Learn about MY Memphis!!

WALKING IN MEMPHIS I’m going to take you on a tour of Memphis. When you fly into Memphis, you are at the airport that is number ONE in the amount of tonnage cargo in the WORLD! This is due to FedEx sorting of their own packages, as well as that of the US Post Office. UPS also has a large presence in the area. Over 500 commercial passenger flights originate from the Memphis International Airport each day. It serves the midsouth areas of TN, MS, and AR. Memphis is also a hub for Northwest Airlines. The airport is one component in making Memphis a major distribution hub in the US. Two interstate highways intersect the city and there are three bridges across the mighty Mississippi River, so many truck lines moving goods cross country come through Memphis! Two bridges are for cars and there is a bridge for trains. So there is a steady stream of trains that cross the city as well. The other unique reason why Memphis is a huge distribution hub is the barges that chug up and down the Mississippi River.
South of downtown is the Chucalissa Archaeological Museum which features a reconstructed Native American village dating to the 15^th century.
A few miles from here is the airport and one of the best known private residences in the world…Elvis Presley's Graceland. It is one of the five most visited homes in America and is the most famous home in the US after the White House. During the course of a year over 600,000 people visit Graceland, with the majority during the week of Jan 7, the date of Elvis’ birthday and the week of August 22, the week he died in 1977. People come from all over the world to be a part of the Midnight Vigil on the anniversary of his death. Elvis’ songs and movies are a big part of the media for each week. Nearly everyone in Memphis has an Elvis story. He was a very generous person, giving away many cars to people he didn’t even know. (He would come to my great aunt and uncle’s restaurant; he loved my Aunt Pearl’s ravioli. He dated my second cousin too).
Downtown Memphis is a great place to live and to play! The “Home of the Blues” is found on Beale Street. Where, if you are lucky, you might see "the man” himself on a visit to B.B. King’s. Other places to check out are Silky O’Sullivans, Hard Rock Café, Rum Bogie Cafe, the New Daisy Theater. The Beale Street flippers are young boys who can be seen literally flipping up and down Beale Street. They are amazing! I've seen them do 3-4 flips in the air before landing on their feet in the middle of Beale Street! They were featured in one of the many movies made in Memphis, John Grisham's The Firm.
On the other side of Beale is the FedEx Forum, home to the Memphis NBA team, the Grizzlies and the Univeristy of Memphis, Tigers! In 2008 my Tigers had a NCAA record of 38 wins in one season! They went to the Final Four, and I went with them as they played in the Championship game in San Antonio in April. It was great...except for the last 3 minutes! We are rebuilding this year with a new, young coach, Josh Pastner. The only Simthsonian Institution exhibit outside of Washington,DC is located in the FedEx Forum building. It's the Rock 'n Soul Museum. It offers a century long look at the the origins of Blues, Soul and Rock 'n Roll in Memphis and it's impact on the world culture. Really cool exhibit. It's across the street from the Gibson Guitar Factory...where they make the guitars!
Walk across the street in another direction is Ground Zero, actor Morgan Freeman’s club. Then spanning two blocks is Peabody Place which features the grandest hotel of all, the Peabody. Be sure to come and watch the ducks walk the red carpet at 11:00 AM going to the beautiful fountain in the center of the lobby! They swim in the fountain all day, then at 5:00PM they walk the red carpet and ride the elevator up to the penthouse til morning. The Belz Jade Museum houses exquisite pieces of jade and coral, many from the Manchu Dynasty! I love the pairs of jade animals that are 3 feet tall!
