More of Memphis

Tuesday, we took a look at Memphis and covered only the musical landmarks. There's much more to enjoy and learn about in Memphis.

The Mississippi River itself is quite an impressive landmark. You can take a ride on the Memphis Queen riverboat or enjoy a concert at Mud Island, where you can also explore a scale model of the entire Mississippi River.

The Lorraine Motel at 450 Mulberry Street, just a couple of blocks from Beale Street, was the site where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. King was in town to support the sanitation workers strike, and had just given his famous "Mountaintop" speech the night before. The Lorraine went into foreclosure in 1982, and was bought by a group of prominent Memphians who founded The National Civil Rights Museum on the site. The museum is open every day.
Yet more Memphis, after the jump.

The Peabody Hotel on Union Avenue opened in 1925. The famous Peabody Ducks still swim in the hotel's fountain each day, escorted to the lobby from their penthouse apartment by the Peabody Duckmaster. See a video of the ducks here.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital was founded by Danny Thomas in 1962 in response to a vow he made to build a shrine to St. Jude Thaddeus, the patron saint of hopeless causes. The hospital serves children with cancer from all over the world with no regard for their family's ability to pay, if they fit into their current research protocols.

A. Schwab's Dry Goods at 163 Beale Street is the oldest business on the street, in operation since 1876. You can still get everything from underwear to voodoo spells at Schwab's.

In 1991, the city of Memphis built The Pyramid Arena, a 32-storey civic center in tribute to the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis. The Pyramid is home former home to the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team and the University of Memphis basketball program. It also hosts concerts and other big events.

And you can't go to Memphis without a visit to the Memphis Zoo, home of pandas Ya Ya and Le Le. You can follow them online with the Panda Cam.

For more on Memphis, see Tell the Truth Travel and the city's official site.