We moved in July, and I’ve spent most of my new-to-town energy getting the girls settled and getting to know people. I have a strong sense of place, and I need to get to know Memphis better to really settle in. I’ve been to Overton Park locations (Zoo, the Brooks) several times. We’ve ridden the Downtown Trolley loop and walked to Mud Island Park. We found a BBQ joint (the Bar-B-Q Shop) and a Mexican place (Las Delicias.) At the suggestion of a friend, I read a book about the yellow fever epidemic which prompted a visit to Elmwood Cemetery. A decent start, but I’ve got a long way to go.
So, the new year seems as good a time as any to declare the start of my “Fall in Love with Memphis” campaign. This is my tentative to-do list. Locals, please make (inexpensive) suggestions!
Get my driver’s license, aka become a legit Tennessean.
Visit the National Civil Rights Museum, Sun Studios, the Stax Museum and the Rock & Soul Museum. Get some culture at the Dixon. Think about spending the big bucks on Graceland.
Eat Breakfast at Bro. Juniper’s. Have Gus’s Famous Fried Chicken. Find some good local family and cheap date restaurant options. Find a coffee shop, aka stop pouting. Go to Muddy’s when depressed as a reminder that Memphis wins that category.
Take the kids back to Shelby Farms to the super cool playground. Take them to Lichterman Nature Center and to do the labyrinth at Audubon Park. Discover other cool places to play. See something at the Orpheum.
Find some team spirit: Grizzlies, Red Birds, Tigers… not that choosy about which one.
We’ve always liked the Dixon Gallery and Gardens (free on Saturday mornings -before 10, maybe?) and the Memphis Botanic Gardens (free after 2 on Tuesday, I think), both in the Park/Perkins area.
There’s a permanent labyrinth (free) at Audubon Park, on Perkins across from Theatre Memphis.
The Pink Palace is fun. They have an imax theater and a planetarium and both permanent and changing exhibits. The Lichterman Nature Center is part of the same museum system as the Pink Palace and is right around the corner from my favorite local used book store (Book Traders at Ridgeway and Quince).
Otherlands (on Cooper) is an interesting (and kid-friendly) coffee shop.
We’ve never been to Graceland.
Also, there’s a local blogger who has children and who blogs about her restaurant experiences: http://diningwithmonkeys.blogspot.com/
And for bbq, you might try Tops (several locations scattered all over town) and Central BBQ (one on Central in Midtown and one on Summer).
I get carried away… lol
Gus’s Fried Chicken is delicious. It’s a pretty homely little place, but the chicken. Oh, the chicken.
Thanks D&S, I need to go to Book Traders when I am over there! The kids have been to the Pink Palace, adding a few others to my list. I do like Central BBQ, for the nachos in particular. (Don’t think I will ever convert to the BBQ spaghetti…)
Otherlands is definitely my first choice of coffee places at this point.
3 Bham peeps recommended Gus’s this week, it may be the first thing I check off the list! Thanks, Erin.