East of Hot Springs, Arkansas, on Interstate 40 right on the Tennessee border, lies the city of Memphis. We slid into site 105 at Tom Sawyer RV Park, on the west bank of the Mississippi River.
SITE PHOTO
We’re technically still in Arkansas, in West Memphis, but we enjoy this park because it’s right on the Mississippi River and still only few minutes from downtown Memphis, TN. It’s so fascinating to watch the river traffic and speculate on the products being shipped.
The river is littered, if that’s the proper term, with trash brought downriver from storms farther north last week. The water level has visibly risen in just the afternoon we’ve been here, and it will be interesting to see when it calms down.
We spent the evening kicking back and enjoying.
There were, however, some hazards…..
We’ve visited Memphis several times and enjoy the music and vibrancy of Beale Street and learning about how that area influenced blues, rock and roll, and soul. Elvis, B B King, and Johnny Cash played and recorded here. But this time our focus is….BBQ!
On our way to the first of our food stops, we were forced by highway construction to detour by the Bass Pro Shop at the Pyramid. This is one of the most unusual of the Bass Pro Shop/Cabelas stores. When the Memphis Grizzlies basketball team vacated the pyramid shaped building, BPS/C spent millions turning the building into a sporting destination.
The interior is a bit dark, but contributes to the southern bayou theme.
There is an elevator to the observation platform that is the tallest unsupported elevator in the US.
Hotel rooms are tucked around the structure on the second floor.
Our dinner destination was Central BBQ, just south of downtown Memphis.
Central has consistently ranked among the best Smokin Joints in the city, and a slab for two and some sweet tea showed us why.
Fall off the bone delicious!
Outside, and a short block walk from Central, the infamous Lorraine motel has been converted to a Civil Rights museum.
The museum was closed as it was after five pm, but it was sobering to visit the site of the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King.
Back “home”, we relaxed while watching clouds and the Big Muddy! Mesmerizing!
Next stop:
Tunica, Mississippi’s gambling mecca, is about 50 miles south of Memphis, and is on the banks of the Mississippi, so we thought we’d take a drive to see what a large portion of the Mississippi delta looks like.
Much the same….so we took off for:
Memphis Barbecue Company in Southhaven, Mississippi, to sample the ribs. MBC also has a reputation for excellent barbecue, so we had to try it out.
Again we ordered a slab for two, and it came with large portions of our choice of sides. We chose red beans and rice, along with sour cream based potato salad. And they threw in corn bread and a bag of pork rinds. Delicious!
Unfortunately, we were so hungry, and the muddy ribs tasted so good, that I failed to get a “before” picture, but did get a shot of the damage…
The dry rub used was a vinegar, salt and brown sugar mixture and smoked in a charcoal smoker for at least 5 hours, giving the bark a definite barbecue flavor. We asked for a slab that had BBQ sauce added prior to smoking…..”muddy”, and that was a nice touch to the meat. In comparison to Central? MBC had more flavor but Central was more tender. There are thousands of Smoke Joints here. We may need to stay a bit longer…
And the third restaurant in our informal tour of BBQ places in Memphis? Charlie Vergos Rendezvous. This is perhaps the most well known of the places we’ve visited, probably because it’s just a few steps away from the famous Peabody Hotel in downtown Memphis. The Peabody is home to the most pampered ducks in the world, with these feathered celebrities literally getting red carpet treatment twice a day as they are escorted from their climate controlled home on the roof of the hotel to the large fountain in the main lobby. In any case, the Rendezvous is a famous rib joint and we needed to check it out.
Rendezvous is located in a basement in Charlie Vergos’ Alley, where the interior is decorated with a lifetime of eclectic collections.
Charlie opened the restaurant in 1948 in the street level building above, but when he learned about a coal chute in the basement, he moved the smoker downstairs and used the chute as an exhaust pipe! Still family owned, the Ren still serves a full menu of smoked deliciousness.
As we did in our other two restaurants, we ordered a slab for two. It came with baked beans and a unique potato salad made with mustard and vinegar. Both were delicious!
The Rendezvous serves only dry BBQ, but they offer sauces as desired. The dry rub is well done and provides a great bark on the ribs, but the meat didn’t fall off the bone as we expected. The taste is perfect, so who cares if you get your fingers, nose, and occasionally an eyebrow messy eating off the bone? The combination of side dishes and unexpectedly delicious dry rub made this meal a winner!
We had earlier scored a parking spot on one of Memphis’ most famous streets. I say scored because the public parking garages in downtown have a reputation for theft and unscrupulous business practices, putting a tire boot on a car just half onto the parking stall white line and demanding $50 cash for removal! We also found out the only time option was $32 for 12 hours! A bit steep for a dinner date!
So who’s the winner, winner, chicken dinner?
Of course, it’s all of them!
Central was the most tender, Memphis had an unusual flavor, and the Rendezvous had flavor and atmosphere. Take your pick….
Next time you’re in Memphis, go to Grace Land and then have a slab o’bones! You’ll be happy!
