Boscos Brewery

The Memphis Zoo makes for a fun outing for visitors to the city of all ages. At first, Joey put up a protest about going, but I really wanted to go check out one of the city’s top attractions so we ended up visiting on our last day. By the end, he was glad we did! There are all sorts of animals and it is possible to get up close to many of them. It was a warm day, but plenty of shade and sprinkler systems were scattered throughout the park.

For this post, I decided to show rather than write about the many animals we spent some time with. Here are some great shots I captured on my Olympus:

After hanging out with these animals at the Memphis Zoo for almost 3 hours, Joey and I headed to Boscos Restaurant & Brewing Company for lunch and beers before we left town. Boscos features a wide assortment of in house craft beers, so the obvious thing to do was order two tasting flights so we could sample them all. Our sandwiches and salads were good as well, earning Boscos a spot on the must see in Memphis list because of it’s local charm and local bites and booze. Visit for lunch and order the tasting flight!

This blog post concludes the recounting of our summer trip to Memphis. Next up on the blog I will be sharing about my long weekend in San Francisco!

Museums, Rooftops & Speakeasies of Memphis

 

To continue our tour of great art displays in Memphis, our Sunday afternoon began at the Brooks Museum of Art located in Overton Park near Midtown. The museum includes displays from antiquities to modern art. As usual, my favorites were beautiful landscapes and cityscapes by the European artists. The museum houses several Canaletto’s of Venice which are very beautiful as well as impressionist paintings by Sisley of the seaside which are gorgeous. However, modern art and antiquities take up a large percentage of the museum and were not to my taste. I probably only really enjoyed about a third of the artwork on display, the rest we went through quickly. I think that is to be expected from a large museum catering to a wide range of visitors.

The next museum on our list was the Pink Palace Museum which is housed in the old mansion of the founder of Piggly Wiggly. Truth be told, we learned he only completed a small part of the mansion and that the project was in fact not completed because the Piggly Wiggly stores hit a decline and were not making the profit margins necessary to complete his dream house. Since 1930, the state of Tennessee has operated a museum on the grounds and has added annex upon annex to house one of the largest museum complexes in the Southeastern United States.

First, we walked through fossils and other examples of the “natural history” of the South. I am really not that into dinosaur bones so I was much more interested in the multitude of information presented in the cultural history of the city of Memphis. Although lots of words, captions, and replicas existed, very little in the way of actual artifacts and typical museum exhibits actually exists at the Pink Palace. This makes for a very kid friendly but quite a watered down adult experience. Although you get a decent history lesson while visiting the Pink Palace, I would not recommend it unless you are traveling with your children.

Having worked up an appetite after visiting two very large museums, we headed back to our favorite little area in Midtown on Madison Avenue to visit another new Mexican restaurant called Babalu. The place was obviously popular due to the crowds at all time of day. It was early afternoon so we managed to get seated fairly quickly and order a fresh homemade guac, made tableside. We enjoyed our guac and margaritas and topped off the meal with some uniquely tasty tacos. A fresh concept in Mexican food, Babalu now has 3 locations in Memphis, Jackson, and Birmingham. I would return if in the area!

For sunset, we headed downtown to Twilight Sky Terrace, a rooftop bar on top of the Madison Hotel. The highlight of the bar was definitely the sweeping views over downtown and out towards the Mississippi River. The downfall of the bar was that there were several loud and obnoxious tourists who had clearly had too much to drink, even on a Sunday. Such behavior really is unfortunate. We enjoyed our time watching the sun go down and sipping on two local Ghost River beers.

Once the sun was down, we headed back to street level to walk over to Beale Street. We were hoping that Sunday evening on Beale would be much calmer and more fun than the raunchy and rowdy crowds of Saturday night and we were right. We found a spot in a bar to watch an Elvis impersonation show and had a good time soaking up the “only in Memphis” atmosphere which was a given part of a full fledged Elvis impersonation show. After a while, we started to get tired of the fake Evlis’s over the top antics so we wandered down Beale into Alfred’s.

