Memphis #2

We slept in again this morning, the last full day of our trip. After “brunch” at the hotel, we jumped in the rental car and headed for Graceland. We bought the platinum tickets which included the mansion, the airplanes, the cars, and several other smaller exhibits. I found the mansion to be fascinating! Elvis was a big deal when I was very young and I can remember my grandmother Mimi talking about him frequently. She always thought I looked like Elvis and she even bought me an Elvis mirror for my room so I could comb my hair next to the King each morning.

I have never been a big Elvis fan, but I must admit that I really enjoyed the audio tour of his house. They had the living room, dining room, kitchen, TV room, game room and Jungle Room pretty much as he left them when he passed away. The décor was a riot, shag green carpeting on the ceiling in some places and his TCB lightning logo featured in many places! Next, we saw his Vernon’s (his dad) office, the trophy room, and the racquetball court / gym where he spent his last morning of his life. The tour ended near the family cemetery where he is buried.

I also enjoyed touring his two airplanes. One is a large airliner converted for his personal use. It reminded me very much of the Boeing Business jet, but of course it was decorated in late 70’s style. The other was a smaller business jet that was less extravagant, but even more garishly decorated. The kids also enjoyed one exhibit featuring his many white jumpsuits –there must have been over 100 in there! They especially liked the suits with Eagles or fire on them.

Each exhibit had its own gift shop, so it took a while to get Michele out of there. In one shop, they had a large neon Elvis signs with one of his outfits in a glass case behind a velvet rope. Michele wanted her pictures in front of this sign and I was happy to oblige. Next, Cameron wanted to get in the picture too, so he ran in there next to his mommy…and…sat on the velvet rope. The faux-marble columns holding the rope began to tip one after the other –bang, bang, bang! Then, an alarm sounded and a recorded voice said to “step away from the case”. Michele was mortified, but I found the whole thing hilarious! We took the picture after everything was put back in order, but Cameron was too embarrassed to smile and dug his head into Michele’s shoulder instead.

After Graceland, we drove back to the hotel for our last siesta of the trip. We got up later in the afternoon, had a quick dinner and then walked to the mall next door and saw “WALL-E”, which we all enjoyed. I’ve got to do a little flight planning and then turn in early. We want to get to Tampa before the typical afternoon thunderstorms start popping up.