Beyond Graceland and Beale Street: Nine other highlights of Memphis

Tennessee’s second-largest city is known as a music lover’s paradise and a destination for serious barbecue lovers. But if you’re stuck for ideas once you’ve seen Graceland and roamed Beale Street, Memphis offers these gems.

Lounge outdoors with locals

Everyone loves to hang out at Railgarten.Credit: Alex Shansky

Is it sunny? Fancy a drink? Then go directly to Railgarten. Set just below the train line in the Midtown district, this fun park sprawls across half a hectare with seating and bars clustered in shipping containers beneath lush trees. During our visit, family- and friend-groups (plus their dogs), were tucking into burgers, ribs and buckets of beers. Meanwhile, six shirtless guys tried to show their prowess on the volleyball court, but the toddlers using one end as a sandpit weren’t making it easy. Get your game of cornhole in before you try Railgarten’s specialty: an array of 1.3 litre fishbowl cocktails. See railgarten.com

Pray with a soul superstar

Join soul great Al Green at his Full Gospel Tabernacle Church.

In the ’70s, he released a string of hits, Take Me to the River, Tired of Being Alone and Let’s Stay Together among them. Later in his life Al Green became a minister and established Full Gospel Tabernacle Church in 1976. Almost six decades later at the age of 78, Bishop Al Green still leads his congregation – and visitors from around the world – in a joyful service most Sundays. Arrive just before 11.30am as Sunday School finishes, take a pew and sing along.

Straddle two states

Stroll or cycle along Big River Crossing above the swirling waters of the Mississippi.

In these parts, the midway point of the Mississippi River acts as the border between Tennessee and Arkansas. If you want to stand in two states at one time, stroll the Big River Crossing. At about 1.5 kilometre long, with the state line at the halfway point, this pedestrian and bike bridge offers an incredible view of the swirling waters below and Downtown Memphis to the north-east. See bigrivercrossing.com

Have a ducking good time

At the Peabody Hotel ducks play in the fountain every day.

As unusual as that sounds, a flock of pampered fowl are brought from their palace atop the Peabody Hotel every morning to spend the day splashing in the Grand Lobby Bar fountain. It’s been a tradition since the 1930s, when the hotel’s then-general manager, Frank Schutt, under the influence of Tennessee’s finest and disappointed by the day’s hunting, put his live duck decoys in the fountain. The next day, they were still there and attracting a crowd. Thus began one of Memphis’ more unusual traditions. Arrive about half an hour before 11am or 5pm to watch the ducks and hear “duckmaster” Kenon Walker tell the story of the Peabody duck parade before they waddle on their way. See peabodymemphis.com

Show your ears no mercy

Check out vinyl records and some huge EgglestoneWorks speakers.

It’s the birthplace of the blues and home to Elvis Presley’s Graceland, so, unsurprisingly, music-related businesses have set up in Memphis. Take EgglestonWorks, makers of the Andra, one of the world’s finest speakers. If you’re not in the market for handmade stereo equipment, head to Eight & Sand, the ultra-cool cocktail lounge at Central Station Hotel, where EgglestonWorks has fitted out its 10-metre record wall holding hundreds of vinyl LPs – all with a link to Memphis – with 2.5 metre-high speakers. The company also created custom-made speakers for each guestroom. See egglestonworks.com and centralstationmemphis.com

Check out the coolest ride

If you just see one display at Stax Museum, make sure it’s Issac Hayes’ Cadillac.

It might be hard to imagine a record company in the south of 1960s America where black musicians played with white and no one thought anything of it. But that was Stax, the powerhouse label that recorded Otis Redding, Sam & Dave and Booker T. & the MG’s. At the turn of that decade, its biggest star was Isaac Hayes. He’d released Hot Buttered Soul, starred in Shaft, and won an Academy Award and three Grammys. During contract renegotiations, Hayes asked for and received a $26,000 peacock blue and gold-plated Cadillac. Stax’s health as a company has waxed and waned, but its history and memorabilia from the glory years, including Hayes’ Caddy, are on display at the Stax Museum. See staxmuseum.com

Stroll along the mighty Mississippi

Meander around Tom Lee Park: there’s a great playground.Credit: Julian Harper

Until 2019, riverfront Tom Lee Park was just a big field, but that’s all changed. Follow walking trails through the park and discover sound gardens, hammock groves, a playground with equipment integrated into wooden sculptures of river wildlife like otters and salamanders, a putting green and wild pollinator fields. Its centrepiece is the Sunset Canopy, a timber structure designed by architectural firm Studio Gang for basketball, yoga, dance lessons and concerts. See tomleepark.org

Watch for diving goats

Beale Street watering hole Silky O’Sullivan’s hosts four-legged friends.

If its huge patio didn’t already make Silky O’Sullivan’s one of Beale Street’s finest places to relax, there’s another attraction: two brown-and-white goats. When they climb their tower in their fenced-off yard, the crowd cheers and snaps photos. Unfortunately for the goats, the pin has been pulled on another of their favourite pastimes: drinking beer. See silkyosullivans.com

Enjoy a cultural conversion

Find the Memphis Listening Lab on level two of Crosstown Concourse and do your ears a favour.

An abandoned Sears building has been given new life as Crosstown Concourse. In a visionary transformation, it now houses apartments, healthcare organisations, a university and high school, as well as food and retail outlets, a brewery, radio station and art galleries, studios and performance spaces. Hidden away on level two is Memphis Listening Lab. This not-for-profit organisation holds the 10,000-album-strong collection of John King, the label owner and music promoter who broke Big Star. You simply ask if they have a certain album available and, if it is, you take it to a station with turntable, sit back and enjoy. See crosstowncourse.com and memphislisteninglab.org