GRACELAND – MEMPHIS HIGHLIGHTS

 

As I was growing up, the music we listened to a lot was none other than Elvis Presley. We have visited Graceland twice. Once was in 1980 and the other was in 2009. A lot had changed in 29 years. The house itself and the grounds surrounding it had not.

 In 2009, we had the opportunity to take our oldest granddaughter to Graceland. She was ten years old at the time. She had had a sock hop at school, which they played Elvis’ music and she thought that was awesome. So this trip to Graceland came up and my husband and I decided to take her to see Graceland. She was the youngest one on the trip. Everyone fell in love with her. She had a very good time, and so did we.

 

Graceland

Living Room

We visited Graceland mansion. Until you enter this mansion, you can only imagine what Elvis’ life was like. We saw thousands of artifacts and walked through the Hall of Gold. This is an 80 foot hallway that is lined with gold and platinum albums and singles representing the sale of over one billion records worldwide, more than any other entertainer or group in the history of recorded voice. We stood amazed at Elvis’ dazzling costumes, cards, motorcycles, gifts and awards, his personal effects, which included the enormous 17 carat diamond studded ring.

TV Room

Dining Room

We stood inside of his TV room and went through the beautiful dining room.







Graves and Pool

As we exited out the back entrance of the mansion, we saw a beautiful swimming pool. Back in the 50”s, you rarely heard of having a swimming pool in your backyard. If you got to go swimming at all it was at the nearest creek you could find or maybe some pond on a nearby neighbor’s farm. We then made our way around to the four graves of Elvis, his brother, Aaron and his mother and father. We continued on down to what were once the stables for horses. Pricilla Presley had these stables turned into museums for all of the memorabilia for guests like us to explore.

 

We continued across the street to visit Elvis’ private jet, the Lisa Marie, which the plane was named for his daughter. It was amazing just to be able to stand in this jet that took Elvis all over the world performing. The way it was set up, it was like a mini home. There was another museum beside the jet. It contained hundreds of Elvis’ records and tapes and every kind of souvenir imaginable.

 

We visited the Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, which features pictures, artifacts, words and music highlight slices of our cultural and musical past.

 

We continued on to Gibson Beale Street. This is the home of the Gibson Guitar Factory. We went through the factory and saw how these world class guitars were made.

 

 

The next day we had a local tour guide to get on our bus and take us a tour of Memphis. Our first stop was at the Peabody Hotel. This hotel is famous for the “Peabody Ducks”. At 11 o’clock each day, the duck master brings the ducks down from the suite they stay in to the center of the lobby of the hotel. A crowd of people gather around the fountain to watch the ducks enter. They literally roll out the red carpet for these ducks! Basically, all they do is waddle up to the fountain, proceed up the steps and get into the water. They swim around in the water of the fountain for one hour. At 12 noon, the duck master taps his wand and ducks get out of the water. They then proceed to waddle back to the elevator and then to their suite upstairs where they are housed. I couldn’t believe it. But it actually happened.

We left the hotel and visited St. Jude’s Hospital and saw where Danny Thomas and his wife are buried.

 

There are so many interesting things to do in Memphis. If you get a chance to go, by all means, do so. You will be glad you did.

 

Works Cited

 

Our own personal experience

Google Images.com
 

Burke Christian Tours.com