Peabody Hotel, Memphis Tennessee

Hold that elevator, here come the ducks.

Twice a day – at 11:00 am and again at 5:00 pm, the Peabody ducks parade down a red carpet to the tune of Sousa’s “King Cotton March”.

Since 1933 the ducks have made their daily morning journey from the rooftop “Duck Palace” of the Peabody Hotel located in Memphis, to the elegant marble fountain in the lobby. In the evening, they return to their outdoor enclosure. 

The journey from the roof to the lobby and back includes a ride on the grand hotel’s guest elevator.  

What began as a practical joke by the hotel manager - after a weekend hunting trip and a bit of Tennessee sippin’ whiskey - has since turned the hotel into a world renowned historic site.

Today, the tradition continues. Dressed in a crimson jacket with black trim and silver vest, the duck master relates the tradition of the ducks to the watchful crowd. He gives the signal; elevator doors pop open and the 75 year-old tradition springs to life.

Images of these mallards can be found everywhere in the hotel; on guest room door keys, inlaid into the elevator floors and embossed on cocktail napkins. Even the bathroom soaps are carved into tiny white ducks. 

Just don’t look for them on the menu.

Holistic Heaven: Therapeutic Luxury in Long Grove, IL

Looking for a way to feel better? Manage stress? Reduce Pain? Lose weight? Quit smoking? In these days of increasingly depersonalized Western medicine, Holistic Healings will focus on these challenges by caring for the whole person - mind, spirit and body.

In the luxuriously appointed therapy room, enjoy an hour of treatment. Lights are dim, and soft tonal music induces relaxation. It’s not unusual to fall asleep during the treatment.

 At the end of the session, your practitioner discusses her findings, and gives you various techniques you can practice at home. The goal is to support your natural ability to heal physically, emotionally and mentally, through the restoration of harmony and balance in their energy. 

 For the healthy body, energy therapy helps keep the system in balance. “Together, we are working for the highest and best good.”

 Joey Hoffman, owner, is a certified Healing Touch Practitioner and member of Healing Touch International, Inc. She holds a number of advanced certificates in other healing modalities (such as Energetic Transformations and Quantum Healing), and a Bachelor in Music (Therapy) from DePaul University in Chicago.

 Give yourself a gift of wellness at Holistic Healings, located in Long Grove. Contact Joey at 847-997-4990, or by email at Holistichealings@me.com. Their website is holistichealings1.com.

You'll probably see me there enjoying a bit of pampering myself.