Still on the Hunt for Memphis BBQ

Here we are at our second full day in Bluff City. One of my favorite google searches I use wherever we travel is ‘unique things to do in (insert the town)’. Let me tell you that the search did not disappoint. A little something called Crystal Shrine Grotto was the winner of that google search. I’ll admit my family may have thought I lost my mind when I brought them to a cemetery. After a quick call to the cemetery office, we were able to locate the grotto. It was as if we had stepped into the land of the Smurfs. The whole time we were there, I just knew I was going to see a Smurf… spoiler alert, I did not.

As we exited our car, we crossed over an adorable little wooden bridge that had fish swimming underneath. There were beautiful trees and sprawling bright green grass that led us into this cave. Once inside the cave, we were amazed by all the crystals that completely lined the inside of the cave. There were also displays that depicted the life of Jesus. It was truly a unique experience and so peaceful. Upon researching it further, the mastermind behind this grotto was commissioned to create it as way to have the cemetery be more of a celebration of life. I also learned that many people come to this cemetery to have graduation, wedding and family photos taken. Like I said, it was as beautiful as the forest village that the Smurfs lived in.

Feeling peaceful, we headed on to breakfast. Today’s deliciousness was funded by biscuits from Bryant’s Breakfast. This may have been the yummiest breakfast of 2019! One of my reasons for going here was for my husband to try their fried bologna biscuit. Not a bologna fan myself, I stepped out of my food comfort zone and had a bite and it was good! But the star here is their biscuits. The hot, pillowy soft biscuits. I still dream about these! I had their biscuits with gravy, with butter and with jam and they were all equally heavenly! And their sweet tea, oohhhh their sweet tea! It was perfection in a cup especially with the crushed ice they use. Mmmmm, I would go back in a heartbeat. I will tell you there is quite a line to order your food. But everyone is friendly and we enjoyed talking to the locals. When I saw the line, I knew we were in for a real treat of a southern breakfast!

Pleasantly in a food coma, we continued on our way. Next stop, Sun Records! You guys aren’t surprised are you? I was serious when I said we were Elvis fans. But we are also Johnny Cash fans! Sun Records was much smaller of a museum than I expected. The price was nice though, only $12 a person! There are basically two parts to this tour. First you go upstairs and view all different types of memorabilia from the early days of Sun Records including the DJ booth that was the original. The guide made this tour! He was great! He was very knowledgeable as well as funny! The last stop in the museum was the recording studio where all the magic of the Million Dollar Quartet happened. If I’m being honest, I will admit that seeing the exact piano and spot where that famous night on December 4, 1956 happened really hit me. So much incredible history in that very spot was too much for me to process. It was an indescribable experience! To think that Sam Phillips wasn’t a fan of Elvis’ ballads, Mr. Phillips was in an enormous debt, and a new genre of music was being created that the older generation didn’t approve of yet with all these hurdles, he didn’t give up. The story of Sun Records is inspiring to say the least.

Remember when I said that we would be continuing on our hunt of some authentic BBQ, well that time has come. The hunt was worth it as this evening we found ourselves in another long line to order food. This time it was at a highly recommended joint called Central BBQ where their sign states that Today’s Special is BBQ! And it sure was! Holy Moly, that was the best BBQ I have ever had! My husband and I shared a sampler platter and every bite was outstanding! To me the star was the smoked turkey and my husband fell hard for the pulled pork. They had a few sauce options and they were flavorful and added a nice element to the smoked meat. We have a picky eater for a daughter and she was in macaroni and cheese heaven! I was shocked when I saw her adding Central seasoning on her mac and cheese. Our simple gal who typically will only use salt and garlic seasoning was falling in love with the Central seasoning right before our very eyes! So much so, that my sweet hubby got back in the long line to buy a bottle of the seasoning to take home. So two places with long lines surely delivered on their food! Today would take the gold in Memphis food!

After indulging in two yummy meals, we needed to get moving! Whenever we visit a new city, we like to do a ghost tour. We enjoy the combination of hearing about the area’s history along with the spooky ghost tales. We booked through Historical Haunts Ghost Tours. They offer multiple tours. It looked like it was going to storm that night so we were hoping to take the Haunted Memphis Bus Tour but another rookie tourist mistake and waited until the same day to book it and there were no spots available on the bus tour. This was our last evening in Memphis so it was now or never if we were going to do a ghost tour. So with all of our extra calories in tow, we headed to the meeting spot for the Memphis Ghost Walk. This was a reasonable $20 a person. Well we hit the jackpot as we were the only ones signed up for that evening’s tour. For $60 total, we had a private two and a half hour tour! This tour included stops at a bar, a speakeasy, a performance theater and the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr was shot. All of these presumed to be haunted spots. We enjoyed it and learned quite a bit about Bluff City!

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel and fell right asleep from our busy day! The next day we flew back home but we had just enough time to squeeze in one more Memphis meal.

And that meal was at Staks Pancake Kitchen. I sure wish we had one of these at home! I find it difficult to be wowed at breakfast menus sometimes. I think this is  the hardest meal to come across something new that I haven’t seen before. But Staks, congrats to you for achieving a creative breakfast menu! First off, there are a few tables with a flattop unit on it where you are given pancake batter along with a variety of mix ins and you get to be the chef. We were there on a Sunday morning so those tables were already taken. We started off with a bacon sampler. There were three intriguing flavors: parmesan, siracha, and candied. The siracha one was a little too much spice for me but the other two were very tasty as the bacon was crispy and not too fatty. The hubby and I shared the breakfast eggrolls. What a wonderful idea! What’s not to love when you have a crispy eggroll stuffed with scrambled eggs, cheese, crunchy hash browns, bacon and sausage gravy. Oh it was heavenly! You’re probably thinking that’s enough food, right…… Wrong! I didn’t come to a pancake kitchen to not indulge in a pancake. And we’re in Elvis’ land so I felt that it was only right to order the Elvis Pancakes. What makes for an Elvis pancake, well let me tell you. First you have chocolate pancakes that have pieces of bananas in them. Then you add more sliced bananas and lots of ooey gooey peanut butter glaze. It was super sweet but oh so yummy! Our daughter, Bella, was looking forward to eating the birthday cake pancakes. It’s cake batter pancakes covered in rainbow sprinkles and vanilla glaze. Staks goes the extra step and serves these birthday cake pancakes with a lit candle! They were as tasty as they were pretty!

It was at this time, that were we to say goodbye to the lovely town of Memphis. It was a fun hiatus! We came, we ate BBQ and we Elvis-ed! A good trip it was!