For those of you interested, I thought I'd do a brief report of our trip to Graceland last week.Not sue where to put this so Mods please move if you see fit.
Now I'm not an avid Elvis fan but Mr DL and I thought that as we would have a few days free after meeting our friends in Orlando that a side trip to Memphis and Nashville (as we would be without Dragonbaby) would be a nice diversion.
Graceland is in a not particularly affluent area of Memphis near the airport and in the flesh was a bit of a shock (but not an unpleasant one).
I suppose these days we're used to 'superstars' living in enormous gated palaces,totally hidden from public view with cameras and guards everywhere. By modern standards Graceland is very modest.It's visible from a very busy main road (Elvis Presley Blvd funnily enough) and there is daily public (free) access to Elvis' grave before general opening.You just walk up the short driveway to the Meditation garden and you're there.
There are no 30ft high gates and the perimeter wall is only normal garden wall height.There is obviously a security presence but it's not opressive (no doubt it would be different if he were still alive).
As an attraction the whole operation is pretty slick, and we decided to take the mid price Platinum tour ($32) which gave us access to the house, airplanes and some additional exhibits (cars,costumes, army life etc).
Tickets are purchased in the complex opposite Graceland (where most of the additional exhibits and planes are located) and then you're bussed accross the road and up the driveway to the 'mansion' itself. Audio headsets are provided (same set up as at Alcatraz) and is pretty informative. You only get to see the ground floor and the basement of the house as the upstairs of the house is closed to the public. The rooms are much as they were in 1977 when Elvis died. The Jungle room is pretty wacky, as is the tv room in the basement but the rest of it actually reasonably 'normal' (would love to see the bedrooms upstairs though). The kitchen looks pretty surreal when compared to todays sleek efficient kitchens (I half expected to see Graham Kerr whipping up some culinary delight)and all the high tech appliances of the day look prehistoric (the microwave was almost the size of a telephone box!). Along with his fathers office ,there is a separate racketball court at the back which is filled with some of his stage costumes and gold discs and several other rooms (I think originally garages) which are full of more of his gold discs (and there are hundreds and hundreds) and more of his stagewear. Most of his costumes are amazingly ornate and the early ones show how slim he was (tiny,tiny waist), until the latter part of his life. I hadn't really realised how foxy he was...
The Meditation Garden (where he is buried along with his mother, father and grandmother) was also quite touching (there is a small memorial plaque for his late twin who died at birth and is buried in Tupelo in an unmarked grave).I though this bit would be really tacky and whilst there were lots of soft toys/ flowers etc left by fans it didn't feel overtly cheesy.
The planes were accessible on the tour we purchased,a Convair 880 - Lisa Marie (originally owned by Delta and operated as a commercial airliner) and a Lockheed Jetstar- Hound Dog II.The interior of the Jetstar (used primarily by Tom Parker) was pretty garish but the Convair (which you could actually walk through) was reasonably sedate (apart from the 24kt gold flecked sinks ).Highlight of the car exhibition was the 50s pink cadillac that he kept until his death as it had been his late mother's favourite car.
The exhibition covering his National Service was also quite interesting (totally glossing over his initial meeting of Priscilla and how their relationship developed).
Sorry to have rambled on - thought it would be just a quick report.If you're in Tennessee go and visit- it's an easy 2.5/3 hour drive from Nashville even if you don't stay in Memphis.If you're in Memphis it's a must do.If you're nowhere near Tennessee still go.Glad we went? Hell yeah[y]Would I visit again? Hell yeah[8D]
DL
Now I'm not an avid Elvis fan but Mr DL and I thought that as we would have a few days free after meeting our friends in Orlando that a side trip to Memphis and Nashville (as we would be without Dragonbaby) would be a nice diversion.
Graceland is in a not particularly affluent area of Memphis near the airport and in the flesh was a bit of a shock (but not an unpleasant one).
I suppose these days we're used to 'superstars' living in enormous gated palaces,totally hidden from public view with cameras and guards everywhere. By modern standards Graceland is very modest.It's visible from a very busy main road (Elvis Presley Blvd funnily enough) and there is daily public (free) access to Elvis' grave before general opening.You just walk up the short driveway to the Meditation garden and you're there.
There are no 30ft high gates and the perimeter wall is only normal garden wall height.There is obviously a security presence but it's not opressive (no doubt it would be different if he were still alive).
As an attraction the whole operation is pretty slick, and we decided to take the mid price Platinum tour ($32) which gave us access to the house, airplanes and some additional exhibits (cars,costumes, army life etc).
Tickets are purchased in the complex opposite Graceland (where most of the additional exhibits and planes are located) and then you're bussed accross the road and up the driveway to the 'mansion' itself. Audio headsets are provided (same set up as at Alcatraz) and is pretty informative. You only get to see the ground floor and the basement of the house as the upstairs of the house is closed to the public. The rooms are much as they were in 1977 when Elvis died. The Jungle room is pretty wacky, as is the tv room in the basement but the rest of it actually reasonably 'normal' (would love to see the bedrooms upstairs though). The kitchen looks pretty surreal when compared to todays sleek efficient kitchens (I half expected to see Graham Kerr whipping up some culinary delight)and all the high tech appliances of the day look prehistoric (the microwave was almost the size of a telephone box!). Along with his fathers office ,there is a separate racketball court at the back which is filled with some of his stage costumes and gold discs and several other rooms (I think originally garages) which are full of more of his gold discs (and there are hundreds and hundreds) and more of his stagewear. Most of his costumes are amazingly ornate and the early ones show how slim he was (tiny,tiny waist), until the latter part of his life. I hadn't really realised how foxy he was...
The Meditation Garden (where he is buried along with his mother, father and grandmother) was also quite touching (there is a small memorial plaque for his late twin who died at birth and is buried in Tupelo in an unmarked grave).I though this bit would be really tacky and whilst there were lots of soft toys/ flowers etc left by fans it didn't feel overtly cheesy.
The planes were accessible on the tour we purchased,a Convair 880 - Lisa Marie (originally owned by Delta and operated as a commercial airliner) and a Lockheed Jetstar- Hound Dog II.The interior of the Jetstar (used primarily by Tom Parker) was pretty garish but the Convair (which you could actually walk through) was reasonably sedate (apart from the 24kt gold flecked sinks ).Highlight of the car exhibition was the 50s pink cadillac that he kept until his death as it had been his late mother's favourite car.
The exhibition covering his National Service was also quite interesting (totally glossing over his initial meeting of Priscilla and how their relationship developed).
Sorry to have rambled on - thought it would be just a quick report.If you're in Tennessee go and visit- it's an easy 2.5/3 hour drive from Nashville even if you don't stay in Memphis.If you're in Memphis it's a must do.If you're nowhere near Tennessee still go.Glad we went? Hell yeah[y]Would I visit again? Hell yeah[8D]
DL
