At 6:11 am, we were awaken by people having a really loud conversation in the hallway outside our room. Apparently, there was a whole group of people traveling together and some of them were leaving. They were yelling questions to each other down the hall and slamming doors. It lasted about 15 minutes, but we were definitely awake...well, for a little bit before falling back to sleep!
When we woke up, we got dressed and drove to Graceland. Dean had decided it just wouldn't be right to go to Memphis, TN without visiting Graceland. We paid the $10 parking entrance fee and were notified that the next available mansion tours weren't available for over an hour. That was OK with us since we knew there were other things to do.
We set off for the airplane area. We watched a video about the history of the planes before exiting out to the actual planes. It was very interesting, especially the story from a former Elvis pilot. He told how he had gotten a phone call from Elvis somewhere around 1:30 am, asking if he could get the airplane gassed up and ready for flight in an hour. The pilot said he could and did. About an hour later, Elvis and some friends drove up and boarded the plane. When asked where they were going, Elvis said Denver, CO. The pilot said he didn't ask any questions, just flew. Finally, the pilot asked why. Elvis answered that he was hungry for peanut butter and banana sandwiches. The pilot relayed that when he landed on the tarmac, a black limousine was waiting there and brought sandwiches to the plane. After a little while, the plane took back off to Graceland. Apparently, Elvis had eaten at this restaurant before and they had created a special loaf, which was hollowed out. Once the loaf had been buttered and toasted in the oven, the inside hollow was filled with peanut butter, banana, and bacon. Elvis was hungry for this special type of sandwich and was willing to fly for it!
After the video was over, we went outside and saw both airplanes. We were able to board them both. The large airplane, Lisa Marie, was open so you could walk through the entire plane. There were clear, plastic fitted covers, protecting the furniture. Parts of the rooms were roped off for traffic to stay on the main path, but the rooms could be viewed from inside. We then boarded the smaller jet, Hound Dog II. The inside was blocked off except to see into the cockpit and see into the cabin from the front. The color scheme of both planes were clues to the time period when they were used. The tail of each plane had Elvis' signature lightning bolt and TLC, representing Taking Care of Business.
Next, we walked to the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum. It had some really unique cars, motorcycles, and other motorized toys. The museum also had a Hwy 51 Drive-In area where people could sit for awhile and watch an Elvis movie.
We were still waiting for our group tour number to be called, so we went inside some of the shops to look around. Although there was some cool items, we didn't see anything we couldn't live without. Finally, they called our group number and we reported to the boarding area. However, we were far from boarding. First, they had to take our picture. Next, we followed the rope line, winding back and forth in the heat. It was a very, very hot day. They had large fans in this area, but they were all aimed at employees who were spending long hours in the heat. As we got closer to boarding the shuttle vans as they return from previous tours, we were each handed headphones and an iPad with a strap. After well over 30 minutes, it was our turn to board the shuttle van. We took our equipment and were on our way to cross the street to the Graceland mansion.
Upon arrival, we got out of the van and gathered on the front porch. An employee gave us a little history and then opened the front door. We were to use our iPads to experience Graceland mansion on our own. There were employees throughout, keeping people on the path and traffic flowing. The second floor of the Graceland mansion is off limits to visitors, out of respect to the family and to keep focus off the bathroom where Elvis died. It has not been touched since his death and the family wants to maintain that privacy.
There were some interesting rooms. Keep in mind, the decor was again very stylish at the time. We started on the first floor. In his parents' room, the wallpaper in the bathroom was poodles. Robin reminisced about having poodle wallpaper in her childhood home's bathroom. Robin's mother wanted to change the colors in the bathroom, but loved the wallpaper so she climbed up on a ladder and hand-painted the features of the poodles to the new colors. The "Jungle Room" was very unique. It had a waterfall at one end with an over-sized circular chair, Lisa Marie's favorite. The room had lots of ornate, wood furniture, some with the animal shag fur for cushions.
Down in the basement was Elvis' media room. Everything was yellow and black, including the bar area. We did learn that Elvis did not drink alcohol. This room was created to entertain. We recognized his signature lightning bolt on the wall. He even hid the film projector behind a picture. Across the hall from the media room was the game room. There was a large pool table in the center of the room. The uniqueness of this room was the pleated fabric covering the ceiling that matched the curtains. As we went back in the hallway to return to the first floor, the walls, ceiling, and stairs were all covered in olive green shag carpet.
Our favorite stop was the Trophy Building. This is where most of Elvis' golden records and other awards were displayed. The walls were lined in these treasures from top to bottom. We learned that he received 3 Grammys and they were for religious recordings ("How Great Thou Art" album, "He Touched Me" album, and his live Memphis Concert recording of "How Great Thou Art"). The next room in this building was glass window displays. Some had the outfits he wore in various movies or performances. Others had Elvis' and Priscilla's wedding outfit as well as mementos of Lisa Marie's early years.
We proceeded on from the Racquetball Building to the Meditation Garden. He used to go there to reflect on situations in his life. In this area are the graves of Elvis, his parents, and his grandmother. There is also a small marker memorializing Elvis' twin brother, who died at birth. Behind this area was Elvis' kidney-shaped pool.
From the Graceland mansion, our shuttle van took us to the Graceland Archives. Upon arrival, we entered a room with many shelves and cabinets of memorabilia. After about 10 minutes, they opened the door to a room with stadium seating. We found seats and then the show began. They played a video of some of Elvis' performances. It was eerie watching him perform after experiencing all the other parts of his life the same day. The shuttle van took us back to the boarding area. We went through the famous music-themed Graceland gates.
We went to a few more shops and bought a few postcards. Then we walked back to the car. It was so hot, but we didn't realize how hot. The temperature on the dashboard read 108 degrees. As we started driving, the temperature finally dropped back and stabilized at 98 degrees. That was still way too hot for us! The dashboard also showed how many miles we had traveled so far.
We drove to Huntsville, AL, a distance of 208 miles, or 3.5 hours on the back roads. We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Corinth, MS for dinner. We didn't arrive at our Courtyard Marriott until around 9:00 pm. We got settled into our room. At about 10:00 pm, there was loud yelling outside of our room, but in the parking lot. It was at least one man yelling and someone above us was yelling back. We were on the first floor so we didn't want to look out the drapes. The yelling stopped when the man took off in a car after revving his engine and squealing off. However, the car returned with others and the yelling started up again. Now, there were more engines revving and more tires squealing until about 12:30 am. Finally, everything stopped and we could go to bed.
Our day had started with yelling and ending with yelling. We were definitely tired and ready to sleep...and so we did!
