Start out at Graceland at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard, where Elvis lived between 1957 and 1977. The guided tour here includes the garish Jungle Room den, a huge Trophy Room and the graves of the Presley family in the Meditation Garden. Across the street are numerous exhibitions halls and gift shops.
Check into the lavish Peabody Hotel at 149 Union Avenue. It's best known not for its human guests but for its fowl residents--the Peabody Ducks, who march through the lobby to a marble fountain in the morning, then leave in the evening to return to their penthouse apartment.
Learn about the history of African-Americans' struggle for equality at the National Civil Rights Museum at 450 Mulberry. Part of the building is the old Lorraine Motel, where the museum preserves the hotel room occupied by Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, as well as the balcony upon which he was assassinated.
Groove on into the Stax Museum of American Soul at 926 East McLemore Avenue. Located on the site of the Stax Records studio, the museum includes reconstructions of some of the studio's rooms, as well as displays of memorabilia, costumes, instruments and photos, all arranged to illustrate the history of soul, blues and rhythm and blues music.
See where the King of Rock and Roll came into his kingdom at Sun Studio at 706 Union Avenue. A list of the musical greats that have recorded here includes Elvis as well as Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins and B.B.King. Both the studio facility and a small museum are open for tours. After the tour go next door to buy some CDs or grab something to eat at the studio café. If you're a musician, you can still rent the studio for recording.
Kick up your heels on Beale Street. Originally this was home to run-down old clubs where the founding fathers of rock and roll listened to blues. Today it's a flashy entertainment district filled with bars, music clubs, restaurants and drunken tourists. Notable clubs include Pat O'Brien's at #310, the Hard Rock Cafe at #315 and B. B. King's Blues Club at #143. During the daytime pay a visit to the quirky and antiquated A. Schwab's Dry Goods Store at #163. The Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum at #191 is affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution and tells the story of the origins of those two genres of music.
