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.

 

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

 

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



Elvis’s parents bedroom.



The kitchen.



The Jungle Room.



The TV Room.



The Pool Room.



More of the 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.

 


 

  

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



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

 


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.



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

  

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.

  

His Parents.

  

His Brother and Grandmother.

 

Elvis Aaron Presley.

  

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

  

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.

  

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



Here are some more of Elvis’s stage costumes.

  

  

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.

  

The Hound Dog II.

  

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

 

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

 

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.

  

We checked out the Harley Davidson Store.

  

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

  

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.



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

  

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



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



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.