Memphis day #1, morning

John and I looked at a number of resources before going to Memphis, but didn't actually make a formal plan of what we were going to do until the first night in our hotel.

There was a lot to pick from, but it quickly became clear that most of the attractions were not appropriate for the kids (Beale street Jazz bars and a Civil Rights Museum for ages 13 and up) or really expensive. Elvis's home tour was going to be close to $25 per person, which would put our family of 5 over $100. The tour would have been very interesting for John and I, but we both could envision trying to keep the kids from touching items, out of restricted areas, stopping from running indoors and general kid like behavior that is frowned upon from people trying to listen or enjoy a quiet tour. It just wasn't going to be worth it this time. Maybe when they are older?

So, we settled on some Civil War sights, a Mississippi steam boat museum and a huge park to play at for the afternoon.

We got up and helped ourselves to the free breakfast before hitting the road. We ended up finding a parking spot near Confederate Park at the Memphis Welcome center. We stopped in to look for any other attractions/maps/coupons. They had some huge statues of musicians from the Memphis area.


From there, we hiked up a very steep hill to Confederate Park. This was a very small park with a few tiny signs marking it as a Civil War sight. From my memory (which isn't that great), the people of Memphis gathered at this spot as the battles of the Civil War drew closer. Controlling the Mississippi River was of high importance. The major battle for Memphis, took place on the Mississippi River early one morning with a crowd of people on the hill above the river looking on. Before the battle, the area was controlled by the South. The battle was a short one here and was only fought on the water. The citizens observing had expected a win for the south and made their way home quickly after a surprising loss. Memphis was held by the North for the rest of the war.

We walked confederate park and then took a short little walk to explore a little further on the river front. I always forget things appear much closer on the waterfront. There was a very interesting building close by- maybe. 10 minute walk. It became clear after 15 minutes of walking that it was much, much further. Thanks to technology, John was able to pull out his phone and determine it was an art museum/gallery AND it wasn't open that day.