Today's travels had me on the road for eight hours. Fortunately, there was a nice stopping point to stretch my legs, a little under halfway. I got to spend a couple of hours wandering the grounds of Graceland.
It's nice to have travel industry partners who take care of me when I am on the road. I arrived and had a ticket waiting for me at the counter, my friend met me and told me what I had to make sure to do to get the most out of the couple of hours I had to spend at the property.
Of course you start at the mansion. It is all decorated for Christmas, which is great. The building was originally about 10,000 square feet. Elvis added to it throughout his 20 years owning the property to clock in at a cool 17,000 square feet of living space.
Since the site is a Historic landmark, everything in the property is original. The "Tour Assistant" said they change the drapes for the season and the light bulbs when they burn out, but that's about it.
This is the downstairs bedroom for Elvis' parents. Guests are prohibited from going upstairs, where the immediate family resided. Our iPAD Tour (Narrated by Jon Stamos) told us that even when he was alive, guests did not go upstairs. Elvis greeted everyone downstairs, keeping the upstairs as his private sanctuary.
The Dining Room is set with all of Elvis's original wedding china. It leads to the kitchen, and then the "jungle room" which is literally floor to ceiling green shag carpet!
Next you head downstairs to the Media room. This was considered state of the art in it's day. There is even an overhead speaker built in behind the bar. One of the interesting tidbits shared on the tour is that, in spite of the various bars built throughout the property (and on his plane), Elvis himself did not like the taste of alcohol. He opted for one of 15 different types of Soft Drink that was constantly stocked at the house.
Next was possibly the most fun room in the house. Although the Jungle room is a pretty close call. The Billiards room is not covered in shag carpet, but wall and ceiling folded fabric. The same fabric as the couch. It's a pretty amazing room!
Next is a trip outside of the main house and across to the Racquetball building. Yup, Elvis had his own Racquetball Court built so that he could play with his friends in the comfort of his own home. I can't remember the last time I set foot on a Racquetball court, but it was pretty amazing. And the lounge built outside of the court is as lavish as anything else in the estate. Sorry, this one is blurry, I took it through the glass from on the Racquetball court.
Then it is outside, and on to the Memorial Garden. I had no idea that Elvis was buried on the grounds. Not only that, but his mother, father, and grandmother were all buried there as well. There is even a memorial plaque for his older twin brother (who was stillborn minutes before Elvis was born).
After you finish things at the mansion, you go back over to the main complex where there are tons of artifacts and memorabilia. There is no denying that this man did a whole lot of living in his 42 years on this earth.
The man sure liked his cars. There is a entire hall dedicated to his Military service, and of course his jumpsuits. And then there is the wall of his gold and platinum records.
They also have Elvis jet and private plane, the Lisa Marie...
You can board both planes, which are really cool. I've been on a couple of Presidential planes at Wright Patterson Air Force Museum in Dayton, Elvis traveled in much more class than the Presidents. Everything is gold plated, there is a bed, comfortable chairs, it's extravagant. One of the videos on the Lisa Marie tells a story of when Elvis loaded up Lisa Marie on the plane because he realized she had never seen snow. They flew to Colorado, she played in snow for a few minutes, and then got right back on the plane and flew home.
There's way more going on at Graceland, but this is all I had the time to go through before getting back on the road. It's a lot of fun, a lot more informative than I expected. If you ever make it to Memphis, you really should stop in and check things out!!
