26.6.2012 – 26.6.2012  34 °C

A nice early start this morning as we knew it was going to be another hot day so we made sure we were out at Gracelands nice and early. We quickly discovered that everyone else had the same idea J. It’s a pretty good setup here at the home of the King. For starters, you buy your tickets and they pop you onto a bus to take you across the road to his house. Once at his house there is audio commentary to talk you thru the house.

The tour starts in the downstairs sitting room, plenty of mirrors, stained glass and white leather! From here we took a look at his parent’s room (they came and lived with him after he had made it big).. purple suede on show here! Then the dining room and kitchen. Apparently there was a cook in the kitchen at all times of the day and night to cook up yumminess for the King and his entourage! There is also a tv in the kitchen.. must have been one of the first kitchen tvs! Upstairs (the private domain of the King and his family) is all off limits so from the kitchen, we went downstairs to see his pool room, bar area and tv room. I was surprised to hear that the King enjoyed watching the news and really enjoyed reading! For some reason, I never really pictured Elvis as an intellectual..

The tour of the house concludes with a walk passed the ‘Jungle Room’. His lounge room that is decorated in green shag pile and faux fur lounges with wooden tiki dolls. To be honest, I had in my head that the house was going to be garish and shocking to see… I didn’t see the house like that all.. sure, there are plenty of mirrors and some unusual colour schemes (purple and yellow..) but the house really exuded the feeling of a home!

The tour also continues outside in the grounds of his house. Firstly you can go out the back passed the pool to see where some of his entourage worked (I guess organising concerts and stuff) and then on to see his trophy room. This really blew me away.. The walls are covered in gold and platinum records, showcasing the amount of record sales for each of his hit records. The trophy room also shows off some of his costumes from his movies and a bit about his return to music in 1968. I also heard an interesting fact, Elvis gave a lot of his fortune away to charity. Lisa-Marie (who did some of the commentary) said that it was one of the things that kept him sane, he was always digging into his pocket handing out money to anyone in need! One of his later concerts was held at Madison Square Gardens and this concert was telecast to the world. Apparently over a billion people watched this concert and more American’s watched this concert than had watched the moon landing!! Incredible. I have to admit that I never really realised how big a star Elvis was until I saw this information in the trophy room… Amazing! (I have to admit that I now have a hankering to see one of his concerts on DVD, maybe his 68 comeback.. he looks pretty cute in that black skin tight leather… mmm…. I might have to tick that box when I get back home)

The tour of the house and grounds concludes with a visit to his grave in his meditation garden. He was originally interred in the Memphis cemetery but his grave was moved by his father due to security concerns. Today, Elvis lays at rest next to his parents and grandmother in the grounds of Gracelands.

Although the house tour was concluded this was not the end of Elvis-mania! Back at the bus depot there are more museums you can wander thru and dozens of gift shops all eagerly awaiting your plastic! We were ready for a break so we stopped in Elvis’ café for a cold drink and a bicky before we headed in to see his car collection. Elvis had some cars! On show, are probably a dozen of his cars and his ‘toys’ (motorbikes, skidoo things, miniature cars, golf buggies… you name it and he had it!). I particularly liked this one black car.. it reminded me of the bat mobile! His most famous car is still the pink Cadillac that he gave to his mother.. and is it pink!

I also had to exercise my plastic using abilities in one of Elvis’ shops, before we finished our tour of Elvis city by seeing his aeroplane collection. He had two planes, a Lear Jet and a big 727 style jet. The big one is named for his daughter and is filled with leather lounges, cocktail bar, bed, conference room and shower. The belt buckles are even gold plated!! The Lear jet is similarly decked out in gold and leather but on an understandably smaller scale. All in all, our Elvis day was outstanding and I highly recommend a visit to Gracelands.

Our day (and time in Memphis) ended with us hanging out on Beale St, enjoying some Blues music in BB King’s.. I’ve had an awesome time in Memphis. It is one very cool (albeit poor) town and one I would put on anyone’s list of “Must See’s” in America!!

Song of the Day– Elvis, Suspicious Minds