​Memphis Gets Its Groove Back

Many thought the city’s gold record days were done, but now it’s climbing the charts.

- Hannah Hayes

MEMPHIS IS THE REASON I’m here. It’s where my parents met and had their first date at the Memphis in May International Festival. Even though I didn’t grow up there, the city has always felt like a second home to me.

At The Peabody hotel, it’s 1943, 1984, and 2017 all at once. My grandmother dances to big band music on the Skyway while my mother sits on a sofa in a sequin dress and heels and I sip a gin and tonic in the Lobby Bar. Over on Elvis Presley Boulevard, I see my grandfather photographing the chaotic scene outside Graceland the day the King died 40 years ago.

On North Watkins Street, the old Sears, Roebuck and Co. distribution building where my great-grandmother Mittie worked has been reimagined as the Crosstown Concourse, a buzzing hive of lofts, restaurants, and start-up spaces.

Not so long ago, many people thought Memphis had lost its soul. The lights of Stax Records went dark; downtown developments were left lifeless; the recession brought a new kind of blues.

But now, the Bluff City is back again because residents believed—literally. “Believe!” has become the Memphis Grizzlies’ cheer, and the word is stamped on the spirit of the city.

STAY

While Memphis is known for the ducks that march twice daily from the elevator to the fountain at The Peabody, the historic property stands apart from the fanfare with a kaleidoscopic ceiling of stained glass and inlaid wood over a marble mezzanine and a bustling lobby that’s a great spot for grabbing cocktails and people-watching.