May 28, 2023
Arriving in Memphis in the early afternoon, having driven up from Clarksdale, we booked into our hotel and walked a few blocks down to Beale Street in search of a late lunch. Officially recognized as “The Home of the Blues” by an Act of Congress, Beale Street includes a two block stretch of restaurants and bars that is now a big tourist attraction. The streets heyday was from the 1920s through the 1940s, when it regularly attracted some of the country’s biggest blues and jazz musicians. Unfortunately, in the 1970s and 1980s, a disastrous urban renewal program razed blocks of buildings in the surrounding neighborhood, as well as on the street itself. Even now, the surrounding area is nothing to write home about. Finding food that was not either barbecued or fried appeared impossible, so we headed into a bar for a lunch that made up in quantity for what it lacked in quality.
Although we didn’t catch any blues of jazz in the Beale Street clubs, we did enjoy a live jazz show while we were in town. Because, in the evening we took a picnic dinner and joined the throngs at Overton Park for a Big Band concert. It was a beautiful evening, and a great way to end up the day.
Mal and Lauren 