Memphis: home of Fedex, The Piggly Wiggly, one of the busiest cement terminals in the country, and Pork Barbecue Capital of the World. We started with a HUGE pork shoulder sandwich at Neely’s. This may have been the best taste yet, and the price was right too!The other food highlight was ribs at Rendezvous, in a downtown Memphis alley. Beale Street had live music and lots of activity, since this was the final weekend of the annual Memphis in May.

Memphis’ music heritage touches a number of different genres: from WC Handy writing the first blues song in 1909 to rock-and-rollers Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis. Isaac Hayes recorded his Academy Award Winning “Theme from Shaft” here too. You can visit the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, Rock-n-Soul Museum, Memphis Music Hall of Fame, Sun Studio Museum and, of course, Graceland to experience these rich muscial traditions.

The National Civil Rights Museum is housed partially in the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Dr. King’s and several other rooms, as well as the balcony outside, were kept intact at the Lorraine Hotel.

Out final stop was the Crystal Shrine Grotto, built by Dionicio Rodriguez, a self-taught sculptor, in the 1930s. The Grotto, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places is a hand-carved cave of biblical scenes located within a local cemetary. It’s a peaceful place, and quite unusual.