You can tell a lot about a town or a city by paying attention to their signs: some obvious and others more subtle. First, I confess my prejudice. I've lived in Memphis, Tennessee all my married life and love it dearly. It is home to some of the kindest, quirkiest and most welcoming people of any place I've been. It is a city of many facets. It stubbornly refuses to be pigeon-holed only as the city where Dr. Martin Luther King was brutally slain. Ours is the largest predominantly black city in the country with 63% of its population. It is truly a soul-filled place where most genres of American music were birthed. The city abounds with powerful, colorful murals that add richness to the passers-by.
The Memphis World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is deemed to be the Most Prestigious Barbecue Contest in the country by USATODAY. It's a four-day competition in May with the air pungent with the aroma of smoking pork, and punctuated with the sounds of laughter throughout the park on the Mississippi River where it is located. It is a celebration that brings the city together with enthralled tourists.
Another unifying place in our city is the Fed Ex Forum, home of the Memphis Grizzlies. This is characterized as where the grit and grind happen. I'm confident no other NBA home court is as exciting and unpredictable as this one. We love our Grizzlies and show up with a sea of blue to urge them on.
The Arcade Restaurant on Front Street is the oldest cafe in Memphis. It was founded in 1919 by Greek immigrant, Speros Zepatos. In 1925 he tore down the original building and replaced it with the existing building. Because of the nostalgic feel it has had cameo roles in movies like The Firm, Great Balls of Fire and Walk the Line, to name a few. Elvis was a regular in his day.
You can't really claim to have seen Memphis if you haven't strolled down our famous Beale Street, one of the most iconic streets in America. You can find Delta blues, jazz, rock n' roll, R&B & gospel. Something for every music lover's taste.
Another local luminary who represented Southern scenes in a changing world through his paintings was Carroll Cloar. Born in Earle, Arkansas he became nationally known after traveling in Europe, Mexico, Central and South America and settling in Memphis is 1955. He created over 800 paintings many of which reside in dozens of famous museums all over the United States. Brooks Art Museum in Memphis wanted to make their art more accessible to the public and had reproductions of a variety of styles created and displayed on buildings around the city. A vignette of The Wedding by Carroll Cloar was one outstanding piece of Brooks Outdoors.
