Memphis or St. Augustine?

Memphis can't compete here. It is a river port far from any coast, the Mississippi is a working river nobody swims in, and in summer cooling off means a pool or a drive out to a lake.

St. Augustine has the Atlantic a short drive across the Bridge of Lions. Wide, pale sand runs from Anastasia State Park down to Crescent Beach, with Vilano Beach north of the inlet. The water is greenish rather than clear, but it is warm and gentle enough for easy swimming from late spring into autumn.

Memphis eats better by some way, and its strength is narrow but deep. Its neighbourhood pits and downtown dining rooms serve dry-rubbed ribs, pulled-pork sandwiches with slaw and barbecue spaghetti, with fried catfish, greens and Delta tamales alongside.

St. Augustine eats from the water: shrimp, oysters and fried fish at casual places on the marsh creeks. Its Minorcan datil pepper gives the chowder and pilau a local kick. Beyond a few chef-led restaurants, though, this is a small tourist town's food, and the places on St. George Street are aimed at passing trade.

Memphis and St. Augustine reward a sightseer equally well, but in different ways. In Memphis your time goes to a few heavyweight museums about the last century: Graceland, Sun Studio and Stax for music, and the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King Jr was killed. The streets between them are patchy, so you go from one strong museum to the next rather than strolling.

St. Augustine works the other way round, and the town itself is the sight. The coquina walls of the Castillo de San Marcos, the lanes of the Spanish quarter and Flagler's Gilded Age hotels make it a place to explore on foot. Its story begins with the Spanish in 1565, four centuries before the Memphis studios and the civil rights struggle.

Memphis gives you the bigger night out. At weekends Beale Street becomes a traffic-free party strip where you carry a drink from bar to bar until late. Overton Square and Cooper-Young have easier-going local bars and beer gardens.

St. Augustine is more about a drink after dinner in an old-town courtyard or on a bayfront patio, with some weekend liveliness and a few beach bars on the island. Neither town has much of a club scene, and in St. Augustine most places are shut well before the small hours.

St. Augustine has more wild coast on its doorstep. Salt marsh, dunes and maritime forest surround the town. You can kayak through the creeks past dolphins and ospreys, paddleboard on the Anastasia lagoon or take long birding walks in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas reserve.

Memphis has flat floodplain and parkland instead. The highlights are walking or cycling across the Mississippi on the Big River Crossing, the lakes and bison of Shelby Farms, and the old-growth forest in Overton Park. Neither place has a hill, and both are better outdoors outside midsummer.

Both need a car, and both offer a decent handful of drives rather than a long list. What differs is the theme. From Memphis the roads lead into the Delta: to Clarksdale's juke joints and the Blues Trail, to Faulkner's Oxford, to Tupelo and to the Shiloh battlefield. It is a set made for music and history pilgrims.

St. Augustine's outings are Florida ones. Options include Jacksonville's museums, Victorian Fernandina Beach and Daytona's speedway, plus longer days out to Kennedy Space Center or the Orlando theme parks.

St. Augustine is the easier choice with children. The Alligator Farm, cannon firing at the Castillo, the lighthouse climb and gentle summer surf fill the days, all from a compact, safe centre, and Orlando's parks are within reach.

Memphis has a fine zoo in Overton Park, the planetarium at the Pink Palace, a children's museum and the Peabody ducks. Its headline museums suit teenagers better, though, and the driving between outings and the sticky summers wear on younger children.

Neither town works well by public transport, but St. Augustine asks less of you. Its historic district is small and flat, with the fort, St. George Street and Flagler College minutes apart on foot. Only the beaches and the lighthouse need a car, a bike or a taxi.

Memphis has a walkable downtown with heritage trolleys along Main Street. Graceland, Midtown and Shelby Farms are spread kilometres apart, though, so most visitors rely on a hire car or ride-hailing for the whole stay.

In Memphis the best finds are musical: vintage vinyl from the independent record shops, Elvis and blues memorabilia, and small boutiques and local art in Cooper-Young and along Broad Avenue. Bigger shopping means a drive to the malls in the eastern suburbs.

St. Augustine's souvenirs taste of the place instead. Datil-pepper sauces and the galleries and antique dealers of Aviles Street are better buys than the fudge and pirate shops of St. George Street. The outlet mall by the interstate is the easier of the two towns' options for mainstream brands. Fashion is not a reason to visit either town.

Memphis is the cheaper stay. Hotels are reasonably priced away from busy downtown weekends, and a barbecue or soul-food plate is filling and costs little. The car, tipping and Graceland's admission still add up.

In St. Augustine the historic inns and the hotels near the old town are in demand, and weekend rates climb steeply. To save money there, stay in a motel by the highway, come midweek and make the most of the free pleasures of the old streets and public beaches.

Live music is a main reason to choose Memphis. The Beale Street clubs have house bands playing blues and soul from the afternoon on, Midtown adds rock and hip-hop, and the Levitt Shell puts on free outdoor concerts in the warm months. The Orpheum, the symphony, the opera and the ballet cover the formal side.

St. Augustine's main stage is the open-air amphitheatre in the woods on Anastasia Island, which brings in touring rock, country and folk acts, and there are acoustic sets on bar patios in the old town. For opera or a full orchestral season you would have to go to Jacksonville.

A Memphis trip runs on late nights and barbecue, so it is St. Augustine that suits a slower, more restful stay. In Memphis the calm moments are outdoors and early: a walk in Overton Park or an evening watching the river from the bluffs before the heat builds.

St. Augustine has the gentler rhythm. B&B verandas, courtyard gardens and an easy stroll along the bayfront seawall set an unhurried pace, especially midweek. Spa treatments in both towns are limited to hotel treatment rooms and a few day spas.