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Beale Street, Memphis (Scarborough photo)

If you're looking for a fun Southern city with plenty of music, history and good food, take a trip to Memphis, Tennessee.

We love music in my family, and Memphis is packed with interesting places to learn about all sorts of American music.  Soul, blues, rockabilly; you name it and it's here. Getting around to see everything isn't too hard, either.  From downtown (the best place to stay) there is a city trolley system plus a free Sun Studio shuttle that can get you around to just about all of the key places.
 
To learn about the early days of rock and roll, take the well-guided and comprehensive tour at tiny Sun Studio, where Elvis first recorded.  Many other early rockers like Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison and Carl Perkins got their start here, under visionary recording maestro Sam Phillips. Get a photo of yourself or the kids next to Elvis' microphone! There is also an old-fashioned counter service eatery on the first floor, serving burgers and good thick shakes.
 
Even if you or your children think that "Elvis mania" is a little goofy, a tour of his Graceland mansion is a cultural must. It's the great Southern "boy makes good" story.  The King's musical career spanned decades, and his supple voice sang everything from gospel to blues to rockabilly to his more, ahem, overly-orchestrated stuff. Unless your family members are really big fans, the basic tour will provide plenty of gold records, studded jumpsuits and shag-carpeted rooms.

If they don't have a clue about all the hoopla, rent a video before your trip, such as the documentary Elvis '56, or a concert video like Elvis: That's the Way It Is.  Even my ever-jaded teenage daughter can't help toe-tapping to a lot of his early music.
 
There's more to Memphis than the roots of rock.  Soul and R&B music fans should take a look at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music,  for background on the great sounds made famous by Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and silky-voiced Isaac Hayes. (The museum even includes the "Soul Train" dance floor from the 1970s TV show.) 

By the way, these days, Hayes runs a restaurant/nightclub in downtown Memphis.  Can you dig it?  While you're in Memphis, tune the car radio or hotel room clock radio to his show "Hot Buttered Love Songs" show on station WRBO/Soul Classics 103.5 FM, airing 7:00 pm to midnight Sunday through Thursday. 

If you're in town on a Sunday, older kids and teenagers should check out the singing Reverend Al Green's church, The Full Gospel Tabernacle, at 11:30 for a soulful musical experience. Dress nicely and have an offering, but be prepared for a 2 ½ hour gospel and preaching service.
 
If that isn't enough musical entertainment, there's also the Smithsonian's American music exhibit at the Memphis Rock'n'Soul Museum,  For kids over 5, there are tours of the Gibson Guitar Factory.
 
While you're in town, see if there's a free local concert at WC Handy Park downtown or on Mud Island at the Amphitheater. Check the Memphis paper The Commercial Appeal  or the weekly Memphis Flyer for a comprehensive schedule. Don't forget some bug spray at these outdoor venues in the summer; this IS the South, after all!
 
For some more great live music, we found that most of the clubs on historic downtown Beale Street  are actually pretty family-friendly (much more so than New Orleans' Bourbon Street.)  Beale Street music venues will usually allow even very young children in to listen for a bit (at least until about 9:00 p.m.) If nothing else, just walking up and down for a few blocks will give you quite a sampling from whatever jams are spilling out the doors.

Ready to eat? For those famous BBQ dinners, your family will have to decide whether they prefer "wet ribs" with sauce from places like B.B. King's Blues Club  and the Blues City Cafe, or "dry" style rubbed with spices and served up at the famous Charlie Vergo's Rendezvous restaurant.  Full disclosure -- we're a goopy wet ribs family.
 
Collapse in your hotel room to digest all of that rhythm and ribs -- try the perfectly located Hampton Inn at Peabody Place.  Their staff is friendly and outgoing towards kids and the breakfast is great.
 
If you have time, it would be well worth your while to also visit the National Civil Rights Museum, housed in the spookily familiar-looking Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. The façade of the motel is exactly as it was in 1968, down to the motel sign and a couple of 1960s Cadillacs parked under the room where King was shot.
 
If you have little ones who aren't quite up for these highlights of American cultural history, there are still things for them to do. Kids get a kick out of the famous ducks at the venerable Peabody Hotel.  Every day at 11 a.m., they waddle through the ornate hotel lobby to swim in the fountain, and then head back up the red carpet in the evening to ride the elevator to their penthouse. The hotel is packed for the event, but the staff makes a special effort to get children up front for the best view.
 
Other options include the Mud Island River Park. It has a 5-block-long scale model of the Mississippi River.  Your kids can splash all the way down the Big Muddy and then look down the Mud Island embankment at the real river, as it lazes past Memphis on its way to the Gulf of Mexico.  The nearby Mississippi River Museum does a nice job of laying out a kid-friendly history of the lower river valley, including a mock steamboat and a "you are there" Civil War gunboat fight.

For an air-conditioned reprieve, kids like the downtown Peabody Place mall. Even little ones can enjoy mini-golf by blacklight, with neon balls, at the Putting Edge inside the mall.

If you can visit in the month of May, don't miss the annual festival bash Memphis in May.  There's always an international theme (in 2007 it is Spain) plus it incorporates the Beale Street Music Festival and a BBQ cooking championship. 

Interested in some Memphis blogs?  Take a look at Memphis Blogger (great blogroll,) a fun BBQ blog, and Smart City Memphis for in-depth analysis of local issues.

Memphis has something for everyone, so hum along with the Paul Simon song -- "I'm goin' to Graceland, Graceland -- Memphis, Tennessee...."

Update 11 April 2007:   Here is a great article about the rise and fall and rebirth of Stax Records; looks like Isaac Hayes may be recording new music for Stax.

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