Across the street from the Peabody is the Rendezvous, a world famous place for ribs and the best Triple A facility in the country, the AutoZone Park, the home of the Redbirds, the St Louis Cardinals Triple A club. AutoZone headquarters is just two blocks away! At the corner of Beale and Main Street is the beautiful Orpheum Theater. Once a vaudeville hall, then a movie theater, it was renovated with gold gilded trim and gorgeous Waterford Chandeliers…it even has its own ghost, “Little Mary”. Broadway musicals, old and new, such as “Phantom of the Opera”, “Wicked”, “The Color Purple”, “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Mama Mia”, “Les Miserables.” and Jan 2010 is "Jersey Boys," Each season has a wonderful line up of theater at a reasonable price. It is also the venue for performances by Ballet Memphis, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and many other concerts. During the summer some really great classic movies are shown. Gone with the Wind, To Catch a Thief, & other Hitchcock greats, Wizard of Oz, Casablanca…too many to name!
At the foot of Beale on Riverside Drive is the home of the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest in May, where hundreds of teams from all over the world compete for the best shoulder, whole hog, ribs and sauce (yes, this is pork barbecue-the best!!) There’s even a skit and Miss Piggy contest! The Barbecue Contest is part of Memphis in May when Memphis honors a different country each year. This year's honored country is Chile. Music Fest is the week before, when 3 days of nonstop music, bands, and singers of many genres on three different stages! Then the month of May culminates with the Sunset Symphony. The Memphis Symphony plays as the sun sets over the Mississippi River. Glorious!
On the last Friday night of the month catch the trolley as it runs on S. Main past all the art galleries, shops, eateries, Center for Southern Folklore. Many artists are practicing their crafts as you munch on some cheese and wander through the shops.. You can make a stop at the National Civil Rights Museum and Lorraine Motel where, tragically, Martin Luther King was shot. It's an interesting and moving experience. A block away is the downtown Farmers’ Market. There are many housing opportunities…new condos, some great warehouses conversions, as well as single family homes! Some have fabulous views of the River! Riverboats will take you for a cruise on the mighty Mississppi River.
As you continue north on Main St, you realize this is a car free zone. When you get towards the end of N. Main, you find Mud Island, a one of a kind park with a River Museum and a 5 block long "to scale replica of the Mississippi River" from Cairo, IL to the Gulf of Mexico. Just past Mud Island entrance is the Cook Convention Center and the Cannon Center which has wonderful acoustics for the Opera and other programs! Going a little further north is the Pyramid which is the third largest in the world. It's a unique structure that adds character to the Memphis skyline…unfortunately, the city/county can’t decide what to do with it… now that the FedEx Forum has become the venue for shows and games.
As you cross the Auction Street Bridge to go to Harbortown on Mud Island, there’s a wonderful view of the "M" Bridge to Arkansas and the green belt along the River where people can be found walking their dogs or themselves, jogging, playing volleyball, reading, or just enjoying the view. The quaint community of Harbortown has water features and green spaces woven through the lanes of homes as well as a couple of apartment complexes. There are shops where you can sit outside and enjoy a bite to eat or a cup of coffee, some boutiques, a marina, and a Montessori School.
Memphis started at the River and moved east. Just east of Harbortown is the world famous Children’s Research Hospital, St. Jude’s, that Danny Thomas started in 1952 to fulfill his promise to St. Jude, the Saint of Lost Causes. At that time Leukemia and other children’s catastrophic diseases were killers of 95% of the children they attacked. Now the cure rate is 95%! There is no charge to any family for the care they receive, nor do they pay for lodging. I recently took a tour of the Hospital. It’s grown so much since the last tour I took 8 years or so ago. It’s beautiful, and a surprisingly happy place. The Gold Dome of the Danny Thomas Pavilion is easily seen from many parts of Downtown.
