What to Do/See in Memphis (Jackson: hotels, home, neighborhoods)

[Coldjensens]

I will be visting Memphis on January 3 with three teenage girlsl. We will be arriving at around 5 or 6 p.m. and leaving either in the late evening or early the next morning. It is possible that we will arrive an hour or two earlier.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what to see/do in Memphis in a few hours?

The Girls like music and theater, unicorns, history, y
thst is all that I can think of. They are 17, 17 and 16. One is from another country.

Is it worth spending the night in Memphis so that we can stay out later, or is it more of a place to do soemthing until 7 or 8 p.m. and move on?

Thanks

[simcity]

They would enjoy downtown (Beale Street) for the live music and diverse crowd. Has Hard Rock Café too. Jillians (4 or 5 stories of fun things to do like bowling, pool, food, club, videogames) and Peabody Place (indoor mall) is in that area too, walking distance from Beale. Then if you decide to stay the night in Memphis you will already be downtown where many safe hotels are.

[JoeCartpath]

A Sun Studio tour might be a good option since your time is limited, but I'm not sure if they give tours that late on a Saturday. Google "Sun Studio Memphis" and check their website....

[willdgate]

peabody place mall has a dave and buster's

[strumpeace]

Originally Posted by willdgate

peabody place mall has a dave and buster's

No, it doesn't.

It has Jillian's, which is a shabby, embarrassing, pale impersonation of Dave and Buster's.

[Pearlbob]

Haha. Very true. And it's also not something I'd consider doing if I only had 3 hours in Memphis! To the OP - if you are still reading this, just go downtown and walk around for a few hours, see Beale St, some music, eat some food, look at some souvineer stores. The usual touristy stuff. 3 hours isn't much time to do anything else.

Originally Posted by strumpeace

No, it doesn't.

It has Jillian's, which is a shabby, embarrassing, pale impersonation of Dave and Buster's.

[fittoac]

definitely go downtown to beale st. and walk around. if you feel like shelling out some cash, it's always fun to take a carriage ride around the city. i also recommend stopping by the peabody hotel to see the fountain and the ducks. it's a beautiful old hotel and the ducks are just fun. since you won't be here for long, i think that's your best bet. hope you have fun!

[lscalder]

Whenever I visit Memphis I always forget to get bar-b-Q.

[Coldjensens]

Thank you for your suggestions. The Girls kept singing "Walking in Memphis" as we approached the city. They were excited to see the city although we had little time.

While listening to the radio, we heard an advertisement advising people to call a friend or a pastor before beating their spouse with a bat when they are really angry. It went on to say that you should not club her innocent baby to death even if you are really angry and even if the baby is not yours. The ad concluded that if you kill the people who care about you, you will be put in a place where no one cares about you - - Jail. This was identified as a public service announcement paid for by some local government agency.

We changed to a rock station and they announced a new campaign with T-shirts availble that said "Avoid the bullet" or some such language. The point of the campaign is that you should avoid getting shot.

This did not go over well withthe girls. They became intersted in avoiding Memphis. We also discovered that the city was pretty crowded, apparently because it was Elivis' birthday or nearly so. We decided to just drive through Beale street and go on to Nashville. It looks like a nice downtown. I would like to come back and visit for a weekend when I get a chance. I don't think that the girls will want to return. Instead of stopping in Memphis for a few hours, we went to the next city and just ate at a neat Chinese resturaunt (one of the Girls with us is from Taiwan and misses her home food). I think that the town was Jackson (?). Memphis seemed nicer, but between the ads making it sound like a war zone and the crowds and traffic, the girls did not want to stop.

Since I work in Detroit, I am accustomed to absurd statements about lpaces that are only dangerous if you go into the wrong areas (Detroit is that way, and Memphis probably as well). However the advertisement was really bizzarre. Do they really think that someone is going to stop beating their spouse and child to death with a bat because they hear an ad on the radio? It seems more likely that these ads are going to deter potential tourists or even potential residents. Maybe it was just a joke in really bad taste. Do you regularly have radio ads advising you not to kill babies with a bat? Is the "avoid the bullet" campaign real? It is odd coming from the Detroit area to have the girls turned off on Memphis becuase of radio statements that make the city appear dangerous. Is it dangerous? Detroit is listed as the most dangerous city, but that is stupid. Downtown detroit is really nice. It is only in certain neighborhoods that they have ongoing gang warfare that drives the murder and assault rates so high. Stay out of those areas and Detroit is fine. Is Mempphis simlar? I hope to come back with my wife in the spring and stay int he city for a weekend. The radio makes it seem like we should were Kevlar vests. Is it really that bad?

[Pearlbob]

It sounds like Memphis is just like where you live. There are many bad areas, there are many good areas. Avoid the bad and you will be fine. Every radio station I've listened to, anywhere in the country, seems to have ridiculous and annoying commercials. I don't think it is particular to Memphis. Maybe you weren't listening to the right stations Memphis is wonderful to visit and millions of people agree with that. Don't listen to 2 commercials on the radio and make generalized stereotypes of the entire city.