Month: September 2017

Beautiful. The Pink Palace Museum in Memphis is one of the largest in the Southeast, and has an incredibly varied collection — it’s part planetarium, giant 3D theatre, natural history museum, and Memphis-centric display including a replica of the first Piggly Wiggly which was the first to make the transition from full- to self- serve grocery in the nation.

narwahl tooth

 

ivory-billed woodpecker

Patterson Transfer Company Memphis and Nashville mail coach

This Fisk mummy case is a cast iron casket / coffin was used in an 1854 Shelby County burial. “The casket was accidentally uncovered by a plow which exposed a burial vault constructed of approximately 2000 handmade bricks.” The person inside was reburied elsewhere. This particular type of casket was manufactured from about 1835 to 1860. Strangely, there’s a glass piece which has its own cast iron cover above where the head would go, for viewing. More about this casket here and here.

What’s really interesting is that it’s this kind of cast iron casket that helped lead to William Bass founding the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility (Body Farm).

There’s a replica general store

and pharmacy (happy Halloween!)

but the Piggly Wiggly is the best — it’s modeled after the first one here in Memphis, which was revolutionary in that it let the customer do his/her own shopping

 

2016 marked 100 years of the Pig being in business.

 

 

 

Among the items in the Memphis display, Elvis’ own script for G.I. Blues

and an array of over-the-top gowns for cotton celebrations

 

We were only in town for less than a full day, but had supper one night at Germantown Commissary which was good all-around

note that the Brunswick stew is “for all you folks from Georgia”

My meal was the cheese plate, which included deviled eggs and sausage. Av had a sampler, all of which was cooked just right (and we all ate from that as well) and the thick-battered onion rings were yum. The banana pudding was pretty great too.

The next day (they like the checkered paper in Memphis) we had Elwood’s Shack. Av had the dry ribs, Shugie had a barbecue sandwich, and I tried the brisket taco. It was all good but not amazing. Between the two, Germantown Commissary has them beat. There’s very little seating here so if one doesn’t get in early or off-hour, getting things to go is a pretty good bet.

We stayed the night at Hyatt Place which was just like every other time we’ve stayed at a Hyatt Place, and found this laminated card by the pillow
‘Our prayer is that your stay here will be restful 
and that your travels will be fruitful.
May the L-rd bless you and keep you, and make
His face shine upon you.
All grace, 
Moody National Management’

—
2015 Memphis Flyer listed ‘Best Barbecue’ as

1. Central BBQ   2. Bar-B-Q Shop   3. Germantown Commissary

and ‘Best Ribs’ as

1. Central BBQ   2. Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous   3. Bar-B-Q Shop — tie — Corky’s Ribs and BBQ

We’re working our way through Memphis barbecue — we’ve now been to Germantown Commissary, Elwood’s, Cozy Corner, Rendezvous, Neely’s (now closed), Corky’s, Tops, Jim Neely’s Interstate, and Central.

Of those, our favorites would be Germantown Commissary, Central, and Corky’s.

We still need to get to BBQ Shop, Pollard’s, Leonard’s, A and R, One and Only, and Marlowe’s.

—
From the NYT: Before the Wedding, a Test: 3,000 Miles of Barbecue which includes spots from Pennsylvania to Tennessee. In Lexington, Tennessee, they visit whole-hog operation Scott’s-Parker’s Barbeque is visited, and in Memphis, they go to Central and Bar-B-Q Shop.

The author considers going to Alabama for more barbecue, but perhaps has his geography a bit off:

It had begun to rain aggressively after we left the Bar-B-Q Shop, but I drove us out to the Memphis Riverfront. Parked in front of the Mississippi, I began to lay out Barbecue Road Trip Part 2 and the idea that maybe we should hit a few spots in Alabama? I mean, the state border is right there.