9 a.m. Beat the Sunday rush
Word to the wise: In Memphis, you have to beat the after-church rush if you want to get into Sunrise Memphis, one of the more popular breakfast spots downtown. The counter-service restaurant has all the classics of a robust Southern breakfast, including biscuit sandwiches like “the Rooster” with a fried chicken breast, pickle and Tabasco honey ($7). While you wait, you can watch the biscuits being made through a window. You’ll need the sustenance before the next stop.
11 a.m. Walk through Elvis’s world
The kitsch alone — the shag carpets, the mirrored walls and ceilings, the jungle room — is reason enough to go to Graceland. It tends to cater to Elvis devotees and can get downright tedious in places. (Want to see an invoice for his pool? There it is, framed like a masterpiece.) Still, those lacking that level of intense interest can still find it worth the time investment (at least three hours) and cost of admission ($235 includes a tour, a meal and a private exhibit where visitors can hold some of Elvis’s jewelry with gloved hands; self-guided mansion tours start at $84). Curators focus on the sunnier side of Elvis’s tragic story, yet Graceland still provides an intimate glimpse into superstardom and all that comes with it: the adulation, the opulence, the hangers-on and the darkness that counterbalances such a burst of light.
