Road trip: Nashville to Memphis
Two friends – Annemarie & Janna – and I, went from Nashville to Memphis and back and it was nothing but adventure for two days.
These are the highlights of what we did, and it's all in detail below:
The Peabody Memphis (watched the duck march)
Tennessee Safari Park
This was by far the most fun, thrilling, craziest, and a little scared-for-my-life experience we did. We got our tickets (priced per person — credit cards are now allowed, but there is a surcharge, check pricing before you go) and the food and started our 5.5 mile journey through the, probably only, safari in Tennessee. It's home to over 80 species of animals, including many endangered ones.
From the get-go we were surrounded. We encountered zebras, camels, deer and so many others. The infamous animals for us were the emus. They're a little aggressive. As the finale, we got to feed a giraffe! They’re so TALL!
In addition to the drive-through, there's also a walk-through area that had monkeys, reptiles, and a lot of peacocks.
The Peabody Memphis
I've wanted to stay here ever since I found out about the duck march: every morning and evening, they march trained ducks from the duck palace on the roof to the fountain in the lobby. There's even a "duck master" that marches them down and they roll out a red carpet every time.
Here's a synopsis of the legend of the ducks:
“Back in the 1930s Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had a little too much Tennessee sippin’ whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain. Three small English call ducks were selected as “guinea pigs,” and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic. Thus began a Peabody tradition which was to become internationally famous.”
We stayed the night in one of their rooms (kind of fun if you like the antique/vintage feel, but quite small relative to a standard hotel room size today), ordered milk and fresh chocolate chip cookies before bed the night before, and then woke up the next day for the big event.
Before the event, we woke up early to watch the sunrise from the rooftop where the duck palace is. We didn't stay out there long, but it was really cool to see the view from the roof and see the ducks in their other home.
We took our places at about 10:15am near the elevator to watch the duck march at 11am.
At 11am, after the duck master went up to the roof and got the ducks, the elevator doors opened and out marched — more like sprinted — the ducks to the pond. The event took less than a minute. It was a fun moment and definitely fun to do at least one time, but next time I'll spend more time watching the ducks in the fountain.
The Rendezvous
Dinner for our night in Memphis was at The Rendezvous. It's a BBQ place best known for their dry rub ribs. They're located in a basement through a downtown alley across from the Peabody Hotel. Charlie Vergos founded the place in 1948 and it has since grown into an iconic Memphis eating spot. (Full and interesting background story can be found here.)
Beale Street
Beale Street is the equivalent of Nashville's broadway: bars, neon lights, some live music (not as much as Nashville), restaurants, shops, and mostly for the tourists. It's fun to walk down and see some of the history here. We went during the day so it was way less crowded than it normally would be at night. What I love the most about this street is it's closed off to cars (something that I think Nashville could consider) making it easy to walk around.
Graceland
Graceland is probably the most favorited and obvious stopping point if you're in Memphis. It's got a variety of experiences to choose, now starting at $53 per person. Whatever you choose, I recommend buying the tickets in advance so you can decide what time you want (there might be a wait from the time you buy the ticket to when you can start the tour).
To be honest, I didn't know very much about Elvis before Graceland. In fact, I learned a couple things about him through the self-guided tour hosted by John Stamos who played Jesse on Full House, but most of what I learned was from Wikipedia while we were on the shuttle to the home. The little museum near the end of the tour had more about his upbringing and life, but since it was at the end, I was a little clueless otherwise.
As far as the house — Elvis definitely had a unique style, and it was interesting to see his design choices such as the "Jungle Room" and the room that was completely covered in fabric floor to ceiling. It was also very groovy to see what a preserved elite house of the 70s era was like. They even had one of the first microwaves sold in Memphis there!
The self-guided tour was also very well done. You could find out more about different objects in the room by exploring the room on the iPad and find out more history about Elvis and his family and their life in Graceland.
Jerry's Snow Cones
They have an incredible amount of flavors. I got some tropical combination and I got the ice cream with it. I believe that's the secret to a good snow cone: add ice cream. It was really really good.
The Narrows at Harpeth River State Park
We stayed the night in Dickson before going back to the Nashville area the next morning. Before we had a meal at Pancake Pantry, we went to the Harpeth overlook for sunrise. I was very excited about this spot because the overlook is really incredible. Unfortunately, it was cloudy and a little rainy that morning. So we hiked up to the overlook and stood there wondering whether the sun was up or not for what seemed like an hour. It's still one of my favorite spots near Nashville, so no regrets. Maybe next time.
Reminder: Don't let this trip live only on your camera roll
Looking back at these photos now, I'm so glad we took them — but I'll be honest, they lived on my phone for way too long before I actually did anything with them. If you're planning a trip like this, I've learned some systems for making sure these memories don't just disappear into your camera roll.
