Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Day 11 Graceland. . . finally some sequins and jumpsuits

Well we are off to Graceland today, the home of that very famous Memphis native, Elvis Presley, preserved exactly as it was when he lived there it is sure to be a day of super 70's everything.  We had to eat of course to get our energy up for the Mansion tour so we headed to a Southern chain called the Waffle House.  And it was totally nuts. . . I am sure a reason that Americans are large, this chain has cheap "down home" cooking and supposedly fast too.  Well it was crazy busy and this dive was a bit too much for me.  Never again!  The first question was "smoking or non"  Seriously?  This place is 800 sq ft maybe and they are cooking those waffles right in front of you!  We took a seat at the bar and watched the madness happen as they took tons of to go orders and "buttered" our toast with partially hydrogenated butter like spread. .  eeewww.  Well now that I have had that "experience" . . . off to Graceland!

there are 1600 of these in the Southern USA

we felt sorry for these hard working ladies who were totally slammed in a smokey crazy environment
Elvis is everywhere!
Graceland, not the huge place you think it'll be
 Graceland, mecca to some, a true pilgrimage for others, it is the second most visited private home in the USA, after the White House!!  Elvis is said to be the King, the father of rock and roll, he incorporated black music and fashion with white music and made it understandable to a white audience.  We learned a lot about his contributions on our tour of the Mansion and surrounding exhibits, including some of the most important things. . .about his fashion!!

The house is pretty creepy cool, as he left it, decorated in the 70's with more money than most of us can count and done exactly as he wanted it to be.  I'll let the pictures show you.  We were not allowed to use flash so they are not super amazing quality but you will get the idea.
The living room and piano room, exactly as he left it
TV room where he had all 3 networks on all the time, just like the president of the day.  Note the sequin covered pillows, mirrored ceiling (the staircase is totally mirrored too) and the monkey statues.

the pool room that looked like the inside of a sewing box with folded fabric all over the walls and ceiling culminating in a circular design in the ceiling.

heading up the stairs to the jungle room with green shag carpet on the walls, floor, and ceiling!  Talk about a vaccuming nightmare!

carpeted ceiling

one side of the jungle room, the carpet made the acoustics good and he actually recorded an album there

the other side of the jungle room, apparently Priscilla liked the round chair in the corner

jungle room center divider
fan art on display
 You then head into a corridor full of all his records and awards and cases full of stuff about his movie career and fan art.  It goes on for a while, you have a head set on the whole time with stories about what you are seeing the whole time.
Elvis and Priscilla, this is her wedding dress.  The tuxedo he wore had an amazing texture to it but it was too dark to get the detail.  You will just have to go see it!

this is what is next door. . . . roof is a tarp.  The mansion was bought when it was farmland and the neighbourhood has grown up around it and is pretty dirty and junky. . . .

the eagle cape on display

in what used to be the raquetball room there is more awards on display and a killer collection of those Elvis original jumpsuits. You can buy copies in the gift shops for $1200-$3600. . . yes you read that right!

the Phoenix

more jumpsuits on display

wall of awards in the old raquetball room

family graveyard, did you know Elvis had a twin that died at birth?

died too young at 42, he is remembered by the world


we opted for the "premium" tour and got to see the car museum with all of Elvis's various cars over the years.  This pink cadillac was one of his favourites and first.

The "Lisa Marie" named for his daughter, a blinged out airplane that flew Elvis around

guest bathroom in the Lisa Marie: gold fixtures and a bit more space than we are used to in an airplane bathroom!  Also the seat belts were also plated in real GOLD!

a closet we'd all love!  On the place

part of the fashion king display, here is a case of some of Elvis's bling!
 The Graceland tour took us about 4 hours to get through and James didn't complain once!  We then wanted to find a nice neighbourhood to stay in Memphis (there are some really awful ones. . . ) and we explored Germantown, a suburb of the city.  We found a great Asian restaurant called Tao and had some noodle soup with veggies. . . . i just couldn't do another day of pork cooked veggies. . . After all the Southern food we have been eating this was delicious!  We found a great hotel, The Hyatt Place, a division of the Hyatt but so much nicer!!! and enjoyed a quiet night, since we were in the US I could watch Glee episodes I had missed online!!  There are definitely some good things about the US!
I give up!!  Veggies please, not cooked in pork fat!

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