Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Day 10 Summer 2011 Road Trip


Today we visited Graceland.  Graceland is actually only a 1 block walk from our hotel which is very handy indeed.

We bought the VIP Tour tickets and were escorted to the front of the line at the front doors to the house.

8113 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion 8114 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion

To the right inside the front doors is the living room and the music room and on the left is the dining room.

8115 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - living room with music room at back 8120a Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - dining room

The staircase to the upstairs is roped off, no one is allowed upstairs.. not even the VIP tour.

8118 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - upstairs restricted area

Elvis’s parents bedroom.

8119 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - Vernon & Gladys Presley's (parent's) bedroom

The kitchen.

8123 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - kitchen

The Jungle Room.

8125 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - jungle room

The TV Room.

8128 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - TV room

The Pool Room.

8133 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - pool room

More of the Jungle Room.

8137 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - Jungle room 8138 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - Jungle room

Behind the main house are various out buildings that now house a lot of Elvis’s trophies, awards and costumes from different shows.

8148 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Trophy Building 8152 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Trophy Building
8161 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Trophy Building

8159 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Trophy Building 8160 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Trophy Building

8164 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Trophy Building 8175 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Trophy Building 8170 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Trophy Building

The swimming pool, with the Memorial Garden in the background.

8176 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - pool Stitch

Next we enter the Racquetball Building.  This was a building that Elvis had constructed to house the court and a lounge area.

8178 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Racquetball Building 8182 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Racquetball Building lounge
8183 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Racquetball Building lounge

It is in this lounge area where a few hours before Elvis passed away, he was playing this piano.  It was August 16, 1977 and he played/sang one song while sitting at this piano… Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.  It is the last known song that he sang.

8184 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Racquetball Building lounge -August 16, 1977, Elvis  played this piano and sang Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain. It was his last musical performance

In the actual racquetball court is another display of Elvis memorabilia.

8187 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Racquetball Building 8190 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Racquetball Building 8193 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Racquetball Building

After leaving the Racquetball Building, we proceed to the Meditation Garden.  This is where Elvis, his Parents, and his Grandmother are buried.  There is also a memorial stone for Elvis’s twin brother who was stillborn.

8206 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden 8207 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden 8209 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden

His Parents.

 8213 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden 8215 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden

His Brother and Grandmother.

8210 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden 8225 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden

Elvis Aaron Presley.

8219 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden 8223 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden 8224 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Meditation Garden

From here we walk back around to the front of the Graceland Mansion.  Karen and Peter pose for a photo.

8231 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion 8232 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion 8233 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Mansion - Peter and Karen

From here we are led by our guide to a portion of the house to see exhibits only the VIP tour gets to see.  I liked this, because nothing was behind glass.  I hate things in glass cases, but I understand why they must be. The items need to be protected and preserved, but the glass cases always show a reflection when photographed.

8235 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit 8234 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit 8245 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit

Elvis is 2 years old in this photo taken with his Mother and Father.

8244 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit

Here are some more of Elvis’s stage costumes.

8237 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit 8239 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit 8240 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit

8241 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit 8242 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit 8243 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - special VIP Only exhibit

At this point of the tour we boarded back onto the bus and were driven back across the road to the area where all the stores, shops, and museums are located.  There is also the display of Elvis’s 2 airplanes.. The Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II.

This is the Lisa Marie.

8250 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Airplane Tour - Lisa Marie Stitch 8256 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Airplane Tour - Lisa Marie 8258 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Airplane Tour - Lisa Marie

The Hound Dog II.

8268 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Airplane Tour - Jet Star (Hounddog II) 8270 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Airplane Tour - Jet Star (Hounddog II) 8271 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Airplane Tour - Jet Star (Hounddog II)

From here we went into the 68 Special Exhibit.. this exhibit is based on Elvis’s 1968 comeback tour.

8272 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - '68 Special Exhibit 8275 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - '68 Special Exhibit

You can buy this 68 Special - black leather replica outfit for $1500.00

8273 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - '68 Special Exhibit 8274 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - '68 Special Exhibit

Next was the Elvis Presley Fashion King Exhibit.   Here there are more costumes and outfits for sale, check out the prices.  I can imagine that any serious Elvis impersonator does his shopping here.

8279 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Elvis Presley Fashion King store 8280 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Elvis Presley Fashion King store 8281 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Elvis Presley Fashion King store

We checked out the Harley Davidson Store.

8286 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Harley-Davidson store 8287 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Harley-Davidson store 8288 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Graceland Harley-Davidson store

Then the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum.  The lighting inside was very dim and no flash photography is allowed.

8296 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Elvis Presley's Automobile Museum 8297 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Elvis Presley's Automobile Museum - 1966 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud 8298 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Elvis Presley's Automobile Museum - 1966 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud

I am not going to put all the car photos in this blog, you know you can look on my Flickr site by clicking the link below and you will see all the cars there.  Here is one of his famous Pink Cadillacs.

8324 Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee - Elvis Presley's Automobile Museum - 1955 pink Cadillac Fleetwood

We walked back to our hotel and enjoyed a swim in the pool.

8331 Memphis, Tennessee - Days Inn guitar pool from our balcony 8335 Memphis, Tennessee - Days Inn guitar pool - Bill 8340 Memphis, Tennessee - Days Inn guitar pool - Bill

For dinner our friend Janette had the “really big salad”

IMG_0195

For dessert, we went to Baskin Robbins where Karen had her favourite Chocolate Fudge ice cream.

IMG_0197

To see all of our photos from today, you can click on this link to our FLICKR site.

This concludes our day at Graceland, the show is over, Elvis has left the building.   Thank you, Thank you very much … for reading our blog.

1 comment:

  1. The luxury and style of the '70s! Sadly, they still don't open the upstairs of Graceland for the tour.

    Chris from bestflights.co.za

    ReplyDelete