Because I had two travel calm and a glass of red.... I was more than adequately prepared for the flight and slept the whole way!! Walking out of Memphis airport we were hit with an absolute icy burst of cold wind, we freaked and mentally went thought our warm clothes list!
I know it was cheesy but we booked the Heartbreak Hotel which is across the road from Graceland. We had someone pick is up and he immediately cranked up the radio and guess what was playing..... Yep Elvis!
I was expecting a total dump after reports from friends but I was surprised it wasn't that bad!! I felt like I stepped back to the 1970's though. We dumped our stuff and went straight over to the buy our tickets to Graceland. We decided on the VIP tour which included everything. Mark and I are fans of the King,not fanatics, but we did love him. The self paced tour was great, we all had our own headphone set and you could have it loud and replay anything you missed. It told you everything and explained about different rooms and where to walk next. Everything has been left and preserved exactly as it was when he died. We were expecting a lot more opulence, and Mark was expecting a huge mansion. Back when it was purchased, 1957, it probably was a huge mansion.
The control & organizational freak in me wanted to give them a few pointers on keeping it all together. There were 6 exhibits in all and as we purchased the VIP ticket, we were entitled to visit them all. The only thing is there was no rhyme or reason to anything. One exhibit was one way and another was tucked away not visible unless you were told about it. Lots and lots of souvenir shops and everything you can imagine with Elvis emblazoned on it! I did resist loading up on the Elvis/Graceland gear.......... But I did treat myself to a Christmas decoration and a shot glass for the bar!
We went back to the ticket area and had some lunch at a cute little diner all decked our in baby blue (something right out of the 50's except the prices!)
Aden and Patrick were all Elvis'd out and decided to go back to the room and Mark and I went back and had another tour this time without the audio.
Glad we did really as we missed a few things from the first time. I really liked seeing the memorial garden where his mother and father and paternal grandmother, ( who outlived them all!) are buried. There is also a plaque for his twin brother.
We went back to our room and I made a coffee for Mark and I but we both fell asleep before we drank it!
We decided to go the Beale street for dinner, which is the place to go in downtown Memphis. Had we not fallen asleep, we would have caught a college basketball game between Memphis and Murray state at the FedEx centre. We got dropped off at the top of the street with a warning there is a curfew for minors and a huge police presence and signs on most bars that guns and weapons were not tolerated in their establishments!!
We decided on Hard Rock which was opposite the FedEx centre and we watched the crowd exit. Massive crowd for a college game!!! You would have thought it was a semi AFL final!!
We got on the WiFi and were very anti social whilst we got our fix!!
It was freezing outside, we caught the shuttle back to the hotel and then went for a walk across the road to have a look at the Christmas decorations at Graceland (hell maybe we are freaks!)
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