Day 33 - Contiki Day 11

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Temp: 27°C - muggy tho.

Today we had to be at the coach by 8:30am for our trip out to Graceland. We arrived and jumped on a shuttle over to Elvis's Graceland Mansion.
It was such a pretty house. All the inside was still set up as it originally was when he was there, the jungle room, the trophy room, even his parents bedroom. We weren't allowed on the 2nd floor as Elvis never let anyone up there when he was alive so they have decided to keep it that way in his memory.
Apparently he bought the house and land for only $100,000, i suppose in those days it was a lot of money but not for him. We also saw the gravestones for Elvis, his twin that died at birth, Jesse, his mums Gladys, his dad Vernon, and his grandma Minnie. On Elvis's gravestone his dad wrote:

He was a precious gift from god
We cherished and loved him dearly.

He had a god-given talent that he shared
with the world, and without a doubt,
he became the most widely acclaimed:
capturing the hearts of young and old alike.
He was admired not only as an entertainer,
but as he great humanitarian the he as:
for his generosity, and his kind feelings
for his fellow man.

He revolutionized the field of music and
received it highest awards.
He became a living legend in his own time.
earning the respect and love of millions.
God saw that he needed some rest and
called him home to be with him.

We miss you, son and daddy, i thank god
that he gave us you our son.

TCB By: Vernon Presley


I thought it was so nice. As so many of you may not get to see it i thought id share it with you.
So after this we got back on the shuttle across the road to the diner where i would have almost the most disgusting thing ever to eat - Elvis's favourite: Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich. It may not have been as bad if the peanut butter wasnt piled 2 cm thick but i only managed half, the other half i palmed off to other contikians. blahhhhh!
After regaining my stomach we went and walked through Elvis's 2 private jets - very cool!
We finished off our Graceland tour with a walk through of hi car museum. The highlight, the pink Cadillac!
After this we jumped back on the bus to go to he Lorraine Motel, the site of Martin Luther King Jrs assassination. It is still set up the way it was on the day he was killed.
There is a lady that stands on the corner protesting that money should go back into the community and not into memorials among many other things. Her name is Jacqueline Smith. She had been there every day for the last 21 years and 201 days...and said she will continue to return until something is done.
We then ventured out to Sun Studio. The birth place of some of the worlds most brilliant artists including John Cash and Elvis, just to name a couple, even Jerry Lee Lewis recorded Great balls of fire here.
We got a tour of some artifacts etc and then got to go into the actual studio that they still even use to this day. The tour lady said that just yesterday Blondies band members came in just for a look around. I even got to stand on the spot where Elvis stood recording his first ever song, and get a photo with the microphone that he used!
We then moved on for a late lunch to a place called Hueys. We got chilli cheese fries and nachos but the cool bit about this place was that they let you write on the walls.. so we did! We branded it with Contiki 09 and our names.
We walked back to the hotel, had a snooze for abit then got ready for dinner. Tnoght it was at a place called Alfreds. We had chicken sandwichs and chips. We were done with dinner by 8pm so were ait lost n what to do, we ventured into Beale Street briefly but then decided to head back to the hotel to use the pool as it was still stinking hot.
We last about 5minutes by the pool before we realised we were being eaten alive by mozzies so we moved inside. I think there was about 10 of us then just sitting in the hallway, talking, and using the free wireless..having a quiet night before tmw night..MY BDAY!!!

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Photos

Peanut Butter and banana sandwich - deep fried
Elvis' favourite!