Living in Memphis means my family and I have access to some really great music

Living in Memphis means my family and I have access to some really great music. Memphis is the birthplace of the blues, and is also famous for rock music and gospel. But if you’re like us, you never seem to know all there is to know about the one thing that makes your city special. So, we decided to take a weekend and visit some of the places where the Memphis sound made history. Even though my kids are pretty young, I thought we’d all enjoy a little weekend getaway right in our own back yard.

I wasn’t sure about the best place to begin, so we made our first stop the Memphis Rock and Soul Museum on Beale Street on the Plaza of FedEx Forum. This museum was created by the Smithsonian Institution and tells the story of Memphis music pioneers and the birth of the Memphis sound. The museum opens at 10 a.m., so we got there early while the kids were still fresh. After touring the museum, we hopped on the free Sun Studio Shuttle. The kids enjoyed the ride, and we got to take in a few more of the sights like Graceland and the Beale Street Area. We didn’t pay for admission to Graceland since we’d already toured the museum before, but we all enjoyed learning about Elvis Presley’s home on the ride over and seeing the beautiful house and grounds from the outside.

Before our walk on Beale Street, we stopped for lunch at Dryer’s Restaurant. There are so many great places to eat in this area, but this one sounded like it had something for all of us. Dryer’s has been serving up burgers, fries and milkshakes on Beale Street since 1912, so we figured we couldn’t go wrong. After lunch, we walked around to some of the shops and my husband and I checked out a few places we’d like to visit with friends for an evening of great music and maybe a little Memphis barbecue.

After our walk around Beale Street, we were all pretty tired, so we decided to save the tour of the Stax Museum of American Soul for another day. The Stax is the original sight of the Stax Recording Studio where greats like Isaac Hayes, Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin all recorded. I know the kids will love all the interactive exhibits at the Stax. Finding out more about our own city and its music heritage made for a fun day and gave us lots of reasons to proud of Memphis!