Any must see things in Memphis or Atlanta?

Sherri Tierney

Sherri Tierney

New member
We are traveling to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. We are going through Memphis on our way there and staying for the night. DH has booked us a hotel at the Peabody (kids will be so excited to see the ducks!) and I am looking up things to see while we are there. I kinda of wanted to do Graceland but it seems so expensive and I'm not that big of an Elvis fan (though my mom is a huge Elvis fan, so I do know a lot about him and have saw most of his movies and heard all of his songs). Any suggestions??

In Atlanta we are probably going to buy a City Pass and see The World of Coke, the aquarium, the zoo (depending on weather), etc. DD wants to see Martin Luther King's birth place. It has occurred to me that he was shot in Memphis so I think we'll take her there also.
 
well Coke and the Aquarium are my favorite things in the city to do with kids...you could go to Atlantic Station too and hit IKEA if you like shopping or just want to go to one. I'd look and see what's playing at the Fox and maybe grab a show :) It's beautiful inside (looks like a castle)

How long are you going to be in Atl?
 
My family and I "collect" zoos and aquariums. the atlanta ones are soooooo expensive and packed, it's almost not worth it. though, it'll be Georgia's cold there so people might not be going to the zoo at least. I hope you guys have fun if you do go. we lived at Ft. Benning for a few years and did the zoo and aquarium in one day. it was sooo much walking. make sure you wear good shoes and bring a stroller!
 
Thanks, Nikki. I saw something on Beale Street but wasn't sure exactly what it was. Looked neat!

Meghan, we will be in Atlanta from Tuesday through Saturday of Thanksgiving week. I need to look up the Atlantic Station because I have no idea what that is. An Ikea would be awesome but I don't know that we'll have time and we won't have a lot of room to bring things back with us in the van. Kansas City is supposed to be getting an Ikea in 2014 and that's just 3 hours from here so I'm trying to be patient and wait. LOL

Adrienne, you are braver than we are! We usually try to space the zoos and aquariums out so that we go on different days. The aquarium is actually open on Thanksgiving day which will give us something to do on Thanksgiving to keep the kids occupied. They are pricey but the City Pass helps reduce the cost. I'm not sure if we will do the zoo or not. There was another option available in place of the zoo so we'll just have to see. At least I think that's how I remember it. We have older kids. My newly turned 8 year old is the baby of the group, so it isn't as bad as with the littles... though I do miss toting a stroller to haul all the junk! LOL
 
Oooh!! I'm too tired to be much help at the moment, but let me get back to you on Memphis in the morning. (Seeing as how this IS my neck of the woods, lol) When will you be here???
 
In Memphis -
The zoo is a must!! I mean seriously. We're constantly winning stuff for it. http://memphiszoo.org/ If you're coming on a weekend there is a chance it could be busy, October-November is our prime weather for doing things like the zoo because we're in the 60's - 70's. It might be in the 40's-50's in the morning, but it warms nicely by lunch time. The closer you get there to opening the better the crowd will be.
 
The National Civil Rights Museum (where MLK Jr was shot) http://www.civilrightsmuseum.org/. I was actually debating on adding this one or not last night, lol. It's not exactly the first thing that I think of as a thing for out of town people to see, but I guess thinking about it I can see why it would be. I haven't been in YEARS (it's a prime field trip location for 5-6 graders in the local schools) but it is an amazing place, and if your daughter is interested I'd definitely recommend it.
 
Following on that, the Stax Museum is also a very interesting place. http://www.staxmuseum.com/ If you or your spouse has an interest in music, or you want to build on race issues further, or have a kid interested in music it's a must see. A lot of Memphis' history is tied up in racial issues and music.
And following THAT you can tour Sun Records http://www.sunstudio.com/plan-your-tour/ which is a really neat experience, even for kids. HOWEVER - They do not let children under 5 tour the museum (I'm not sure how old your kids are).
One last music place, we also have the Rock and Soul Museum http://www.memphisrocknsoul.org/. Can't really tell you any more about that though since I've never been to it.
 
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The Pink Palace is hands down the coolest museum in town. http://www.memphismuseums.org/ There is soooo much neat stuff in there. It has dinosaurs, parts of the house renovated to look the way it would have back in the 1800s, an awesome history of the area, a planetarium, and an imax theater. There's sort of something for everyone in the family.
 
Other places of interest:
http://brooksmuseum.org/ Kind of a stuffy place, and unless you or your kids have an interest in art I wouldn't necessarily call it a must see. *I* think the place is amazing, but I love art. lol
http://www.dixon.org/ Not sure if the gardens are open all year or not, but if they are I'd totally see if your husband wants to take the kids to tour the gardens - they have a huge grassy area just for play too - while you take a kid break and tour the art.
Lichterman http://www.memphismuseums.org/lichterman-overview/ is always a huge hit with kids of almost all ages, and they have their annual awesome scarecrow exhibit up through the 22nd. Our church's childrens ministry leader takes the kids to see it every year during Thanksgiving break and the boys think they are so cool.
Not necessarily a place you can go in and do, but this is one of the most beautiful neighbor hoods that you could drive/walk through. http://historic-memphis.com/memphis-historic/homes/homes.html
 
Re Touring downtown and Beale Street:
Do it early or do it in the early afternoon. I won't say that if you go there at night that you'll get mugged (some fools will tell you that), but night time it's not exactly a place for children. There are sooooo many cool and interesting shops and many museums on Beale and the surrounding area. There are also some places that have signs up saying that they aren't places for children. You could probably spend a half a day at least touring the area. The riverfront area is also a great area to sort of relax and take in views of the bridge and the river. Plus the riverfront has Mud Island, but I think they might already be closed for the season.
 
Check and see what things are going on at Stone Mountain. Last year they had snow fest during this time and it looked really cool. We found it too late and couldn't get tickets. Our kids really wanted to play in the snow.

Highly recommend checking out Trip Advisor forums as well. I always find hidden gem ideas there that make our trip extra special.
 
oh Stone Mountain good idea forgot about that b/c we usually just go in the summer. They do Snow Mountain with tubing and stuff in the "snow" it's really fun

Just checked the Calendar--Stone Mountain Christmas started already on the 9th and Snow Mountain starts the 25th :) I'd check it out!
 
I live in a suburb of Atlanta, and am just not that big of a fan of the city for tourists. If you do the Aquarium, try to get there first thing in the morning. Fewer people, and you finish in time for lunch (the aquarium restaurant isn't too unreasonably priced), then you can go do World of Coke after lunch (they are right next door to each other).

Very near both of those things is Centennial Park, and the ice skating rink will be open that week. The SkyView Atlanta Ferris wheel (like the London Eye, all enclosed capsules and very slow moving) is also in Centennial Park.

I like our Zoo, but haven't been to many others to compare, so I may be biased. I love our aquarium, as much or more than those that are rated top 2 in the country (Shedd Aquarium in Chicago & the aquarium in Monterey, CA).

Atlantic Station is mostly shopping, but there are two exhibits there that are worth going to if you like that sort of thing. One is a Titanic exhibit, and the other is called "Bodies."

There are several different drive-through light displays in the Atlanta area. Most well-known is Lake Lanier's Magical Nights of Lights. Stone Mountain also does a light thing. So does the Atlanta Botanical Garden (I think that one is a walk-through).

You can't count on the weather being warm or cold here. You may be fine in t-shirts, or you may need heavy coats. So I suggest layers! :)
 
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