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Published: March 25th 2007
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Memphis, TN
Euge and Cathy pose for cheesy photo at Graceland. We had to buy the souvenir photo. We drive across Arkansas, passing by a town called Hope (where Bill Clinton is from) and zipping through Little Rock. Our destination is Memphis, Tennessee. We get in around 9:30 pm and find out the hotels near Graceland are all booked including the Heartbreak Hotel. Seems that Priscilla is in town with Thomas Kinkade, “Painter of Light,” to unveil a new painting to honor fifty years of Elvis purchasing Graceland. I shudder whenever I think of Kinkade and his insipid frou-frou paintings.
The Days Inn sends us to a Holiday Inn Express several miles away. We check in and go look for food—there’s nothing but chain restaurants in the area so we go to Chili’s. The waiter tells us margaritas are two for one so we order what we thought were two margaritas (one each) and he brings out FOUR of them. It wasn’t until the next evening on our drive across Tennessee that we realized we were in Mississippi and didn’t even know it. Cathy was looking at the road atlas and commented on how close Memphis was to Mississippi and asked if we were going to go there. I thought, oh crap, I missed a state in
my trip planning and we’re not picking it up on the way back across the country. Then C looked at her Chili’s receipt and it said Southaven, but we weren’t sure if that was in TN or MS. We confirm that it was in MS and our hotel was also in MS. Woohoo! Check off another state! How two normally very observant people could be so clueless I don’t know. Guess the fact that the Holiday Inn Express was located on Stateline Road wasn’t obvious enough. Duh. We’ve been getting good laughs when we tell people we were in Mississippi and didn’t even know it.
The next day, we listen to Elvis Radio (a station on satellite radio) on the drive over to Graceland. Perfect way to get in the Elvis mood. Turns out the station is broadcast from Graceland. Graceland was everything I hoped it would be and more in terms of tacky kewlness. It’s also incredibly organized. They run a tight ship there and get a lot of people through everyday. People from all over the country and world make this pilgrimage. You get in line and pay for your ticket and then wait in another line
Memphis, TN
Elvis in a nutshell for the shuttle bus to take you across the street to Graceland. There’s a lot of waiting and of course, the souvenir shops are strategically located. A self-guided audio tour takes you through the house and the grounds so you go at your own pace. The house itself is quite modest in size with some additions. Elvis bought it from a doctor in 1957 and completely redecorated it as you can see in the images I posted. What surprised me was that the house is located on the old highway (now Elvis Presley Blvd) so it’s a wide street with lots of traffic. My favorite room in the house was the Jungle Room—wall to wall to ceiling carpeting. Yes, shag carpeting on the ceiling! I wonder if Elvis had cats. The other thing I was surprised about was how thin Elvis was—there are display cases with his suits and outfits in them. And even in his “fat” Elvis days, he wasn’t really that big—it’s just that his face got puffy from the drugs and he was heavier than when he was in his prime but not fat. Definitely worth the trip and I’m not even that big of an Elvis
Memphis, TN
Graceland - living room fan—just curious. What a cash cow though! Enjoy the photos to get a better sense of the place in all its glory.
We poke around Memphis a bit looking for the Cozy Corner BBQ. It was a recommendation from friends Robin and Dave. We found it but it was closed. Damn. It’s in a non-descript, one-story building in a non-neighborhood outside of downtown—perfect hole-in-the-wall. We find some other place to eat and then book on out of town because it’s almost 5 pm and we have to get to Asheville, North Carolina that evening. Tennessee is a very long state and the drive isn’t exactly interesting until you get to eastern TN where the Great Smoky Mountains are. Though I drove through those late at night and just saw the outline of mountains. We get to Asheville at 1:30 in the morning.
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Lisbeth
non-member comment
Elvis Lives
You make it sound like Elvis is really dead! But, I know that's not the case because I just read on the 20th page of the latest National Enquirer that he was spotted shopping at a 7-11 in Alabama, picking up a six-pack of Bud Light and heading out in an old Chevy.