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09/11/05 - Memphis, TN (Photos) After touring Graceland, we've found the home we'd like to settle in - no remodeling necessary! (It's already got a Jungle Room) |
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We finally got to tour Graceland - Scott's been waiting to do this since his 1993 Memphis visit (MSU Liberty Bowl game) when no one else wanted to go with him. So with much anticipation, we headed 10 minutes south of downtown Memphis to Elvis Presley Boulevard, which turns out to be a much more major road than we figured it would be. We could see Graceland on the left side of the road as we approached, but saw that there were buildings and airplanes on the right side of the road, along with the huge parking lot. Obviously, this place has been made to accommodate many more people than any of the other homes we've toured over the past year. Entering the building where you buy your ticket is like walking into a 1970's Vegas casino lobby. After weaving through the red velvet ropes to one of the 7 or 8 ticket windows, we ended up purchasing tickets for the 'Platinum' tour, since the home-only tour doesn't allow you to go into the car museum or walk through the airplanes. $28 a ticket! Between the tours, the three restaurants, the countless gift shops, and Graceland rentals (yes, you can have your wedding there!), I think the Elvis estate is making as much money as the King did from his music.
Upon buying our tickets, we got herded into the line to climb on the buses which drive you, yes drive you, across the street. After picking up our headsets (it's an audio tour) we got on about the 6th tour bus that came along and took the 200 yard drive across the street and up the driveway to the house. We were glad to see that it was a self-guided audio tour, so you can linger as long as you want in the more interesting areas (the kitchen, jungle room, Elvis's karate exhibit) while swiftly moving through those less fascinating parts.
The house is really rather unassuming for a star of Elvis's stature... really rather unassuming for the bassist from Loverboy. After learning that the upstairs of the home was off-limits to tourists ("This was Elvis's private space when he was alive, and his privacy is still respected"), we kind of figured that the tour would be over in a matter of 10 minutes or so. But after moving through the living room, dining room, kitchen and jungle room on the first floor, we spent another 15 minutes in the basement, where Elvis apparently like to do most of his entertaining. There was the TV watching room, cool pool room (walls and ceilings covered in 70's patterned fabric), and another room that has been made into an exhibit area housing some of his furniture, clothes, and favorite stuff (including his gun collection).
Exiting the main house, we saw the the area where he kept his horses, had go-kart races, and the swimming pool area. The trophy room next to the house holds the astonishing number of gold records and awards credited to the King, along with movie posters, costumes, and "fan art" (unfortunately no velvet Elvises). This room was packed with headphoned tourists, and took a while to get through. The final building was Elvis's fancy racquetball court that he had built on the property (it was the 70's... those crazy racquetball days). There was a sitting/music room sitting on the other side of the glass where people could watch EP in action on the court - how fun would that be? The court itself has been converted into a late-life-Vegas-Elvis exhibit area, with lots more gold records and various jumpsuits lining the wall, along with TV's playing Elvis's big 1970-something Hawaii broadcast. Factoid - more people watched this broadcast (1.2 billion) than the moon landing. The 'meditation garden' was the final part of the tour, which is an area next to the pool where Elvis', his parents', and his grandmother's bodies have been relocated.
Finally, we had to wait for another bus to bring us back to the main visitor's center, where we dined at Rockabilly's Diner before taking a quick walk through the car museum and his planes. His big plane, the Lisa Marie, was pretty sweet. From the gold bathroom sinks to the velvet and suede furnishings, all four rooms of the plane were dripping with Elvis. After all of the waiting, touring and dining, we ended up being at Graceland for 3 hours, at LEAST 2 hours longer than we thought we'd be there. Quite an experience, though, and anyone going through the Memphis area really ought to stop by and pay a visit, the $28, and their respects. |
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