24 Hours in Memphis

We recently road tripped to Memphis to complete our Global Entry Interview & take a bonus pit stop at Ikea. Once I started researching Memphis (I've never been!), I realized that we had to stay at the Peabody Hotel.

It's super old and historic, has gorgeous high ceilings, and has the DUCKS! There's a whole history around this, but there are ducks that live at the Peabody. They live upstairs on the roof in a special duck penthouse, except every day from 11am-5pm where they live in the fountain in the lobby. They march into the elevator when they hear the John Phillip Souza march - it's adorable! If you are going to see the ducks (you don't have to be a hotel guest to go!), I suggest getting there at least 45min-1hr in advance and grab a seat. You can't be standing unless you're behind certain areas. We snagged a seat at the bar and had a drink while we waited for the little quackers to do their march :) I loved it!!!!

We ate dinner at South of Beale and it was so good! It was located in the arts district about 1 mile from the hotel & Beale St. It had a lot of vegetarian and non vegetarian options. It was casual, had a good beer list, and they give you this incredible popcorn (that I think might be laced with crack) when you sit down. I would definitely eat here again. Matt's side of mac & cheese was absolutely delicious!

We had a drink at the ultimate dive bar - Ernestine & Hazels. This place was a brothel back in the day, and it definitely hasn't been updated since. Like Santa's in Nashville, they serve 4 or 5 different type of bottled beer. It was awful and awesome all at the same time. 

Beale Street, or Memphis' version of Broadway in Nashville, was underwhelming at best. This photo was taken around 10:30pm on a Saturday night - I couldn't believe how few people were out and about! The street is blocked to cars, so pedestrians can wander in and out of bars. Many of the bars were charging a $10 cover, so we didn't head into any. But if you wanted to hit up some live music, this is the place.

 

This was pretty much it! We hit up Ikea the next morning on our way back, but I didn't take any pictures of the Ikea, since it looks just like all the others :) But good news, Nashvillians - this over an hour closer than the Atlanta Ikea. (it took us about 2hr 45min)

Have you ever been to Memphis? Did you see the ducks? What did we miss?
xo