Day 3 – Memphis, TN

In the car bright and early today headed for Memphis, TN, which is about a 3 hour drive from Nashville, TN.

We stayed at The Peabody Hotel $18 for parking $209 room plus taxes. They have a daily duck march at 11am and 5pm, totally worth seeing if you stay there or not. I highly recommend this hotel it was wonderful and everyone is fantastic that we came across.

If you do go for the duck march you need to be there at least 30 minutes early if you want a prime spot. While we waited for the march to begin we got the famous Mint Julep for $10.93. Let me just say it’s delicious!! It’s also my hubby’s new addiction. He’s even flavoring his Jack Daniel’s with mint. Besides, how cute are these little duck stirs? The bottom of them have little feet, sooo cute!

My pictures weren't the greatest during the march, because every kid there had a ton of flashes going off. I don’t know how these ducks can see what they are doing! For the arrival of the ducks we where downstairs and in one of the best spots. For the ducks leaving we got there late and watched from upstairs behind some people.

Right across the street in an ally way you’ll find the famous Rendevous Ribs & BBQ. The place is small and cramped. We had Full Order of their World-Famous Charcoal-Broiled Pork Ribs $18.25 and I ordered the Chopped Chicken Plate $9.50. All I can say is wow they heavy hand the rub, almost need to shake some off otherwise you end up choking. My chicken was dry. The ribs where good, but I’ve had better. We liked the beans, but the slaw didn’t taste like much.

Next we headed to Graceland. We ended up reserving the 2:45pm Graceland Platinum Tour $36 per adult. $10 to park. Here’s what it included:

• an audio-guided tour of Graceland Mansion and grounds
• a self-guided tour of Elvis' two custom airplanes
• a self-guided tour of Elvis' Automobile Museum
• a self-guided tour of ICON: The Influence of Elvis Presley
• a self-guided tour of Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture Exhibit
• a self-guided tour of Elvis on Tour Exhibit
• a self-guided tour of '68 Special Exhibit

Average Tour Time: 2 ½ to 3 hours

OMG I’ve never seen a bigger tourist trap! We’re Elvis fans, but not die hard so this was a little over the top for us. At least we can say been there done that! It’s like Disney for adults. They snap your photo, grab your audio kit and hop on a bus that takes you across the street to his house.

I have to say the house tour is worth it the other stuff I would skip. I take that back the planes are neat to see and the car museum. I’ll share just a few pictures if you wanna see more let me know and I’ll get you access to my other pictures.

We headed back to the hotel to see the ducks march off to bed and rest up before heading out to Beal Street.

For dinner we ate at BB King’s Blues Club. We lucked out and got a patio table so we could people watch. We ordered the Soul Samper $15 (fried pickles, catfish nuggets and Memphis wings tossed in BBQ sauce and Buffalo sauce). The fried pickles where super salty, the catfish was really good and the buffalo wings tasted like Frank’s Hot Sauce. We also got  a large order (8 bones) of their Lip Smacking Ribs $18 (BBQ rubbed hickory smoked loin back ribs basted with our sweet and Smokey BBQ sauce. Served with baked beans and coleslaw.) Honestly the best ribs we had on the trip. They where really tender and had a good flavor.

We also had a couple of beers there before heading across the street for a famous Walk Me Down drink. The locals call it Lay Me Down, because there’s a lot of liquor in there, but it’s sooooo good. Trust me I only had 1 and I could see how dangerous they where.

Drink in hand and we hit the strip to snap some cool bar light pictures.

Day 2 – Nashville, TN

Today we had tickets to visit the Grand Ole Opry House for their first tour at 10am.

Once we went into the building we got to go by some of the dressing rooms. Each of them have a different theme and she talked about the different starts who had used the rooms we saw and told us some of the history.

Then you head out to the main stage. It’s really an awe moment and you feel like star when you walk out there. I even got a little butterfly in my tummy. Then you get to take pictures on the famous circle. 

After our tour we headed to Jack’s Bar-B-Que on Broadway Street. I don’t suggest dilly dalling in line the lady keeps the line moving and there’s not a lot of room to stand around and look the menu over so best to review the menu online before you go. We ordered a Combo Plate $13.99, which included 3 meat, we picked ribs, brisket and pork shoulder. We also just asked for water, but you get charged 50 cents so if you have a water bottle just request no drink. We had 3 sauces to choose from, but I forgot which one we liked best, I think it was the Kansas City Style. We also got Cole Slaw and Baked Beans as the choice of 2 sides. Personally the best thing was the beans.

After eating we walked around on Broadway and took some pictures of all the bar signs.

Since we had some extra time before our next tour we stopped in Broadway Brewhouse. I had Yazoo Hop Project out of Nashville, TN $5.75 and D had Star Hill “The Love” out of Charlottesville, VA $4.75. The atmosphere was really good and I would recommend stopping in. They also serve food if you’re hungry.

On our way to the Country Music Hall of Fame tour we walked through the Walk of Fame Park, it’s sort of like the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Country Music Hall of Fame and RCA Studio B Tour, Site Visit and Audio Tour $33 per person

 

Our tour guide, while a very nice lady, was a total space case. RCA Studio B is located on downtown's famed "Music Row" so you’ll have to get on the shuttle bus that takes you over there. The recording studio which is Nashville's oldest was built in 1957 and reopened as part of the museum in 1977. Many of country's biggest stars, including Elvis Presley (who cut 150 tracks there), Roy Orbison, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Lee Ann Rimes, recorded more than 1,000 top 10 hits in the studio. Today, Belmont University uses the facility to teach future recording engineers, musicians and singing stars the fine art of making music. We where lucky enough to go into the recording space and listen to some tracks of what it sounded like while Elvis was recording. Honestly it was neat, but all we did was listen to a lot of music the whole time. I liked being able to sit at the same piano used in many recordings.

When the shuttle bus dropped us back at the Country Music Hall of Fame we moved on to our audio tour, which is at your own pace. I was amazed at all the records lining all the hall ways and 3 story wall area. It’s neat, but there’s a lot of reading while listening to the audio tour.

 

We where parked near the Ryman Auditorium, but we didn’t have time to do a tour of it. It’ll be on our list for next time.

Once we got back to the car we went to scope out the best places to be later that evening for some night shots. The Bicentennial Capitol Mass State Park is a pretty neat place and has a nice view of the Capital.

We also went by The Parthenon. We had been to the real one in Rome, but it was neat seeing a scaled down version. The recently renovated building now serves as Nashville's city art museum and features two galleries exhibiting American art from the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as temporary shows and exhibits. In addition to the artwork, the building also houses a 41-foot-tall statue of the Greek goddess Athena, sculpted by Tennessee artist Alan LeQuire in 1990.

For dinner we had reservations at a place a friend recommended The Standard. First off the place is a little tricky to find because they list 2 addresses on their website. We dined in the back upstairs area which was pretty, but it was way too dark. The night we where there they had a lady singing songs with a guitar player. I swear she sounded just like Norah Jones!

We ordered the MacMurray Ranch wine by the glass at $10 glass, Crab Bisque $7, The Standard Steak $32 (7oz filet with red wine demi-glace, mashed potatoes and asparagus), Smith House Chopped Salad $8, Grilled Bone-in Cowboy Ribeye $35 (with Henry Baine sauce and herb roasted fingerling potatoes), Four Cheese Macaroni $5. Well, we’ve had better the meal was ok, I just wouldn’t go back. I did like the seasoning on the butter so I’ll be stealing that idea for my next dinner party.

After dinner we went back to the Capital to take some night shots which where some of my favorites from the trip.