Public Walking Tours – Begun in 2008 as a part of the Center City Commission’s Downtown Alive program of performing arts at lunch time in various venues in Downtown, Jimmy created two types of walking tours in the Downtown area that he has entitled "Tuesday Tours" and "Saturday Super Tours". These Downtown Walking Tours (generally designed to last 45 minutes and be about four-blocks-long) are FREE and handicapped accessible. Streets and public areas include: Union Avenue, Court Square, Beale Street, Cotton Row, Pinch District, Civic Center Plaza, Adams Avenue, Madison Avenue, Monroe Avenue, South Main Street, Trolley Riverfront Loop, Shelby County Courthouse. Memphis Riverboats, and the Mississippi River from Riverside Drive. The new addition to the menu this Autumn will be the November 6th Street Tour inaugural tour on 11/06/11.
  In the Spring, 2012 (weekends in April & May), an entire new series of Walking Tours will be offered entitled the Riverfront Parks Series, which will include extensive walking tours of: [1] Chickasaw Heritage Park (formerly DeSoto Park) & Crump Park; [2] Martyrs Park & Ashburn-Coppock Park; [3] River Bluff Walkway & Tom Lee Park; [4] Confederate Park, Jefferson Davis Park & Cobblestone Wharf; and, [5] Mississippi Greenbelt Park & Mud Island River Park. These, and other tours, are also publicized on the Downtown Memphis, Commercial Appeal, Memphis Flyer and University of Memphis web sites.

See this year’s schedule under Announcements on the MAIN Page.

Step-On Guide – Jimmy has served as a Step-On Guide in the Downtown area and Memphis riverfront for motorcoach and tour companies visiting from out-of-town that request the service. A standard-in-the-industry fee is charged for this service.

Private Group Walking Tours – Several school groups and affinity groups have requesting walking tours of certain areas of Downtown or the riverfront.

One-On-One" Tours – Many individuals have requested private tour time. Private tours may be arraigned by contacting Jimmy by phone or email.

Custom Tours – Jimmy has even been given as a "Christmas present" for someone’s parents or grandparents. This tour normally involves a ride around Downtown and the riverfront culminating in a meal or dessert at a Downtown establishment.

Excursions – Jimmy has been known to take a group of history fans on a field trip or meet together to "group up" for an event. Last year, an excursion (via caravan) to the mystical site of the 1865 sinking of Civil War era vessel Sultana, in Crittenden County, Arkansas. Several other interesting stops within the county made the adventure an unusual time for all. In the Autumn of the year, a group assemble in Downtown for lunch, and then walked the Downtown Historic Churches Open House (five churches within five blocks), which is annually scheduled on a Sunday afternoon in October. This year’s excursions will be the Sultana, Downtown Historic Churches Open House and Randolph, Tennessee. Details will be on this web site, now for the Sultana, and in August for the Autumn outings (Downtown Churches and Randolph). Stay tuned.

Old Forest Trail in Overton Park – Although Jimmy is not the leader of this semi-monthly tour (second Saturday and last Sunday of each month), he is glad to participate as a "caboose" for the exquisite tour given by the Citizens To Preserve Overton Park (which he is one of five members, along with Amy Stewart-Banbury, Stacey Greenberg & Roy Barnes) and its leader, Naomi Van Tol. The nature hike changes every time that it is given, as the Old Forest is forever changing on a daily basis. (See below).

Tours for Other Agencies – Whether it is the Cotton Museum at the Memphis Cotton Exchange, the Center For Southern Folklore, Shelby County Courthouse or the Memphis Riverboats company, Jimmy quite often pitches in to be involved in the programming, special events and tours for these and other museums and attractions in Memphis. You’ll never know where Jimmy might pop up talking . . .

Downloadable Tours   Black History Walking Tour Black History Driving Tour Civil War Walking Tour All tour are in .pdf format.

PRESENTATIONS

Jimmy has somewhat entered the cyber age, and has learned to develop some Presentations in which he "brings the tour to you" or your group. Yes, by the miracle of a laptop, projector and long extension cord, Jimmy is able to provide any group with one of the following topics – or - given adequate time for research and development, a topic of personal preference of your choice.

You provide the screen (or blank wall), the chairs, one electrical outlet and the audience!

Presentations may last from 30 minutes to two hours depending on the nature of material being covered and the parameters of the group’s meeting. Prepared topics are:

"Before There Was ‘Memphis’: 1782-1826"
"Growing Up At The River, Part 1: Memphis in the 19th Century"
"Growing Up At The River, Part 2: Memphis in the 20th Century"
"Memphis & The Civil War"
"Shelby County Courthouse: Inside and Out"
"Historic Memphis To Modern Memphis"
"The Memphis Music Story"
"The Origins & Oddities of the Streets & Bridges of Memphis"
"Gayoso Bayou: Then & Now"
"The Story of the Zippin Pippin"
"Let’s Talk Architecture & Preservation in Downtown"
"Statues & Sculptures, Lobbies & Plazas"
"Memphis Memorials"
"Overton Park"
"University of Memphis: Know Your Neighborhood"
"Cotton & Crypts: Cotton Men Of Elmwood"
"Riverfront Development Corporation"
"Memphis & The Civil Rights Movement"
"The Moving Appeal"

In the past two years, Jimmy has made Presentations to over one hundred different groups, including civic clubs, alumni gatherings, breakfast groups, dinner groups, senior citizens residential facilities, church groups and many affinity groups throughout the Memphis community and the three-state area.

With all due respect to Paladin from the 1950s western "Have Gun, Will Travel",
Jimmy's motto is "Have Mouth, Will Talk"!!

Groups I Have Had The Privilege To Make A Presentation In 2010:

Events & Places: