Memphis

Memphis, Tennessee, sits on a bluff above the Mississippi River at the corner of Mississippi and Arkansas — a city of profound musical significance where the Blues was born, Elvis Presley lived and recorded, and the Civil Rights Movement reached its most tragic point with Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination at the Lorraine Motel in 1968. It is a city of deep soul, genuine grit and outstanding barbecue. Graceland, Elvis Presley's home from 1957 until his death in 1977, is the second most visited house in America after the White House — the tours are genuine, well-done, and the experience of walking through the sequined excess of the Jungle Room and the Trophy Building is extraordinary in its own way. The National Civil Rights Museum, built around the Lorraine Motel, is one of the most important and carefully executed history museums in America — essential and devastating in equal measure. Beale Street, Memphis's historic entertainment strip, has been commercial for decades but still holds excellent music venues and the W.C. Handy Museum. Sun Studio, where Elvis, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison all recorded, offers guided tours of the actual recording studio — a genuine historical site. Memphis barbecue — pulled pork shoulder, dry-rubbed ribs, coleslaw on the plate not on the side — is the city's greatest gift to the world. Charlie Vergos' Rendezvous, Central BBQ and Cozy Corner are the essential stops. Mississippi River sunsets from Mud Island are magnificent.