On Sunday nights, Alfred’s features a full big band called the Memphis Jazz Orchestra  complete with 17 different instruments. Many people were dancing so we decided to order some food and drinks and enjoy the atmosphere. After the band stopped playing around 9pm we headed to the Blind Bear “speakeasy” where we finished off a great night in downtown Memphis. This bar off Main St. does not have a secret entrance, but still has the look and feel of what an old-time “speakeasy” must have looked like including an impressive wooden bar and lounge seating as well as a pool table. With a variety of bars and restaurants in the compact downtown area, all travelers are sure to find a perfect fit!

Drinks on a Saturday Night & Exploring Mud Island Park

After experiencing the marching of the ducks at the Peabody Hotel, we walked around the corner to the Flying Saucer for some beer tasting flights. The Flying Sauce is a bar chain famous across many medium to large size cities in the South. They have hundreds of beer options to choose from, so we of course decided on flights so we could each try four. We also split a German appetizer plate with some delicious bratwurst and spicy mustard. After our appetizer, we began thinking of where we wanted to go for our Saturday night dinner. Downtown was getting fairly crowded, and we had seen so many more unique, not touristy, not BBQ or fried chicken restaurants in Midtown so we decided to head back there.

We ended up having Mexican food and margaritas at iChiwawa, a cute eclectic spot right on Madison Avenue in Midtown. The atmosphere was fun and the food was decent for “American Mexican” but most certainly not authentic Mexican. From glancing at the menu and the plates of other diners around us I was able to figure that out before ordering, so I was pretty happy with the Chiwawa salad I ordered served with corn, black beans, pico de gallo, chile peppers, and cheese over a bed of romaine lettuce.

We drove back to Mud Island and took Deuce to the large park along the levee as the sun was setting. Other dogs were everywhere along with people walking, cycling, and just hanging out in lawn chairs and on picnic benches enjoying a late summer sunset. Staying on Mud Island during your visit to Memphis is not only safe and centrally located, but also for families with kids or dogs who need some space to go outside and run around!

On Sunday morning, Joey and I borrowed the bicycles of our airbnb host to ride over to Cafe Eclectic which is on the island along the main string of apartments. We enjoyed breakfast sandwiches and iced coffee to energize us for the day.Then we pedaled down to the end of the island to visit Mud Island Park which is accessible via monorail from downtown Memphis as well, just to demonstrate how close Mud Island is to the rest of the town. The main attraction of the park is an exact scale model of the Lower Mississippi River flowing from Cairo, Illinois 954 miles south to the Gulf of Mexico.

This model is huge! We tried to imagine who on earth came up with the idea to build it! But we enjoyed walking along the 5 city blocks the model occupies and looking at the towns along the way. The engineers behind the execution of the model did a great job of getting the water to flow all the way down to the large pond which represents the Gulf of Mexico. Visitors to the park are also rewarded with a unique view of the Memphis skyline set back from a little sliver of the Mississippi which cuts between the peninsula of the park and the city.

Just from an hour and a half of cycling and walking in the heat we were feeling sweaty so we decided to shower off before heading to check out one of the cities other major art museums, the Brooks Museum of Art. More on that in my next post… And please if you have any insight about the arts scene in Memphis, please share in the comments! We would love to add some more galleries and museums to our agenda for our return trip.

Midtown Memphis Walking Tour and Joey’s Favorite Museum in the South

Joey and I woke up early on Saturday morning in order to walk and play with our dog Deuce before heading to midtown Memphis to meet up with Mel of Rockin’ Running Tours. We were the only ones up for a Saturday morning tour so we got a private tour. As we walked briskly through the midtown area, Mel told us all about the history of Memphis from the Civil War to the horrifying yellow fever outbreaks of the 1870s to the development of the big money cotton market. We didn’t know anything about Midtown when we arrived for our tour but it ended up being our favorite neighborhood in Memphis. We enjoyed it even more than the touristy downtown center and there were plenty of things to see and places to eat in Midtown!

During our wide loop through the area we walked through beautiful old historic houses on tree lined streets, neighborhood coffee shops and cafes, a newly remodeled area with brand new trendy restaurants, and lots of street art on buildings and bridge overpasses. I loved all of the pops of color and artistic vibe. We ended up returning to Midtown for lots of great food at prices much lower than downtown.

