A free hour at Elvis' grave, speed portraits at DKDC, and a British pub in Overton Square

Hey Memphis 👋 It's Monday. Sunny and 94, down to about 77 overnight, with nothing attached to the forecast. Elvis Week is three days in, and it splits the city neatly in half: Graceland runs from 7:30 in the morning until eleven at night, and everywhere else is doing the free, slightly strange thing Mondays here do best.

☀️ Today in Memphis

Morning Walk-Ups to the Meditation Garden — Graceland front gate, 3717 Elvis Presley Blvd., 7:30–8:30 AM, free, no ticket. Every morning of Elvis Week the gates open for an hour and you can walk up to Elvis' grave without buying a thing. It's the only free way onto the grounds all week, and it's done before most of us finish the first cup. Details

Free Period Monday — National Civil Rights Museum, 450 Mulberry St., 3 PM to the 6 o'clock close, free for Tennessee residents with a state-issued ID — the museum's standing Monday policy. One adult and up to five kids on the one ID. The Lorraine Motel is closed Tuesdays, so this afternoon is the window. Details

Paint Party! — South Library, 1929 S. Third St., 4–5 PM, free. Second Monday of the month the branch puts out a different painting material and turns kids 5 to 12 loose on it. Supplies included, no sign-up. Details

Tiny Threaders — Germantown Community Library, 1925 Exeter Rd., 5–6 PM. Ages 2 to 5 and a grown-up learn real sewing together, which is fine-motor practice in a very good disguise. Registration required; 15 seats were open when we checked. Details

An Evening with Pat West — TigerMan Karate Dojo & Museum, 3217 Lucibill Rd., 5–6:30 PM, $74.99, or $94.99 with a meet-and-greet photo. Elvis Week's official schedule is all Graceland. This is the other one: sixty seats in the Whitehaven dojo where Elvis actually trained, with Red West's wife — Elvis' former secretary — telling Memphis Mafia stories. Ticket sales are open now, and half the room was already gone when we checked Sunday night. There's a $9.99 livestream if you can't make it. Details

MUSE: Speed Portrait Swap — Bar DKDC, 964 Cooper St., 6:30–8:30 PM, from $10. Everybody draws everybody else against a clock, and you leave with a stack of your own face drawn by strangers. The listing says it outright: you don't have to be good at drawing. Details

Elvis: Hollywood Hits Live — Soundstage at Graceland, 7 PM, from about $60 with fees. Monday's headliner runs the movie catalog live. If you'd rather graze than commit to one show, the $37 TCB Pass gets you the Music Pavilion at the Exhibition Center instead — continuous live music, noon to 11, indoors and air conditioned. Details

Board Games, Bad Movies & Beer Bust — Hi Tone, 282 N. Cleveland St., 7 PM, free, 21 and up. Deliberately terrible movies on the screen, board games on the tables, a beer bust, and no cover. Downstairs in the small room. Details

Want the whole verified list, updated daily? It lives at heymemphis.co/events.

📰 The Rundown

Goodwill's third Memphis Excel Center opens this week at 3830 Austin Peay Highway, in a building that used to be a thrift store, and classes start this morning. It's a real high school diploma for adults at no cost, plus industry certifications — and the part that makes it actually possible, free drop-in childcare and free MATA passes. Applications run year round, a new term starts every eight weeks, and more than 1,700 people have graduated since the first campus opened in 2015. (via Action News 5) · Enroll here

MATA says ridership across its 23 fixed routes is up 30 percent since March, with fares still free under the pilot that started late last year. Twenty-one new buses go into service this week, and interim CEO Roderick Holmes says a decision on whether the free fares continue should land within 45 days. The trolleys are still tracking toward a fall return. (via Tri-State Defender)

Jim Neely has sold Interstate Bar-B-Que and retired after more than four decades. Brothers Real Estate LLC bought it, the name stays, and Neely stays on as an advisor with one public condition: the food doesn't change. The South Third Street pit has been feeding this city since 1979. (via FOX13 Memphis)

There is a new mural along Plough Boulevard at Memphis International, so the last thing you see on the way out of town is a wall of classic Memphis imagery, FedEx planes and the late Fred Smith. (via Action News 5)

🍽️ Food & Drink

Dog & Bone British Pub — a reader sent us this one. It's the little yellow house at 2116 Madison Avenue in Overton Square, the one that used to be Robata, now a proper British pub from Steve Minter and Jay Bauder. Happy hour is Monday through Friday, 4 to 6: a dollar off drafts, wells and wines, three off a domestic bucket. The chips 'n' gravy is $8, and the menu calls it "perfect for sharing or to keep all to yourself," which tells you the whole story. Fish and chips $19, bangers 'n' mash $16, sticky toffee pudding $10. Guinness and Harp on tap next to Ghost River Gold. Details

🎟️ Looking Ahead

The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest crowns its winner tomorrow — Tuesday, August 11, 7 PM at the Graceland Soundstage. We flagged the semifinal in Thursday's guide; this is the night it gets decided, and it's the part of Elvis Week locals enjoy most. Tickets are on sale. Details

Leanne Morgan at the Orpheum is nearly gone — five shows across August 21 to 23, and four of them are already sold out. The only one left is Saturday the 22nd at 4 PM, $85.50 to $285.10. If you were planning to think about it, stop thinking about it. Details

Delta Fair tickets go on sale August 21 — at Kroger, ahead of the fair's September 4 to 13 run at the Agricenter. Buying ahead is $12 for adults and $8 for kids 5 to 12 and seniors, versus $15 and $10 at the gate. Details

🏡 Community Corner

The tip line worked, so we're saying so. Rueben emailed about a new English pub with "possibly the best fries in memphis," which is how Dog & Bone ended up above. That's exactly the kind of note we want — you know things we don't.

And the mural question is still open. We asked last week for the best mural in Memphis — the famous ones, or the one only your block knows about — and now the airport has added a mile of new competition. Hit reply with the corner, send a photo if you've got one, and we'll run our favorites.

The tip line never closes — a pop-up, a band, a Monday night we missed — no gatekeeping — send it to hey@heymemphis.co.

That's it for today — see you tomorrow at 6.

— Josh