When families come to Memphis for the first time for admission to St Judes, they stay at the Grizzilies House. Then if they will be in Memphis for 2 weeks to 12 months, they stay at the Ronald McDonald House. If they will be here for a year to 3 years live in the 2 bedroom apartments at the Target House. The Ronald McDonald House has 49 rooms, each room has two beds, room for a cot, private bathroom and TV. There are 8 kitchens with lots of tables and chairs and four sets of laundry facilities. Two living areas, young children’s playroom, a locked teen room where only the teens have keys can hang out 24 hours a day, a computer room, a Chapel and a wonderful friendly staff and many, many volunteers. Since 99% of all treatment for the children at St Jude is out patient, the families need that “home away from home” where they can have as normal a life as possible surrounded by people who support each other as they are all going through similar experiences. I do a lot of Volunteer work with and for the Ronald House. If you ever have the opportunity to take a tour of the hospital or see the Ronald McDonald House, don’t hesitate. You will be so glad that you did.
A little to the south is the University of Tennessee Medical and Dental Schools., plus Nursing Schools, Physical Therapy, and Audiology. The Regional Medical Centre with a Level 3 Trauma Unit, LeBonheur Children’s Hospital as well as several other Hospitals and the Southern College of Optometry make up the Medical Center. A large Biotechnical Center is under construction too. track of land in middle of Midtown.Going east from St Jude, down North Parkway you come to the idyllic setting of Rhodes College…as fine a college as any northeastern school. Across the street is one of top zoos in the country, the wonderful 70 acre Memphis Zoo! We have pandas and polar bears, monkeys and mercats and the Northwest Teton Trec just opened in November. Only $99 for an annual family membership! The Memphis College of Art, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and Overton Park and Golf Course are all nestled on this huge
To the south is Christian Brothers University, which is well known for its Engineering Programs, the Liberty Bowl Football Stadium, The Children’s Museum and the Pink Palace, a regional museum with a planetarium and IMax theater. The Pink Palace, named for its pink marble, was built by Clarence Saunders, the founder of Piggly Wiggley grocery stores as his personal home. Unfortunately, he went bankrupt and never lived in it.
The University of Memphis which has in excess of 20,000 students is a little further east. You can get a bachelor’s degree, a Masters in over 50 majors, Doctoral degrees in 21 disciplines, as well as a Juris Doctor (law). There are 5-6 other colleges and 4 seminaries. The University of Memphis has a one of the leading Centers for Earthquake Research as well as the coveted FedEx Technology Institute (that Harvard really wanted, but Memphian FedEx founder Fred Smith put here!).
U of M also has a Holiday Inn on campus and is one of the few University’s to offer degree in Hotel Management at the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality. Kemmons Wilson, who died only a couple of years ago in his 90’s, was the founder of Holiday Inns. He had only a third grade education when he dropped out of school to help his mother when he father died. He showed his Entrepreneurial skills even at the young age of 9 selling pop corn in front of the Orpheum Theatre. Many years later, when Kemmons took his family on vacation, he found that the motels would charge for each of his 5 kids. That’s when he started Holiday Inns. He wanted a place where the kids could stay for free.
Going further east on Walnut Grove Rd, you cross I-240 into Shelby Farms, which is the largest urban park in the country at five times larger than Central Park in New York! It is the headquarters of Ducks Unlimited, International Agricenter, and a year round Farmer’s Market. Fresh veggies, fruits and some crafts too.
There are areas for picnics, flying kites, walking, jogging, paddle boats, fishing (at UCatch Em Lake), horseback riding, there’s even a shooting range and a small herd of bison!
To the north of downtown Memphis along side the Mississippi River is the 14,500 acre Shelby Forest Park which has some of the finest examples of hardwood timber as well places to hike, ride horses, boat, camp and fish. As you continue north you come to Millington, one of the small towns in Shelby County, that is home to the Memphis Naval base. There are many other small towns in Shelby County that offer charm and a place for singles and families! Check out Bartlett, Lakeland, Arlington, Germantown and Collierville. Memphis has so many unique attributes...it’s location at the crossroads of I-40 and I-55, FedEx, a wonderful Medical Center as well as friendly, Southern hospitality! If you want to know more-and there’s lots more- just email me or give me a call! Donna-901-755-2288 or 866-21-DONNA or Donna@homesinMemphis.com