My Backyard: Destinations
Work Up an Appetite in Memphis, Tennesssee
By Marcus Woolf
Jan 1, 2006, 08:44

Oooh that smell: Stanky creek offers tricks for every skill level. Courtesy Daniel Duckwarth

Nothing says “taste of the South” like Memphis barbecue, blues music and Elvis-style rock-n-roll. The slow-moving Mississippi River mirrors the town’s pace during the day, but at night on Beale Street, you can let your hair down and dance up a storm (hip-shakin’ and hollerin’ are guaranteed). To work off the calories from all those glasses of sweet tea you’ll drink, head just outside of town and ride rolling singletrack or paddle a labyrinth of tributaries and wildlife-filled swamps.

Work Up an Appetite

Paddle the Ghost River A few miles away from Beale Street is a flooded forest where all the city’s hustle and bustle is laid to rest. The Ghost River is actually a section of the Wolf River (901-452-6500; www.wolfriver.org ), where the main channel disappears in a spooky swamp of cypress and tupelo gum trees. With no clear path to follow, paddlers wind their way through a calm, wooded maze, watching closely for trail markers attached to thick trunks. For an 8.5-mile day trip, put in at LaGrange Road and take out at Bateman Bridge Road. Visit Outdoors Inc. for canoe or touring kayak rentals and insider tips. 901-767-6790; www.outdoorsinc.com .

Indulge

Eat: Pork Ribs at Jim Neely’s Interstate Bar-B-Que
With more than 100 barbecue restaurants in town, Memphis’ competition for best ribs is fierce. Owner and chef Jim Neely defends his restaurant’s status by working seven days a week, starting before dawn. His meats are cooked slowly over indirect heat. How slowly? Pork shoulders hit the pit at 5 p.m. to be ready the following morning. His ribs cook in about five hours. $18.25 per slab of ribs; 901-775-2304; www.jimneelysinterstatebarbecue.com .

Drink: Bombay IPA at Boscos in Midtown
This self-proclaimed “restaurant for beer lovers” is dirtbag friendly, but the menu includes sophisticated fare such as wood oven planked salmon. Their “flaming stone” microbrews taste sweet and smooth because hot granite is lowered into the beer during the brewing process (creating a caramel finish). Less sweet, the hoppy Bombay IPA has won three awards in the past five years. 901-278-0087; www.boscosbeer.com.

Be Merry: Watch a Duck Parade at The Peabody Memphis
Every day at 11 a.m., The Peabody (901-529-4000; www.peabodymemphis.com ) rolls out the red carpet for the city’s five biggest celebrities. Awaiting their arrival, an anxious crowd gathers near the first-floor elevator. Then ping! The doors open and five mallard ducks emerge. To the tune of a Sousa march, the birds waddle across the carpet to a central water fountain and dive in. This 76-year-old tradition trumps the free parrot show at the Tropicana in Vegas.

Digs

If you’d like to save your cash for the beers and barbecue, camp 15 minutes north of Memphis in a bottomland forest of oaks and cypress at Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park ($15 and up; www.state.tn.us/environment/parks ). For classy accommodations with Southern charm, try the new Hunt Phelan Inn on Beale Street (901-525-8225; www.huntphelaninn.com ). This antebellum house completed in 1828 has single rooms that start at $180.



Today's Special:
Bike Stanky Creek Pay no attention to the name. Nothing stinks about this recreation area. About 15 minutes from downtown Memphis by car, Stanky Creek offers 9.2 miles of trails, including tight singletrack, log rides and some nice downhill jumps. The rolling terrain is perfect for improving your technical riding, plus you’ll encounter fewer hikers and runners than on other local trails. And with a brand-new loop dubbed the Outhouse Trail, Stanky Creek just got stankier. For maps, contact www.midsouthtrails.com. To rent a bike check in with the Midtown Bike Company (901-726-4511; www.midtownbikeco.com ).