![]() |
City Guide - Memphis - Excursions | ||
![]() |
||
Excursions Excursions For a Half Day Chucalissa Museum: Just a short drive south of Memphis, Chucalissa Museum (tel: (901) 785 3160; fax: (901) 785 0519; web site: www.people.memphis.edu/~chucalissa) is an atmospheric reconstruction of a fifteenth-century Native American village, built on the site of an ancient settlement. The museum features a Shaman's house and exhibits recovered from archaeological digs, such as a water bottle with a rattlesnake motif, cooking pots and dishes. It is open Tuesday-Saturday 0900-1700 and Sunday 1300-1700. Admission costs US$5. Alex Haley House Museum: About an hour's drive from Memphis in the town of Henning, is the home of Alex Haley, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Roots. Visitors can see Haley memorabilia and the author's burial site in the garden. The museum is open Tuesday-Saturday 1000-1700 and Sunday 1300-1700. Admission costs US$2.50. For a Whole Day Tupelo: Down in Mississippi, about 160km (100 miles) southeast of Memphis, is Tupelo - a place of pilgrimage for Elvis Presley fans. It was here, in 1935, that Elvis was born and lived until his early teens. His home, the Elvis Presley Birthplace (tel: (662) 841 1245) presents a striking contrast to the excesses of Graceland. Other sights associated with the singer include Tupelo Hardware, the shop where he bought his first guitar. Tupelo has a colourful museum, the Oren Dunn City Museum (tel: (662) 841 6438), which celebrates the history of the city. It includes a comprehensive display of equipment and clothing used by NASA on flights to the moon. These were obtained with the assistance of the local minister, who had once been the minister to some of the astronauts at Houston, Texas. It is also possible to visit Tupelo National Battlefield (tel: (662) 680 4025), the site of the Battle of Tupelo, the last major engagement of the Civil War in Mississippi. The tourist office for Tupelo can be found at 399 East Main Street (tel: (622) 841 6521; e-mail: tour20@tsixroads.com; web site: www.tupelo.net). Tupelo is about two hours' drive from Memphis. |