Graceland

On our way to Texas, we decided, well I decided to stop in Memphis to see Graceland. A little bit about Graceland...

Graceland is the name of the 13.8-acre estate and large white-columned mansion, located at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard in Memphis, Tennessee. It is located in South Memphis' vast Whitehaven community about twelve miles from Downtown and less than four miles north of the Mississippi border. It currently serves as a museum. It was opened to the public in 1982, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1991 and declared a National Historic Landmark on March 27, 2006.

Elvis Presley, who died at the estate on August 16, 1977, his parents Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother, are buried there in what is called the Meditation Gardens.

We used the GPS to find Graceland, as I forgot to write down the directions to the place. "Don't worry", I told Nicole, "There are probably signs all over Memphis". Well, there are no signs. So on the way I tuned to the All Elvis channel on Sirius, to get us in the mood. Nicole couldn't wait to get out of the truck, away from the music, but much to her dismay, the All Elvis channel was playing everywhere we walked. They even have it in the restrooms, so you can listen while on the throne. We bought a ticket to the mansion tour, and skipped the car museum, and the airplanes. I have to say that I think it's a pretty small place. I know they call it a mansion, but as far as mansions go, I would say it's kind of tiny. You take a bus there, from the ticket counter, and have to wear a headset, and controller, that gives you info along the tour inside. Without getting into a lot of detail, I'll just say that it's kind of tacky. For all the money he had, he didn't use it to buy classy stuff. I suppose for the time, it may have been OK, but geez, I started laughing at some of the stuff. The albino monkey statue in the middle of one room was kind of creepy. I reminded me of that creature in Lord of the rings. The jungle room was hysterical. You can see the plastic grass carpet on the ceilings. I liked all the Tiki stuff though. I thought that was cool. Deb would never let me build a tiki room, or a tiki bar. I was impressed with all the gold records, and all the outfits. I remember he got really fat, and the white pant suit didn't look like it would fit him very well. Maybe it stretched, like spandex. We rolled through pretty quick, as we had to hit the road. Elvis Presley blvd. reminds me a lot of Niagara Falls, and the tacky shops. Lot's of Elvis dolls, and junk. I should have got something for Nics apartment. We ate lunch at this Rockabilly Diner, or something like that. Surprise, they had a garden burger. Great! Elvis serves up vegetarian. I was on that pretty quick, but after the first bite, I realized something was wrong. The burger looked like those faded cheap steak frozen dinner entree things from the seventies. That was no gardenburger. After scraping my tongue, I ate the lettuce, and tomato between the bun, and we left. My stomach wasn't feeling right after that, and I ate some tums, then some pepto, and after some sweaty moments passing gas stations, wondering if I should stop, I started to feel better. It's been said that Elvis died on the toilet...maybe he had a garden burger across the street. Elvis was a great performer, and one talented kid, that America ate up. Like any celebrity, the fame wears on you, and you become a prisoner of your own celebrity. Too bad it had to end the way it did. Another American star, burning out, instead of fading away.