7 Best Sights in Side Trips from Memphis, Tennessee

The Alex Haley House Museum, the only state-owned historic site in West Tennessee, displays family portraits, mementos, and furnishings.

In Casey Jones Village. The Casey Jones Village Old Country Store, also in the village, has a restaurant, an 1890s-style ice cream parlor, and gift, souvenir, confectionery, and antiques shops.

The historic Cherry Mansion, built in 1830, served as General Grant's headquarters during the Battle of Shiloh. The house is privately owned, but visitors are allowed to walk around the grounds and take pictures.

For more information on Jackson, call the Jackson/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, open weekdays 8:30–4:30.

The Reelfoot Area Chamber of Commerce can answer questions about dining and lodging.

Site of one of the Civil War's grimmest and most pivotal battles, Shiloh National Military Park is the resting place of almost 4,000 soldiers, many unidentified, in the national cemetery. A self-guided auto tour (about 2½ hours) leads you past markers explaining monuments and battle sites. The visitor center runs a 25-minute film explaining the battle's strategy and has a display of Civil War artifacts. To get to Shiloh from Memphis, head east from Memphis on U.S. 64, then 10 mi south on TN 22.

The Tennessee River Museum has exhibits on the Civil War, the river, and fossils from 65 million years ago, when this area was underwater.