There’s nothing wrong with planning a trip and planning nothing at all and that’s exactly what two of my girlfriends and I did in the middle of February. We didn’t really care about anything other than spending time with each other and exploring where Gia had recently moved to in northern Mississippi.
I had never really been to the South and was excited to try some true southern foods and see some country sights. Mallie and I were flying in from Denver and the closest airport to Gia’s home in the town of Scott, Mississippi was in Memphis, Tennessee. It was only about 3 hours from Memphis to Gia’s doorstep and she agreed to meet us in Memphis, pick us up from the airport and then drive us down to her place.
Our flight was scheduled to get in around 10 pm. and so we decided we would get a hotel room in downtown Memphis and then explore the area in the morning before heading into the country.
Gia arrived at the airport and we hopped in her car excited for our short but fun weekend together. I was navigating and a missed turn took us driving through a not-so-popular area of Memphis. We nervously made our way through and within about 20 minutes from the airport, we were downtown.
We couldn’t believe how quiet downtown was on a Friday night at 11:30. There was literally no one around. We were tired and wanted to get an early start so we checked into our hotel room and called it a night.
When we woke up in the morning to loud construction sounds booming through our dark and quiet room, all we could think about was a huge breakfast of fried chicken and waffles. We got ready for our day and were on our way. We weren’t overly impressed with the hotel (Holiday Inn downtown Memphis) but they did let us keep the car parked there all morning, which was really nice and helpful.
Our first stop of course was breakfast and Bon Ton Café was only a short walk from the hotel and was said to be one of Elvis’ favorite breakfast spots so how could we not? Our waitress was extremely nice and the service was fast and friendly. Mallie and I ordered the fried chicken biscuit sandwich and Gia ordered fried chicken and waffles. We ate, drank coffee, and talked about the millions of things we happen to come up with when we’re all three together.
After Bon Tons, Mallie’s minimal Memphis research had lead her to have a strong desire to visit the ducks at the famous Peabody Hotel. Every morning, resident ducks are lead into the lobby of the Peabody on a red carpet and into the center fountain. We were all excited, as this was obviously a huge attraction in downtown.
Tall buildings towered but empty streets made Memphis feel less like a busy, bustling city as we walked from Bon Tons to the Peabody. Once inside the Peabody, it seemed like a totally different city. There were tons of people unlike the streets of Memphis. This must be huge we thought because seemingly everyone in town was there.
The Peabody in it of itself was a really neat old hotel to explore and admire and we walked around as we waited for the ducks to march in. In my mind, I was thinking like big beautiful white ducks. I was a little disappointed to say the least when small mallards billowed in. They scurried down the red carpet in an unorganized fashion and plopped into the fountain’s crystal clear water.
All of the kids really enjoyed the lackluster ceremony but we were ready to move on. We snapped a few photos of the ducks in the fountain as they humped and hollered and then left.
Gia insisted that we at least walk down Beale St., the street of Blues, and I’m glad we did because it was a fun sight and we got to purchase some Elvis postcards, magnets, and even an Elvis toothbrush. I haven’t yet decided to do with my Elvis toothbrush. I’m not sure how old it is so I don’t want to use it.
We stopped into A.Schwabs and they had any kind of trinket or gift you could ever imagine. We realized after walking through the store, that there was a candy and malt shop conjoined to the south. It looked like a legit shake shop to me but I based that solely on the old school straw holder stocked with white and red swirled straws.
We ordered a strawberry shake to share and we were glad we did. It was so delicious; I wish I could’ve had 3 more. We slurped our shake and watched the people mosey down Beale.
With Mallie’s quick stint of research, she also came across the Mud Island River Park which is an exact scale model of the Lower Mississippi River that you can walk and explore. We thought it sounded fun so we walked back to the car at the hotel, jumped in the car and made our way to the river.
The drive alone was worth it as we gawked at the elegantly beautiful houses that lined the riverside. Unfortunately, as we pulled up to the gate of the Mud Island River Park, we realized it was closed. They shut it down for the winter and we just didn’t make it in time.
We headed for Graceland. None of us wanted to take a long tour of the property, but we definitely wanted to explore and walk around. At Graceland, however, you are bused from a parking lot across the street ($10 to park) and through a gate into the property. You can’t get through the gate and up to the house unless you are on a tour. We only realized this after we parked the car around the block and found the gate heavily secured.
While it was still fun to see, it was unfortunate that we could only experience Graceland from about 200 yards away. If we weren’t so cheap and if we had more time, going on a full tour of the property would be amazing.
With Graceland in the rearview mirror, we headed for the Tennessee/Mississippi border. A nice drive through the country ensued and I watched out the window as rowed crops elapsed faster than I could figure. We were ready to be staring at the open sunset from Gia’s front porch and while it was fun to see, a city isn’t for me.
