Eating and trying new restaurants is possibly one of our favorite out-of-town activities. Having worked in the tourism industry, I always make a point to try local places.

I gave an account of BB King’s in this post. The following morning we had a DELICIOUS brunch at Aldo’s Pizza Pies. I don’t have any pics, but the food and atmosphere were great. It seemed like all of the ingredients were superbly fresh. I swear that these croutons were the best I’ve ever had. (I’m a sucker for croutons.)

You can’t go to Memphis without going to Bryant’s Breakfast. (Shout out to my maiden name! I tried to buy a tshirt, but they didn’t have any. Grrr.) Bryant’s has been in business since 1968, and it’s one of those places everybody goes to. We both had the Breakfast Special…the homemade biscuits are to die for! If you’re ever in Memphis, this is one of those places you must go. Tell them Pamela sent you. I’m kidding…that won’t mean a thing.

I’m also happy to recommend Central BBQ. (I was able to buy a tshirt there!) The environment was so laid back that you felt like part of the family. The owner was working the register and chatted with us like we were old friends.

Their homemade seasoned chips were yummy…and rather addictive! I stocked up on extras to bring home for the girls at Salt & Pepper. I tied little name tags on them to make the girls feel extra special. =)

We also had dinner at Texas de Brazil (not a local place, but our first time to go there). All I can say is show up hungry! For those of you who don’t know how it works, they bring around huge skewers of every type of meat you can imagine, prepared every possible way. You have a card with a red and a green side which you flip to signal whether or not you want more meat.

If you’re ready for more, you flip the card to green and the cycle continues. Lamb, chicken, sirloin, meats wrapped in bacon…you name it, they had it. (Sorry vegetarians!) One of my favorite things about this restaurant was the amazing salad bar. It seriously had the freshest of everything you could possibly imagine.

All in all, we tried some fantastic restaurants. I’d be happy to get to go back to most of them. I must give props to my husband – he talked to coworkers and did his research preparing a list of the best places to go. (This is a good thing because I would have just shown up and wandered in to places that looked cool. This is another reason why we are a good team.) Thanks for doing such a good job planning our trip, honey!

So…there ya have it! This sums up our Memphis trip in a nutshell. Have you tried any of these restaurants before? How about other local places you love? I’m always looking for a new restaurant to try!

Update: Read about how our trip began here. We also shopped, saw a broadway show, and hung out on Beale Street. 

Anyone who knows me, knows that we will squeeze in some shopping on every trip…especially at antique stores/flea markets.

On day 3, we loaded up and drove out to Rossville to check out the Rusty Propeller. Heather over at Vintage Sale gave us some pointers on what stores to hit up. This one was just as cool as I’d hoped! I loaded up on things for our house and for the store {link}. We made several rounds through because there was so much cool stuff to see! Not to mention that the folks there were soooo nice. We could have stayed and chatted all afternoon.

Next, we rode over to Collierville to check out their awesome downtown. It was such a great little area! Of course, I’m a sucker for a cool downtown. We couldn’t pass up the cheesecake shop. Matt had chocolate raspberry and I couldn’t resist trying the chocolate covered strawberry.

The part I loved the most about this downtown was the cool park in the center.

The coolest thing about it was that it offered wifi! I can honestly say that I’ve never seen a park with wifi. I took a pic of the Tennessee Bank that provides the free wifi…it’s so tiny!

Also in Collierville, was the Sheffield Antique Mall. I can honestly say that this place had it together! It was huge with tons of cool stuff, but the most noticeable thing was that it seemed so well run. They were having a storewide sale, which I’ve never seen at a flea market. They were also having a Mardi Gras party that night. Free food, drinks, and a live band until 10pm. We couldn’t attend, but I thought it was the coolest thing! You just don’t see flea markets with such spunk!

We loaded up on cool stuff at this store. Possibly my favorite find of the trip are these vintage sling back pumps. Being that I wear a size 4 1/2 (Crazy right?!), I don’t usually stumble upon shoes that fit me. Needless to say, I snatched these vintage beauties up!

I was also pumped to find these cool map prints to hang over Matt’s desk. I’ve been really into maps and globes lately, and the wall behind his desk needs some love….these will be perfect! We also came across an old Mary Poppins record and since we saw the Broadway version (our first Broadway show) on this trip, we knew we should snatch it up! As of today, I’m thinking I might hang this one in my office.

Of course, vintage shopping wasn’t all we did. We had to hit up some of my favorite stores in Germantown like Anthropologie, Free People, Loft, & Banana Republic. You just can’t pass up these stores!

Overall, we had a great time exploring the surrounding areas of Memphis and found some pretty cool things to bring home. Have you ever been to any of these places? Where are your favorite places to shop when you’re out of town?

Update: Read more from Memphis here, here, here, and here. 

When we learned of the Orpheum Theater, we knew we had to go to a show! We were lucky to catch the last showing of Mary Poppins, and it was phenomenal!

