Day 17: Memphis - Contiki Day 11

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Today we had a 9.30am departure from our hotel to Graceland, Elvis's home. A 10 minute ride and we had arrived, we transfered to a smaller shuttle which took us to his front door. An audio tour took us through the house, the 1st room was the formal lounge, then dining and kitchen, we then saw the 'Jungle Room' in which we were told to notice the green shag carpet that was very popular in the 70's. Katherine and I both looked at each other and had a little giggle, as anyone who has been to our house would know, Mum has the exact same carpet in our Dining room!! The second story of the house is off limits and kept private as per the family's wishes so we then headed to the basement which was a recording studio and then outside to his grave site, car museum and his two private planes. It was a great experience, one we will take many memories away with us from. After we finished the tours we headed to a cafe styled after the 70's where they served one of Elvis's favourite meals, a Peanut Butter and Banana deep fried sandwich. We decided to get one so we could say we tried it, but it was disgusting and i only managed one small bite. Katherine liked it though and had a couple of bites.

Then it was back onto the bus and onto our next stop, the hotel where Martin Luther King Jr. was assasinated. We saw the balcony he was standing on when he was shot and there was a wreath on there for him. It was a very sombre feeling standing there, but im glad we went. Monty had played a video of his famous speech for us earlier on the bus, so we all got a good feel as to what he was aiming for with his cival rights movements. Then it was onto Sun Studios, where we just took 10 minutes to look inside and take a couple photos. This was the recoding studio where Elvis (among many other famous people) first came to record his music. Some people stayed here for a back stage tour, but the rest of us went onto the Rock and Soul museum. We didnt really want to do the tour here either so we looked outside then Monty said he would take the rest of us to get lunch at his all time favourite place in Memphis, Gus's Famous Fried Chicken.

It was just a small shop but the chicken was amazing, and we all loved it. Being a couple days before christmas everything else was shut so on the walk home there was nothing to do but look in Walgreens, a chemist/mini mart. We got some nail polish and other small things then went back to the hotel to get ready for our Gospel Christmas Church experience. At 6pm we left for the church. When we arrived we realised we were actually at a Christmas Concert not a normal service, however it was an awesome experience and we were all glad we experienced it...AMEN, praise the lord!! Then it was back to Beale St for dinner, just Marlee and I went and had a quick meal. we all wanted an early night so back to the hotel for bed we went.

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