Memphis & St. Louis

My wife and I are planning a short trip to Memphis and St. Louis for our anniversary. I am looking for any suggestions of things to do or see if anyone has any recommendations. My wife has never been to either city.

Memphis: We will definitely spend some time on Bealle Street and probably do a sightseeing river cruise. We have no interest in Graceland. Any recommendations are appreciated.

St. Louis: We will be doing the Arch tour and the Budweiser tour. One of the reasons I chose St. Louis is to take my wife to my favorite restaurant in the whole country on our anniversary night (Tony's of St. Louis).

Quote: DRich

My wife and I are planning a short trip to Memphis and St. Louis for our anniversary. I am looking for any suggestions of things to do or see if anyone has any recommendations. My wife has never been to either city.

Memphis: We will definitely spend some time on Bealle Street and probably do a sightseeing river cruise. We have no interest in Graceland. Any recommendations are appreciated.

You can see the hotel where MLK was shot, looks like it would have in the 1960s when I saw it >20 years ago. Had a woman living on the street across from it, never left. No idea if you can go inside, we just had a drive-by of it. Studio where Elvis/Lewis came out of, not sure what it is now. Nice to walk by, but not much to see, it is flipping small.

BBQ at Corky's. I almost had an executive visit my office to defend the BBQ honor of it, though really it is just good BBQ.

Quote:

St. Louis: We will be doing the Arch tour and the Budweiser tour. One of the reasons I chose St. Louis is to take my wife to my favorite restaurant in the whole country on our anniversary night (Tony's of St. Louis).

Courthouse where Dread Scott Decision was handed down a few blocks from the Arch. See the arch first then they will point it out so you know where you are going. Neat old courthouse building, maybe not worth the trip if the Arch was not in walking distance.

Fwiw, Memphis is less than an hour drive to Tunica (about 30 minutes from the airport, other locations vary). Tunica has about 8 casino properties, several very nice.

Memphis has the Peabody hotel, where the ducks March through the lobby every day to and from their pond. You might consider breakfast there to see the parade.

Also, there's a pretty interesting museum in the middle of the river, reached by cable cars. The cars themselves are nice and high, give a good panorama of the Mississippi.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g55197-d144593-Reviews-Mississippi_River_Museum_at_Mud_Island-Memphis_Tennessee.html

Edit: they're all calling it a monorail or suspension car trip. So perhaps not a "cable car" like at ski resorts, but very similar.

There's also a river park, probably worth walking, and a tourist area on the Memphis side of the monorail.

Quote: AZDuffman

You can see the hotel where MLK was shot, looks like it would have in the 1960s when I saw it >20 years ago. Had a woman living on the street across from it, never left. No idea if you can go inside, we just had a drive-by of it. Studio where Elvis/Lewis came out of, not sure what it is now. Nice to walk by, but not much to see, it is flipping small.

BBQ at Corky's. I almost had an executive visit my office to defend the BBQ honor of it, though really it is just good BBQ.



Courthouse where Dread Scott Decision was handed down a few blocks from the Arch. See the arch first then they will point it out so you know where you are going. Neat old courthouse building, maybe not worth the trip if the Arch was not in walking distance.

Thank you, we are definitely eating lost of BBQ while in Memphis. I will look into the courthouse as I am not familiar with that. We are staying right downtown next to the Arch so anything in walking distance is a great idea.

Quote: DRich

St. Louis: We will be doing the Arch tour .

Last time I was in St Louis, I was very interested in doing the Arch tour
I took one look at the line and gave up.
I was not standing in line for hours

Quote: beachbumbabs

Fwiw, Memphis is less than an hour drive to Tunica (about 30 minutes from the airport, other locations vary). Tunica has about 8 casino properties, several very nice.

Memphis has the Peabody hotel, where the ducks March through the lobby every day to and from their pond. You might consider breakfast there to see the parade.

Also, there's a pretty interesting museum in the middle of the river, reached by cable cars. The cars themselves are nice and high, give a good panorama of the Mississippi.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g55197-d144593-Reviews-Mississippi_River_Museum_at_Mud_Island-Memphis_Tennessee.html

Edit: they're all calling it a monorail or suspension car trip. So perhaps not a "cable car" like at ski resorts, but very similar.

There's also a river park, probably worth walking, and a tourist area on the Memphis side of the monorail.

Unless you know of some great advantage plays I will be avoiding Tunica. I spent six months there when we were opening a bunch of those casinos.

Fortunately, we are staying at the Peabody so the ducks are a definite.

Thank you for the recommendation of the river museum. It seems to get good reviews so we will probably check it out.

Quote: DRich

Thank you, we are definitely eating lost of BBQ while in Memphis. I will look into the courthouse as I am not familiar with that. We are staying right downtown next to the Arch so anything in walking distance is a great idea.

I had no idea on the courthouse until the guy at the Arch pointed it out.

As to the Anheuser-Bush InBev tour, here is some inside info if you like. When I went, you got 2 beers to sample, no more. But when you get to the tasting room they ask for "taster" volunteers. If you do this, you can weasel a 3rd. Actually even a 4th but the 4th is skunked to show the difference between good and bad beer storage. So raise your hand fast.

Quote: DRich

My wife and I are planning a short trip to Memphis

After Ap it feels like you're breathing
thru a wet towel, in July it feels like
you're dying. Just sayin..

"It can get so hot & humid in Memphis that Satan goes home to cool off."

Quote: beachbumbabs

Edit: they're all calling it a monorail or suspension car trip. So perhaps not a "cable car" like at ski resorts, but very similar.

Technically any vehicle pulled by a cable can be called a "cable car" including the trams at Las Vegas in the MGM hotels (Excalibur, Mandalay Bay and City Center).


There is a renewed interest in cable cars since for urban areas because they tend to be very quiet. The Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line is an automated guideway transit (AGT) system but it is also a type of "cable car". The system is 3.2 miles and cars have a top speed of 30 mph.


Ski gondolas are also pulled by cables.

The original "cable car" was built in San Francisco in 1873.

The terms "monorail" or "suspension car" are simply more specific terms.