Part 7

Chapter 10. Walking in Memphis, TENNESSEE

Before we left today was what I was looking forward to most (besides surprising Robert of course), going to GRACELAND!!!!! We woke up early thanks to our walking alarm clock…Noah, had breakfast and walked out the door for the 3 hour drive to Memphis. Arriving at Graceland around 11.30, we bought our tickets and loaded onto the shuttle to go across the road to Elvis’ house!!!! We received the lecture at the door, “ No smoking, no food or drinks, no flash photography, no video or recording equipment. You can only go through the Mansion once…enjoy your visit” Walked into Elvis’ lounge room and mum said “do you want a photo” and we realised we’d left the camera in the car!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. So we rushed over to the ticket lady at the door “please we forgot our camera, can we go to the car and get it plllllllllllllllllllllease!!!” after a bit of radio chatter we were aloud to go back to the car and get the camera and start the tour again. The house is decorated in the crazy styles of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and only as Elvis could have!!!

As I mentioned the tour started in front lounge room we moved down the hall to Elvis’ parent’s bedroom, then through the dining room and kitchen down to the basement TV room with 3 TV’s and the TCB and lightning bolt symbol on the wall (Taking Care of Business in a flash) and mirrored ceilings!!! We moved across past the bar and into pool room. Then back up to a room added by Elvis himself … the infamous Jungle Room, so called because of the green shag pile covering the floor and ceiling!!! Then we went outside to the carport and Elvis’ backyard office and shooting range. As well we visited the trophy room that was full of Elvis’ awards, including his three Grammy’s and what seemed to be millions of gold records and other awards, movie memorabilia, outfits and wedding his suit. The trophy room also included a lot of memorabilia of Elvis’ charitable work, there was a huge wooden placque that had been presented to Elvis to thank him for his charitable work for more than 15 different Memphis based organizations. After we had finished in the trophy room we went outside again to the Racquet Ball court and play room which had also been converted to house more of Elvis’ awards. The court was covered floor to ceiling! AMAZING! After the racquet ball court we moved out to the Mediation Garden and Elvis’ grave site. It was beautifully done. Elvis and his mother were originally buried in a cemetery not far from Graceland but had been moved to the grounds for “security reasons”. There was also a small plaque for Elvis’ twin brother, and the graves of Elvis’ mother, father and grandmother.

The walking audio tour does not include the upstairs part of the house. Apparently this was Elvis’ private part of the house and only he went up there, so out of respect for him and his family they keep the upstairs part of the house private.

The tour also included a tour of Elvis’ car museum which included 33 vehicles owned by Elvis. Including the famous pink Cadillac he owned before he was famous but kept because it was his mother’s favorite car. He often referred to it as Gladys’ car, even though she didn’t drive! The museum also housed the red MG from Blue Hawaii and some of his favorite motorized “toys” including a go-cart, motorized buggy and three wheeler motorbike and a peddle car. Next we toured through the “Sincerely Elvis” a small exhibit of Movie Memorabilia including outfits from Blue Hawaii, King Creole and many others. The most interesting thing we came across was an old letter from Elvis’ manager Tom Parker to Mr Wallis (movie producer) negotiating Elvis’ salary for an upcoming “picture”. They were quite adamant that they would accept no less than $500,000 and 20% of the royalties of the movie! Not bad if you could get it back then.
Next was another highlight the tour of Elvis’ Jets the Lisa Marie and Jet Star. The Lisa Marie was originally used by Delta Airlines, Elvis bought it in April 1975 and renamed it after his daughter. He had the registration number changed to N880 EP and had the TCB and lightening bolt logo painted on the tail. Elvis flew on the plane 221 times between November 1975 to August 1977. The Jet Star is a smaller plane that could only seat 10 people and was sometimes known as Hound Dog II.
Finally we moved onto “Private Presley” which is a new exhibit in honor of the 50th anniversary of Elvis’ induction into the Army, the special exhibit celebrates Elvis’ Army induction and his time spent in the Army from 1958-1960. Special artifacts include Elvis’ army fatigues, dress uniforms, army footlocker and suitcases.

By the time we had finished going through all of the exhibits and the Mansion it was 3 o’clock and everyone was starving! So we headed downtown for a very late lunch at Beale street before going to the Peabody Hotel to watch the ducks parade. Like we have been trying to do this whole trip Mum and I decided to try some of the traditional meals from the South and share a “Cajun Feast” which included Gumbo, Crawfish Ettouffe, Voodoo Potatoes, Cajun Catfish and Voodoo Chicken. The meal sure was a Feast it was insane in fact … see pictures

Next on our whirlwind tour of Memphis was the Peabody Hotel to see the marching of the Ducks. The story of The Peabody begins with Colonel Robert C. Brinkley in 1869 during the turbulent Reconsturction era. Just prior to the opening of the original Peabody Hotel Brinkley learned of the recent death of his good friend George Peabody. In his friends memory Brinkley named the new 75 room hotel after his friend. The original Peabody was built on the corner of Main and Munroe at a cost of $60,000 and was considered one of the finest hotels in the South. The hotel saw some of the most famous guests including Presidents and confederate generals. At other times the hotel sheltered the less-significant and at one point was a convalescent home and was even the site of an occasional funeral during the 1878 Yellow Fever epidemic. The original hotel enjoyed success until it closed in 1923. In 1925, Chicago architect, Walter W. Ahlschlage built a new $5 million Peabody hotel in its present downtown location. The Peabody became the hum of the Mid-South in addition to 625 guest rooms, the hotel offered rental space for 40 shops and offices. One of three national live-radio broadcast sites during the 1930-40’s, the skyway and adjoining Plantion Roof of the Hotel were undisputed attractions for late-night revelers. Today the Peabody remains a social and business hub, but we had come to see the ducks.
The Legend of the Ducks

Back in 1933 Frank Schutt, General Manager of The Peabody, and a friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had a little too much Jack Daniel's Tennessee sippin' whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys) in the beautiful Peabody fountain. Three small English call ducks were selected as "guinea pigs," and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic. Soon, five North American Mallard ducks would replace the original ducks.

In 1940, Bellman Edward Pembroke, a former circus animal trainer, offered to help with delivering the ducks to the fountain each day and taught them the now-famous Peabody Duck March. Mr. Pembroke became the Peabody Duckmaster, serving in that capacity for 50 years until his retirement in 1991. Today, The Peabody Ducks are led by Duckmaster Jason Sensat. The original ducks have long since gone, but after 75 years, the marble fountain in the hotel lobby is still graced with ducks. The Peabody ducks march at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily.
Although the march was over relatively quickly I’m glad we stopped to see this long running tradition and had a wonder through the beautiful hotel. Sadly our camera died just as the ducks began their march so we don’t have very many pictures of the hotel for you.

After such a busy day we loaded into the car for the 3 hour drive back to the hotel in Jackson.

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