So our day began with Rose finding an RV park to stay at as we drove up the interstate from Vicksburg MS, and as usual Rose checked the sites that give feedback. She found one just up the road from Graceland and a good price too. Well we arrived and drove into the park, stopped and looked at one another! Is this the right park? This does not look remotely like the feedback we read? One look said it all, we are not staying here, I would not even leave my box trailer here let alone park our fifth wheel for a night! We drove in and found the fastest way out! We knew there was an RV park at Graceland, well just across the road , but it bares their name and is managed by them. So we high tailed it out and down the road to the other park. We pulled in and checked with security and promptly booked in. What a relief , a bit dearer but well worth it for peace of mind and security.
Yep it was a cold day, the advantage is it keeps the crowds away.
Elvis Presley Boulevard, Graceland on the left and the tourist complex on the right.
The weather prediction is cold and windy, great get those thermals out Ron. The RV park Is attached to the Graceland tourist complex so we just walked through the back gate and we were there. I am looking where is "Graceland" I can't see it. I am thinking we must drive out to it? So we check out all the packages available, we go for the platinum $36 with a 10% discount for our RACQ membership, a nice surprise. We are herded to the obligatory photo with a canvas background of the Graceland gates, "we take photos of all our guests" great where have I heard that before? I take a photo of the girl taking my photo, she cracks up and she sees the funny side of it, let's face it we aren't going to buy it anyway. So we walk ten steps get issued our audio headset and controller for our self guided audio tour and up to get on the "shuttle" bus, I look up and I see Graceland, yep it's across the road a mere 300 metres away, go figure! So we get in our bus wait at the traffic lights, yes there is a set of traffic lights just for the shuttle buses to cross the road, straight into the grounds of Graceland.
The photographers response to our photo being taken.
Standing out front of Graceland.
We are dropped off at the door and met by a big heavy set man who explains the rules, no audio recordings, no flash photography etc, he opens the door and we are in the home of Elvis. The rooms are all exactly as they were the day he died, the decor is all original. The audio tour directs you to numbered points and then gives a brief history of the room. By today's standards the house is not big, not opulent but for a star of the day it was. You self guide yourself around the ground floor only, apparently Elvis was a very private person and always met his guests downstairs and no one ever went up stairs, and that is true to this day, no one goes up stairs, we are told there are no photos of upstairs! (I wonder how many security guards have snuck up at midnight?)
The lounge room.
The billiard room lined with tapestry.
So we tour all the rooms, go out back and see the carport, yes carport not an enclosed garage where his cars were parked, then to the office out back, then to the trophy room which houses loads of gold records, his outfits etc. We then go to the "racket" ball building (squash court) he had built. it is lined with more of his numerous awards, more costumes and gold records. We are told Pricilla set this up when Graceland opened but it will be changing soon to reflect what it was like the day Elvis died, right down to the racket and ball sitting in the middle of the floor as he left it just hours before he died.
The racket room.
So the final part of the tour is the grave of Elvis. Many an Elvis fan has made this journey and I am sure millions still want to, we are lucky to have done it and we are very surprised about how we feel about it, we are truly humbled by the experience.
Rest in Peace
Back to the bus and across the road to the tourist hub of Graceland. Here there are many other displays each with a souvenir shop attached, a bar and food shops. We see our photo they took, perfect shot of me taking a photo of the photographer, no thanks we laugh and move on. All up we spent four and a half hours there and truly surprised ourselves. We would recommend a stop at Graceland to anyone travelling the US.
We were informed by our friend Neil, who I might add is a mad Elvis fan that people write messages on the wall of Graceland, and they do. Thousands of messages! So we decide to sneak up that night and add ours, I say sneak because it just felt so wrong "graffitiing" on a wall, it's not within our nature. There is lighting and security out front of Graceland but we had to walk across a car park and down the road. Now there are parts of Memphis you can go and some you can't. We are told don't leave the immediate area of Graceland as security can't keep an eye on you, that's the advice we get and we take it. We let the guard know where we are going, no worries he says I will keep an eye on you, thanks mate.
How could we resist?
A great day was had by both of us, we now look at Elvis in a different light.
- Posted by RnR on their IPad
Location:Memphis Tennessee
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