Memphis Sights: Downtown

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• Downtown Memphis. Buy a ticket and take the trolley to get a good overview of the area.
• Beale Street, www.bealestreet.com. "Home of the Blues". Dozens of bars and clubs, most of them featuring live music. At night the street is closed to vehicles and you can drink on the street, some bars have "drinks to go" windows where you can get a 32oz cup of beer for $5 and go bar-hopping, many bars have no cover charge. Peabody Place is largely a wasteland, as nearly all the stores inside have closed.
• Mississippi River. River tours available most days through a variety of providers. Tom Lee Park www.memphisriverfront.com/2_7-tom_lee_park.cfm is a nice place to view the river.
• National Civil Rights Museum, 450 Mulberry St, www.civilrightsmuseum.org. M-Sat 9AM-5PM, Sun 1PM-5PM (closes an hour later Jun-Aug). Built out of the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was fatally shot in 1968. Near the Amtrak station. $12 for adults; free for Tennessee residents Mondays after 3PM.
• Belz Museum of Asian & Judaic Art, 119 South Main St, www.belzmuseum.org. Located downstairs from the Center for Southern Folklore, this wonderful museum holds a collection of over 900 Asian and Judaic artifacts. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $4 for students. Children 12 and under are free.
• Ornamental Metal Museum, 374 Metal Museum Drive, www.metalmuseum.org. Tues-Sat 10AM-5PM, Sun 12PM-5PM. Displays art jewelry, architectural pieces and sculpture. The grounds are full of permanent installations and the Museum boasts one of the best views overlooking the Mississippi. They also have a working smithy. Adult $5.
• Fire Museum of Memphis, 118 Adams Ave, www.firemuseum.com. M-Sat 9AM-5PM. An interactive museum designed to teach children and adults about fire safety. Also features a realistic room to show how much damage a dropped lit cigarette can do. Adult $6.
• Mud Island River Park, 125 North Front St, www.mudisland.com. Apr 14 – May 26 10AM-5PM, May 27 – Sep 4 10AM-6PM, Sept 5 – Oct 31 10AM-5PM. The park is accessible by monorail, made famous by a chase scene in the movie "The Firm". The park contains a museum of the Mississippi River and a scale model of the river. Visitors are welcome to remove their shoes and wade through the replica mighty Mississippi. The "Gulf of Mexico" is a large pool in which visitors may rent paddle boats. At the tip of the park is an excellent vantage point of the city and the river. The northern end of the island is occupied by HarborTown, a model community. Entry to the park is free. Adult $8 (Mississippi River Museum, Roundtrip Monorail Ride, Guided River Walk Tour).
• Memphis Rock 'n' Soul Museum, 191 Beale St (corner of Third St; on the plaza of FedExForum), www.memphisrocknsoul.org. Daily 10AM-7PM (last admission 6:15PM). A short video is shown at frequent intervals and then you are given a headset so that you can listen to commentary and numerous songs as you walk through the exhibits. Sponsored by the Smithsonian. Adult $10. The museum used to be housed in the Gibson guitar factory across the street, which puts visitors right on the factory floor. Famous musicians swing through periodically to pick up custom guitars or to play a set at the Gibson Lounge, in the west end of the building.