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Memphis Rocks

Southern Living, Mar 2007 by Cross, Kim

Saucy, sensational, and so much fun-the best of the South is all right here. You've heard about it, and now's the time to visit.

Memphis slides by like a movie scene through the window of a 1955 Cadillac. Beale Street's neon flashes on chrome as the soulful twang of a wailing guitar spills into the lively street. That's when it hits you: It's all in Memphis. This city blends rock 'n' roll, blues and soul, barbecue, Beale Street, and tales of three Kings-B.B., Martin Luther, and the guy in gold glasses.

"Memphis isn't a quaint town-it's gritty and real," says driver Tad Pierson, your guide to the road less traveled. His one-man operation, American Dream Safari, reveals the secrets of Memphis to visitors one carload at a time. "If America is an oyster," Tad says, "Memphis is the grain of sand that starts the pearl."

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Secret Spots Near Beale

Where to next? It's up to you. Many of the city's best finds are just footsteps from Beale. From April through September, live jazz swirls from the roof of the swanky Madison Hotel, where a mellow crowd gathers for cocktail hour and a stunning view of the river. Just before dusk, all eyes turn west to watch a ruddy sun melt into the Mississippi.

Swing by the Center for Southern Folklore for a colorful-and wonderfully affordablemeal. The small folk art gallery serves $5 soul food lunches in a room full of only-inMemphis treasures, from a historic, rare photo collection to hand-painted Elvis ties and candycolored portraits of blues artists.

A New Inn in Town

Hidden right on Beale Street, a flickering fountain lights the courtyard of an 1828 mansion. Couples lean over intimate tables at the city's new secret dining spot. With gleaming white columns and stately interiors, the Inn at Hunt Phelan has been racking up awards for historic preservation, interior design, and fine cuisine ever since it reopened its doors in 2005 as an inn and restaurant.

"If you order only one single thing, it should be this dish," says waiter Raymond Neal, presenting the locally famous Crab Justine appetizer: nuggets of sweet crabmeat simmered in sherry, crème fraîche, and béarnaise. "A lot of customers come just for this."

Come for the dish, and stay overnight for the inn's intriguing history. Designed by the architect who dreamed up the Washington Monument, this building served as Grant's headquarters and later as the first Freedman's Bureau for educating freed slaves.

Off-Beale Blues

Stick with Tad, and he'll whisk you away in his Caddy to juke joints few tourists dare to discover. Tad is a familiar friend in these lesser-known spots, where you can settle in for a beer and a spell of authentic blues.

Everyone is welcome at Wild Bill's, where the crowd sits elbow to elbow at shared tables. Sip a pint, and nod along to a soulful song, belted out by a voice that means it. The regulars might sing or sway or dance, or they might just lean back and feel the music. Whatever they do, join them. It's in places like these that the blues were born.

Classics Worth Revisiting

Even if you've seen Memphis a hundred times, it's worth going back to classic spots that always deliver. It's no coincidence that the President took the Japanese Prime Minister to eat at Rendezvous when they visited Graceland last summer. This barbecue spot has earned its world-famous reputation by serving 10,000 customers in "a good week."

"The Mississippi Delta begins in the lobby of The Peabody Hotel," wrote author David Cohn. Tourists line up daily at 11 a.m. to watch its famed mallards waddle down a red carpet and plop into the fountain. When the ducks are off duty, visit their rooftop Duck Palace.

The most moving moment in Memphis hits you in a room at the Lorraine Motel. Its rumpled bedcovers have been left as they looked when Martin Luther King, Jr., spent his last night there. The motel where he was shot is now a wing in the National Civil Rights Museum, which tells a poignant story of struggles we should never forget. Don't miss it.

Offbeat and Wonderful

For cheap souvenirs and a lot of laughs, visit A. Schwab, the curiosity shop that's been selling stuff you didn't know you needed since 1876. "We found out you can sell anything if you figure out how to package it," says Elliott Schwab, a fourth-generation family co-owner who wears overalls and stylish rimless spectacles. He probably paid a nickel for those empty paint cans that make great $5 gag gifts when plastered with just the right label: Fresh Can of Rock & Roll. "You have to have a sense of humor in retail," Elliott says.

The oil is as vintage as Tad's 1955 Caddy at Dyer's, a greasy spoon where the burgers come deep-fried. "We're serious about our grease," says waitress Sindy Sell. "We've never changed it, and the excess is stored in the safe next door. When we moved locations, they brought the grease with an armed police escort." She's not joking. Neither are we when we recommend the fried bologna sandwiches.

If you can't catch B.B. King at his club on Beale (he's rumored to show up and play now and then), head across the street to meet another King-one who is heavily sideburned. Radford Ellis puts on a fun show called "The E-Factor" at Club 152. Don't call him an Elvis impersonator. "I'm a three-time world champion Elvis performer," he says. "I do 12 shows in Vegas every year and 6 in Atlantic City. I'm very serious about what I do."

Memphis Rocks

Southern Living, Mar 2007 by Cross, Kim

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