Ducking around in Memphis

August 01, 2015


Our last stop on our cultural tour of the South (a family road trip in mid-July that began in Austin and included New Orleans, Atlanta, and Charlotte, North Carolina) was Memphis, Tennessee — Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock-and-Roll. We spent two nights at the famous Peabody Hotel, within walking distance of legendary Beale Street. Having recently strolled Austin’s own Sixth Street and New Orleans’s Bourbon Street, we felt the boozy, bluesy, neon-splashed trifecta was now complete.


Built in 1925, the Peabody is a grand old hotel in downtown Memphis, which sits on the east bank of the mighty Mississippi River. The Peabody is famous for its ducks. Yes, ducks.


Every day at 11 am, the Peabody’s duckmaster leads 5 resident mallards from their rooftop digs, down the elevator, and along a red carpet to a marble fountain in the center of the lobby. They swim all day in the fountain, or snooze on the rim, and at 5 pm the duckmaster reappears to lead to them back out.


It’s a highly choreographed spectacle that attracts throngs of visitors who arrive early for a good view. We arrived at 4:30 pm for the 5 pm show and had to watch from the 2nd floor gallery, but it really was fun to see. The duckmaster appeared in a smart red jacket, rolled out the red carpet, and in a ringing voice shared the ducklore: how, in the 1930s, the manager of the Peabody and his friend brought live decoys back to the hotel after a duck hunt and put them in the fountain before collapsing in bed to sleep off hangovers. How they came downstairs the next morning to find that hotel guests loved seeing the ducks in the fountain. How a former circus animal trainer offered to bring the ducks in and out every day, thereby earning the first duckmaster title, a position he served in for 50 years until his retirement in 1991.


After the speech, the ducks marched in a dignified manner out of the fountain, down the red carpet, and into the elevators.


Aside from Beale Street-strolling, duck-watching, and oh-so-good rib-eating at Rendezvous we also visited Graceland, home of Elvis Presley. Here’s our family at the gates of Graceland — or at least a painted facsimile. Elvis belonged to my parents’ generation, and while my husband and I know his music we don’t think of ourselves as Elvis fans. For our kids, Elvis is nearly unknown except as a character to dress up as at Halloween or as the patron saint at Chuy’s.

Not being fans mattered not at all, it turns out. We all four enjoyed seeing Elvis’s home, which included an audio tour via iPads handed out as you enter. Sure, Elvis’s troubled later years and his cause of death were glossed over, but it was interesting to see his eclectically decorated, yet somehow still homey, mansion, not to mention his rhinestone-glittery costumes and all those gold and platinum records. He’s a legend for a reason. If you’re in Memphis, don’t miss it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this short travelogue of our Southern road trip. For a look back at our visit to Atlanta, where we saw a light exhibit at Atlanta Botanical Garden and the Georgia Aquarium, click here. For our visit to the Big Easy, aka New Orleans, click here.

All material © 2006-2015 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

10 responses to “Ducking around in Memphis”

  1. Having to travel across country to visit family sure gives you opportunity to see and taste nice bits of our country. I enjoyed seeing what you shared. Can’t get over how grown up your children are. They aren’t children any more.

  2. Kris P says:

    I enjoyed your family vacation. I’d love to see the Atlanta Botanical Garden one day and the ducks were a nice surprise.

  3. shirley says:

    I am a local Memphian and I love seeing the Peabody ducks. They are just the cutest thing. And to quote John Lennon, “Before Elvis there was nothing.”

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Thanks for commenting, Shirley. We really enjoyed seeing your city. It has such an interesting history and was a fun place to kick around. —Pam

  4. TexasDeb says:

    Pam wrote: “Elvis belonged to my parents’ generation, and while my husband and I know his music we don’t think of ourselves as Elvis fans.”

    Oooof. I’m trying to resent that remark but that takes me into territory where I am denying you the reality of how young you are versus how old I am (not!!!). The photos hint at great memories made together and what a wonderful way to spend the last few weeks of summertime.

    • Pam/Digging says:

      Thanks for understanding, Deb. 🙂 Elvis died when I was 9, so I missed even his later years. My mom, however, has shared how much she loved him during his early years. My formative music is 80s R&B and British Invasion stuff. —Pam

      • TexasDeb says:

        I wasn’t objecting to you not being an Elvis fan (just to be clear). And I can’t object to you being so young – at least not sensibly. : )

        I clearly recall a slumber party in 4th grade where we stayed up for hours arguing about who our favorite Beatle was and how embarrassing it was to watch them on TV (in front of our parents, ugh!) with all the teenaged girls screaming and fainting. Elvis was way too old school for us at the time. We were mod, OK, all about Motown and Brits.