The Dixon Gallery and Gardens were only a short drive from the Midtown area so after a quick pit stop at Starbucks for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches, that’s where we headed. Having done my research beforehand, I knew that the entrance to the museum and gardens was free on Saturday mornings. I always love it when museums have their free entrance times during the weekend! But even if you happen to not be able to catch the free entry time at the Dixon, if you are in Memphis you must pay this place a visit. I am almost certain that if we lived in Memphis, Joey would enthusiastically sign us up and pay for a museum membership.

We began in the gardens which were blooming like crazy with the full spectrum of colors during mid summer. The current garden feature upon our visit was a series of different “gallery frames” scattered throughout the garden in which visitors could re-enact some of the famous works which waited for us in the Impressionist display inside the museum. We snapped several of these fun photos then headed inside to see what the real things looked like.

In additional to an impressive permanent collection, the Dixon also houses a large rotating exhibition space. During our visit, Charles Courtney Curan’s work was on display. Curan is especially known for his breezy outdoor scenes of women and children. The girls run, dance, pick flowers, and sunbathe while looking perfectly angelic in the long dresses appropriate for the turn of the 20th century. The majority of Curan’s work was done between 1890 and 1910. Interestingly enough, although we loved the lightness and watercolors of his outdoor works, we also enjoyed his dark paintings of Paris at night whose only light came from shadows. Curan’s skill with the paintbrush enabled him to create the appearance of the glow of the street lamps and the lamps reflections in pools of water on the street below.

But of course, I must tell you why this is Joey’s favorite museum in the south! In addition to it being free (always a plus), the museum was also extremely well curated with thought provoking commentary placed next to each painting. I also enjoy being asked questions about the art I am looking at and I really appreciate it when the museum’s staff takes the time to provide background information and questions which make the art more meaningful.

Many tourists to Memphis overlook the Dixon museum because it is a bit far away from the downtown tourist track and not a park of the rock n’ roll track. But you will have missed out if you visit Memphis without making a stop at this treasure trove of art with works both modern and more than 200 years old. Be sure to check before your visit because the Dixon also hosts many fun events throughout the year. I wish we could have been there for the food truck round up! Just another reason to return to Memphis!

South Main Arts District and Beale Street

Many of the buildings in the South Main historic district in Memphis sprang up between 1910 and 1925 when there was a big boom in traffic from new railway expansions. The railroad transformed what was a small residential area to a busy area employing thousands in warehouses, hotels, and restaurants. The area thrived until the 1950s when railroad traffic began to drastically decline. After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in this area in 1968 the area turned downhill even faster, leading to desertion and neglect of many of the buildings.

Similar to the warehouse district in New Orleans, eventually creative types and artists started buying up property in this district because of the low property prices for large living and working spaces still very close to downtown Memphis. The appearance of the buildings was largely maintained, giving it historic charm. We got a taste of this artistic reawakening of the South Main district when we walked down to check out the art walk on Friday night. Several independent studios were showcasing their best work and the Memphis College of Art opened its doors for a special display as well. It was easy to spend over an hour walking and looking at different artist’s work. South Main has much more of a local feel than where we walked to next, the famous Beale Street.

As I mentioned, Memphis is totally walkable… So we made the trek from the very end of the South Main district to Beale Street without much trouble. There are sidewalks everywhere along the way. We had actually intended to take the trolley, but the cars were in the shop for repairs and weren’t running, so we walked instead and it was a nice way to see the city and the revival of this growing area!

Beale Street is the Memphis equivalent of Bourbon Street. I made many connections between Memphis and New Orleans while I was there because of the southern history of both towns on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Beale is much more tame and much smaller than Bourbon, however. As I sipped a spiked lemonade, we checked out the sights and sounds of live music coming from many of the bars. The desire to preserve the historic appearance of the downtown area exists on Beale Street as well, just take a look at this building front which is now entirely held up by support beams!