This was the first broadway show that we’d ever been to, so we were both blown away. The sets and costumes were so elaborate, and the talent was amazing. Matt worked behind the scenes at a few productions at Louisiana Tech, so he found the sets to be particular interesting. I was just amazed by all of the movement and how the scenes switched so seamlessly without the audience even hardly noticing. Plus, bright colors, singing/dancing, and flashing lights are plenty to keep a girl entertained!

My handsome hubby wore a bow tie and suspenders (which I loved!), and I wore one of this winter’s dresses from Salt & Pepper. I seize any opportunity to get all dressed up! I planned on taking more pictures, but we just didn’t get around to it.

It wasn’t just the production that was amazing though. The theater itself was a sight to see. It was like stepping back in time to a theater from the early 1900’s. Everything was so intricate and detailed. I didn’t get to take any pictures, but you can check out their website  for a peek. (I’m not one of those people who will stop the movement of a crowd in order to snap a few pictures. In this case, I “took them with my mind” as Matt says.) If you go to their site, be sure to read the history. It’s such a fascinating place!

If you’re ever in Memphis, make a point to see a show there. I just can’t describe how beautiful it is. Have you ever been to a broadway show? What was your experience like?

Update: Read about how our trip started here. We also hung out on Beale Street. Ate a lot and shopped!

One of the top things we were looking forward to for this trip was dinner at BB King’s and a night down on Beale Street. We arrived just in time to check in and get a little fancied up. (We didn’t take the first picture, and I’m majorly disappointed. Matt always says, “Take a picture with your mind,” when I’m fussing over wanting pictures. Can someone help me explain to him that’s just not the same thing?!) I digress.

We ate at BB King’s in Las Vegas and had a great time, so it was a definite on the agenda for our Memphis getaway. We’d been talking about their sausage and cheese platter since we started planning this trip! (Seriously, you must try it!)

Dinner was delicious as we expected, and the live band was awesome. It was one of those bands that had everybody dancing in their seats without even noticing it. Matt & I both love a live band. We could have stayed here the whole night but decided to go walk around a bit instead.

After scoping out the sights on Beale Street, we picked a cool, old horse and buggy to give us a tour and take us back to our hotel. We enjoyed cuddling up and seeing downtown the old fashioned way. You can see some of the details from the carriage ride here. Nothing beats getting cozy under a nice warm blanket and riding around in a horse-drawn carriage with your love.

Do you have a carriage ride story that sticks out in your mind? Tell me about it! This was our first one together, so I’m sure I’ll always remember it.

Update: Read more about Memphis here, here, here, and here. 

Ok, so this match wasn’t really made in Memphis, but that’s a cute title right?! This trip was especially exciting because it was our first non-work related trip together. I’m going to post about some detailed experiences later, but here’s a little overview.

Our original plan was to go somewhere in East Tennessee, but we decided to go somewhere not so far from home so we’d have less travel time and more play time.

Here’s what we did:
BB King’s on Beale Street
Carriage ride/Tour of Downtown Memphis
Lunch at Aldo’s Pizza Pies
Mary Poppins at the Orpheum Theatre – our first ever broadway show!
Bryant’s Breakfast
Shopping!!
Dinner at Texas de Bazil
Central BBQ

As you can see, we skipped some of the typical things like Graceland, etc. For this trip, we wanted a simple & easy getaway. Matt’s been pretty busy with school and work, so relaxation was the goal.

Some of my favorite things about Memphis are obviously the food and live music, but I absolutely love the brick sidewalks and trolleys of downtown. In my opinion, brick and trolleys make the perfect downtown setting. What more do you need?? We were told that the trolleys are actually the original ones. I don’t know how true that is, but they looked old!

Downtown is so cozy and well maintained. I could walk around for hours with no actual purpose.

Speaking of walking around, we started in this cool park next to our hotel. (Memphis is FULL of various parks and river walks…another cool feature). We cruised through here on our carriage ride where the driver told us that this park had been in place since before the Civil War, 1819 to be exact. Wow! He said the stone work was original, which was even more impressive. This staircase was simply stunning…especially to think it had been there since the 1800s!

I had to take a picture of these cannons because our driver said these were “what they liked to call replica cannons,” as if the word replica only applied to those cannons and couldn’t be used in other contexts. We got quite a kick out of this. Seriously, I think it’ll be a running joke from now on. Feel free to join in!

We ended up walking several miles through different parks, along the river, and through some gorgeous neighborhoods. The parks and green areas are full of various commissioned art, benches, etc. It was nice to see all of the small touches placed here and there.

Overall, we had a great time exploring the area. I can’t wait to post more details, but for now I have laundry to catch up on…that dreaded, unavoidable post-trip task.

Have you ever been to Memphis? What were your favorite parts? We might go back again sometime, so please share!

Update: Read more about Memphis – Beale Street, Mary Poppins, shopping & eating.