Rock and Soul and Piggly Wiggly

You don’t get much more southern than soul music and a Piggly Wiggly.  

We were one of the first through the door at the Memphis Rock and Soul Museum this morning.  We could have visited various other museums that feature this style of music from Gibson guitars to radio stations to recording studios but this one museum seemed to cover them all. From the beginning of blues in the cotton fields, B. B. King and Isaac Hayes to Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash, we learned the history of the beginnings of country, soul and rock and roll.  Sun, Stax and Hi Records had some of the biggest names in the industry on their labels.

Our second outstanding BBQ lunch in Memphis was at Germantown Commissary.  It was a 20 minute drive to get there but well worth the wait!  We have to say their ribs are some of the best we have every eaten and the pulled pork was very tender and juicy.  Too bad we can’t go back there over and over!

The 1920’s estate built of pink marble (hence the name ‘Pink Palace') was to be the home of Clarence Saunders, founder of Piggly Wiggly grocery stores. He never lived in it. Today it has been added to and expanded to house a two story museum of the history of Memphis from the dinosaurs to the days of the Piggly Wiggly and the Viet Nam Wall; a planetarium and a 3D IMAX theatre. Very interesting. The museum has a Clyde Park Miniature Circus (being renovated so no moving parts), a live-sized replica of the first Piggly Wiggly store, and many displays of pioneers days, the Civil War, early medical practices, and much more.