Before turning in for the night, we decided to check out Flight, one of the top rated restaurants and wine bars in Memphis. I was interested in the tapas tasting flight and the dessert flight. The tapas flight included sliced salmon on crackers, shrimp with mango salsa, and a delicious melted cheese cracker combo. But the dessert flight it what really made our visit worthwhile, we were served three reasonable portions of a pie, a brownie, and a cake with ice cream which were all amazing! Completely stuffed, we headed back to our rental on Mud Island. Thankfully, I had already booked a walking tour of Midtown for 8am the next morning!

Historic Memphis “Millionaires Row” and the Famous Sun Studios

On a warm Friday in July, Joey and I packed up the car and our black Labrador, Deuce, and drove up to Memphis, Tennessee. Summer time is the best for long weekend road trips, rooftop bars, cute sandals, and getting a little vitamin D outdoors. On the drive from Lafayette to Memphis, we stopped midway somewhere in Mississippi for Five Guys burgers and to walk Deuce. We left by 6am so we drove the 6 hours and arrived in Memphis early afternoon.

We headed to Mud Island, which is really more of a small peninsula offshoot from the Mississipi River, where we were renting a place from Airbnb. The owner was out of town camping for the weekend, so we had the whole house to ourselves. Mud Island homes really do look like they were picked up and dropped off from some cute little South Carolina beach town. The houses are multiple different pastel colors with shutters, front porches, and wide streets with sidewalks and beautifully manicured lawns. There is a large park along the levee of the Mississippi where people are always running and cycling and hanging out. Several boutiques and restaurants add to the appeal of Mud Island, which is just a short distance from downtown Memphis.

After playing with Deuce, we left him to watch the house and headed over to the Woodruff-Fontaine House to catch their last tour of the day. We had snagged 2 for 1 admission on Living Social to tour this Victorian mansion which was built in 1870 along the historic street known as “millionaires row” because of all of the impressive mansions which were constructed on this street just a short drive away from the main downtown area. The inside of the house was just as extravagant as the outside of the house. I am always impressed by the dining sets in these old homes, it seems as though there could never possibly be a reason to use so many different size dishes or three spoons! This mansion also served briefly as an art school after the originally families moved out, so it had a history more complex than simply as a home. If you enjoy touring old houses, seeing beautiful objects, and learning about the history of a place from its most prominent families, you would enjoy a visit to the Woodruff-Fontaine House.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went about four blocks away from “millionaires row” to do the requisite tour of Sun Studios. Memphis is largely recognized as the birthplace of rock n’ roll so a lot of the tourist attractions in the city are centered around this claim to fame. Sun Studio opened in 1950 during the early stages of rock music and later was made popular by producing albums of artists including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Honestly the whole thing is only very exciting if you are a fan of rock n’ roll music, of which I am not. Hearing about these talented artists and listening to some of their original work is the main highlight of Sun Studios as well as the paraphernalia from the early rock n’ roll days. It is also notable that the main recording space at Sun Studios is still available to be rented and used today, which might excited music lovers wishing to record in the shoes of legends like Elvis.

Sun Studios was absolutely crawling with tourist though; the tour was packed, the gift shop and cafe were packed. After our visit there we were quite content not to visit a few of the other super touristy places in town with a high price of admission such as Elvis’ Graceland. We tried to avoid the over commercialized rock n’ roll attractions and found others better suited to our preferences. If you are visiting Memphis because of it’s connection to rock n’ roll you will be pleased to find many options to whisk you to the past, but if you are looking for other options, luckily, Memphis has plenty to do not centered around Elvis!

Our next destination was Gus’s Fried Chicken downtown and fortunately we made it there just in time to beat the dinner time rush. Gus’s is consistently ranked as one of the best placed to get fried chicken in a town famous for fried Southern food, so we had to check it out! I actually enjoyed my fried chicken tenders served with baked beans and coleslaw. I think I liked them so much because they were only lightly fried, instead of being heavy and greasy like fried chicken I’ve had elsewhere. We drank Ghost River Ale, brewed right in Memphis, with our dinner and started learning about all of the local beer producers from our server. We left dinner excited to try beers from other microbreweries in the area. Memphis has a growing collection of locally produced craft beers worth exploring!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More on craft beers, walking all over downtown Memphis, Beale street, the South Main art walk, and a tasting flight dessert on my next post about Friday evening in downtown Memphis!

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