"Experiencing the Mid-South in Time Past" - Time Out #127

When my professional medical training time in Alabama was completed years ago, I still had one educational year remaining before I was totally done, and, thus, was qualified to take my medical speciality examination.

So, I moved from the South (Fairfield/Birmingham, AL area) to the Mid-South (Memphis, TN area), a driving distance of 235 miles northwest via US Highway 78.

In many ways, the move was not a culture shock for me as two years in the Birmingham area had shaped me into a pseudo-Southerner. However, deep inside my body core, I was still just a ordinary fellow from Our Town, that for necessity, had to be transplanted for a bit longer in the role of a Southerner. No doubt in my young mind, I could certainly continue to pull it off!

Full of confidence, I loaded up my young family, rented a trusty moving truck, and we were transplanted to Memphis for a year and a half, so I could complete my medical speciality training, and pass my national speciality certifying examination. Even though we lived in Memphis for only a short time, I elected to purchase a home for the second time. I selected a nice, 3-bedroom, relatively new home in the Raleigh area of the large city; Raleigh located on the city's northern side not far from the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, where I would complete my education. I knew purchasing another home instead of renting, would be somewhat economically risky, but I had already had the experience of previously owning a home. I had purchased a small one from my older sister, Beverly, the home located in northwest Oklahoma City during the second year of my medical school training. I had no trouble selling it when I moved to Birmingham several years later, and, also, experienced good fortune when moving from Memphis to the San Diego, CA, area by easily selling my short-term Memphis home.

The new city experience in Memphis compared with Birmingham was similar in many ways, but the major difference was the former was/is a much larger city, with a current population of about 650,000. With that vastly increased number of people, I had to adjust to lots more folks, traffic and simply much more every day hustle and bustle.

About six weeks into my working in the city center medical complex of multiple clinics, hospitals, etc., I was seeing a consult patient inside the huge Baptist Hospital. Rumor quickly spread that particular day, an ambulance had been dispatched to Graceland, on the city's south side, to pick up Elvis Presley. The ambulance brought the unconscious King of Rock 'n Roll to the Baptist Hospital Emergency Room for immediate evaluation. The rumor mill was really hot that August day long ago, and it wasn't too long until the word spread to the upper floors where I was in attendance, that Elvis had been pronounced dead in the emergency room downstairs, possibly due to a heart attack suffered from the many drugs he had been taking for years. Like many people all over the world that fateful day in Memphis, I was mentally shaken, since I, too, had grown up in Our Town loving his music and interesting (?) dance moves, especially on our black and white television in the late 1950's and early 1960's.

When not working on my educational daytime duties in Memphis, I obtained my Tennessee and Mississippi medical licenses, and "moonlighted" in many area emergency rooms to obtain additional income. I worked many nights in northern Mississippi in the towns of Corinth, Booneville, Houston, and Iuka, just to name a few, along with the Tennessee towns of Selmer, Millington, Germantown and several emergency rooms in Memphis itself. Some of the late-night, small emergency room experiences I had it those various assorted places were pretty unbelievable for sure. Let's simply say, some evenings I was able to rest, and some evenings I got no rest and lots of pure excitement!

Like my two-year stay in Birmingham, I was able to enjoy many of Memphis' sites. I will mention several, but a city visitor could easily spend a week in the area to take in all the activities.

Of course, the leading attraction, without a doubt, is Elvis' Graceland area. This 14-acre complex is in the southern part of the city, appropriately situated on Elvis Presley Blvd. Recently a huge (450-unit) The Guest House at Graceland Hotel opened to provide a "home base" for visitors to this mega complex. Besides Elvis' mansion and grounds which are open for public tours, across the street is an entertainment facility about Elvis' music and movie career, his memorabilia and clothing. Next to this, is his automobile museum, containing his famous cars, and next to that, are his two famous airplanes, all on public display. Decades since his untimely death, the King truly has NOT left the economic building!

Other sites I frequently visited while living in this vibrant city were the Memphis Zoo in Overton Park, not too far from the city center. Their 70-acre zoo is an animal showplace, and is one of only four zoos in the USA that has China's giant pandas on display. I also enjoyed the Memphis Botanic Garden in huge Audubon Park, several miles east of downtown. This jewel attraction contains 23 speciality gardens, a lake, and a nice visitor center.

The Memphis Pink Palace museum is a 1920's estate, constructed as the former home for then Pigley Wigley grocery store chain owner, Clarence Saunders. It got its name from the extensive pink marble used in its construction.. It is a marvelous museum, with all types of exhibits to entertain and educate visitors of all ages.

Must-see visitor attractions today that I have seen in the past, but not during my actual time living in the city, include the Sun Studio, National Civil Rights Museum, Mud Island River Park and the Memphis Rock 'N' Soul Museum. Each one of these fore-mentioned attractions is well worth a visit, along with several other Memphis sights I have omitted.

Life has never sat still for me, and after my several years in the Southern climate, I moved far West to the edge of the Pacific Ocean. However, my Southern memories are still well-established and cherished. It certainly is a unique part of the good ol' U.S. of A. Be sure to see it if you haven't had that pleasure yet!