My wife, Lori, surprised me with a trip to Memphis for my 50th birthday. I love music, and had never visited the birthplace of blues, rock ‘n’ roll and Southern soul, so I was really excited. And we had a great time.

Our plane arrived Friday afternoon, and we took a cab to downtown Memphis. Our hotel, the SpringHill Suites, was well situated — a couple of blocks off the Mississippi River, and an easy walk to Beale Street and the Peabody Hotel.

Although the hotel was full of people in town for a college football weekend, our suite in the adjoining historic Kress Building was quiet and private. The hotel provided a complementary continental breakfast in the lobby from 7 to 10 a.m. daily, and several different blends of excellent coffee were available free throughout the day and evening (although they often ran out).

Friday night we took a Memphis Riverboat dinner cruise, which would have been more enjoyable if we hadn’t been tired from our day of travel. It cruised out to the middle of the river, anchored to serve dinner, then started cruising back to the pier but stopped again, presumably to keep the cash bar open a while longer. (For $44 each, they could have thrown in at least one drink.) The food (a barbecue buffet) and the band were good, but we would liked to have been able to get off the boat earlier. And because it was a chilly evening, we couldn’t enjoy sitting on the open deck, which would have provided an alternative in warmer weather.

Saturday we went to Sun Studio, which probably was the highlight of the trip for me. (Hallowed ground …) From there we went to Beale Street, and caught the Mojo Tour, an 80-minute bus excursion through musical Memphis. It was fun, although at a couple of points it seemed we knew more about the subject matter than the tour guide. And although it stopped at Sun Studio and gave everyone time to get out and look around (which we already had done), it drove by but didn’t stop at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music (which I very much would liked to have seen).

We wrapped up the afternoon by visiting the Memphis Rock ‘N’ Soul Museum ($9 admission, and worth it) and the Gibson Guitar factory across the street. That night we had dinner at Encore, a downtown restaurant that touts the New American cuisine of its chef/owner, Jose Gutierrez. Excellent food, good service.

The next morning we asked the hotel desk about getting a cab to Graceland; they recommended a shuttle service, Last Minute Transportation, which was less expensive. The drivers were friendly and punctual. (We used the same service Monday morning to go from the hotel to the airport.) There is a free shuttle from the Rock ‘N’ Soul Museum to Graceland and Sun Studios that we could have used, had its schedule coincided with ours.

You don’t have to be a huge Elvis fan to find Graceland interesting and at times even somewhat moving. We spent almost two hours touring the mansion and grounds. Our tickets also included admission to several adjacent Elvis attractions — the Car Museum, his airplanes, Sincerely Elvis (whatever that is) — and we probably could have spent an entire day there, but we had an afternoon appointment at the Spa at the Peabody Hotel.

Our spa experience included hourlong massages, manicures and pedicures, followed by a light lunch of chicken salad and bottled water. There was a lot of “down time,” spent sitting around and waiting for the next treatment. I was the only man there, besides the hotel staff. But now I can say I’ve had a manicure and pedicure! Afterward, we saw the “march of the ducks” inside the Peabody Hotel lobby.

We spent our final night, Sunday, on Beale Street, figuring it would be less crowded and rowdy than on Friday or Saturday night. Beale Street is like Bourbon Street in New Orleans, only less raunchy. As in New Orleans, you can walk from bar to bar with drinks in plastic cups. We saw a country band performing a Johnny Cash tribute, then went across the street to B.B. King’s club, where a young guitarist was doing a pretty good job of playing Jimi Hendrix songs.

Parts of downtown Memphis appeared blighted, and (as with most cities) it’s wise to use caution when walking around late at night. But we experienced no problems. Friendly people who appear to be volunteers stand on downtown street corners, offering assistance and directions to hapless tourists such as us.

On our trip back to the airport, our driver told us that people come to Memphis for the “three Bs”:  blues, barbecue and Beale Street. And we loved all three.