Today started out overcast & a bit breezy but turned into a lovely sunny day, no humidity & a light breeze. Perfect for walking in Memphis!!!!
We started the day with a lovely breakfast - complimentary & you could have whatever you wanted! - before heading to Graceland. It is about 15mins away from the downtown area.
We parked in the car park, then walked along to the ticket office. From there we boarded a shuttle to take us across the road to Graceland.
The house was built in 1939 & bought by Elvis in 1957 for $ 100 000.
It is a self guided audio tour but we were shepherded onto the front porch to start the tour. Once inside we could go at our own pace. There were shuttles coming across regularly but it wasn't too crowded. In some of the smaller areas we had to wait to get in but it didn't take long to clear.
In the main house, we saw the lounge room, the music room, Elvis's parents bedroom, the dining room, the kitchen, the famous Jungle Room (disgusting!), media room with 3 tvs Elvis used to watch simultaneously & the billiard room. Outside, we saw a building which housed Vernon's (Elvis's father) office & an area Elvis & his friends used as a shooting gallery. Across the path outside, we came to the Trophy Room. The walls & cabinets were filled with records, memorabilia, awards, such as Elvis's Grammy awards, Priscilla's wedding dress & Elvis's tux, movie posters & scripts & some of his costumes from the '68 Comeback Tour - the black leather & the white American Eagle costume. The path went back outside & past the horses & stables until we came to the Racquetball court. When we walked in, there was a bar to the right & a lounge area complete with piano on the left. This was built so Elvis's friends could sit & watch him play racquetball through the glass walls. Elvis played this piano the morning of his death.
The racquetball court now houses some of Elvis's stage costumes as well as many of his gold records & awards.
We went out past the pool to the Meditation Area. Elvis had this built a couple of years before his death as a place for quiet reflection. It now holds the graves of Elvis, his mother & father & grandmother. There is also a plaque for his twin brother Jesse, who died at birth. Flowers, wreaths, signs etc are received virtually daily from fans around the world. The estate display the fresh flowers until they die & the other things until they deteriorate. As Elvis week was only mid August, there were still quite a few things around.
That is everything that is open to the public. The upstairs is only open to the family. This is partly out of respect for Elvis as his bedroom was up there but also to avoid attention on the bathroom where he died. The upstairs has been left virtually untouched since the day Elvis died.
After our tour, we got back on a shuttle to go across the road. This is where the car museum was, housing Elvis's extensive collection of cars. My favorite was the pink Cadillac. A very cool car. The cars were so big back then - very long. There was also a number of Elvis's 'toys'- the golf carts, go-carts & other things he & his friends raced around the back lawn on.
We also went on the Lisa-Marie, Elvis's private plane. Although the decor is considered dated & tacky these days, it would have been so nice to be able to travel like that. There was a dining room, a guest room, lounge area, stereo area & Elvis's bedroom on the plane.
There are 14 souvenir/gift shops across the road from Graceland. Most of them had the same, overpriced stuff, we also had tickets for a couple of other exhibitions over there but they were just quick walk through things.
We were there 3-3.5hrs looking at everything. There are also restaurants/ food outlets but we decided to have lunch elsewhere as it was pricey.
Not far up the road we found Kountry Kooking, a restaurant serving soul food. They had fried chicken, baked chicken, smothered pork chops & a variety of sides such as Mac cheese, collard greens, squashes, yams etc.
It was nice to have some home cooked food, even if we were the minority group in there.
After lunch we drove to Sun Studios which is only 5mins from Beale St. Sun was opened in 1950 by Sam Phillips. Sun is famous for being the first record label to sign Elvis & also considered to be the birthplace of rock & roll.
The tour was guided & our guide was very knowledgable. We started upstairs in a room that had old recording equipment, old records, posters & all sorts of memorabilia in the cabinets. We heard snippets of old recordings, such as the first Elvis had ever made & the song considered to be the first rock & roll song - Rocket 88 recorded by Jackie Brenston & his Delta Cats.
Sun started off being a label just for blues artists but expanded to take country, rockabilly & rock & roll. Besides Elvis, other big names signed to Sun were Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins & BB King.
In 1953, Elvis went to Sun to record an amateur record. It cost him $4 which he had to borrow from a friend. It is widely believed he went there to be discovered. But, Sam Phillips wasn't in on the day Elvis made his record. Sam's assistant, Marion Keisker thought Elvis had potential so kept a copy of the record for Sam to listen to. Sam was originally unimpressed with Elvis but listened to Marion.
It was about 12mths before Sam invited Elvis to record again. It was another year before he was signed by Sun.
Elvis was only there for about 1.5yrs before going to RCA.
The studio is still used today. It the recent past, the Sun has had visits from
U2, Ringo Starr, John Mellancamp & Chris Issak to record there.
Just before Sam Phillips died, he wanted to give Sun one piece from his personal collection. It is the old original microphone used by Elvis. We got to touch it, have photos with it & stand on the X on the floor where Elvis stood during his first Sun recording session with other band members.
It was very cool to be in the same room where legends of music stood, played & recorded music.
It was getting on to 5pm by the time we left so we headed for the Civil Rights Museum. Right next to this is the Lorraine Hotel which is where Martin Luther King Jr was assassinated. There is a wreath on the balcony, indicating the spot where he had been standing.
The museum was closed but at least we got to see that historical place.
We went back to the hotel for about an hour before going out to dinner. We parked near Beale St & walked along to the Peabody Hotel, as Rendezvous was supposed to be somewhere nearby. We found it & headed over. First we had to go downstairs to the hostess who told us it would be a 15-20min wait. So, we went to the upstairs area where we could have a drink & wait to be called. It was probably about 20mins.
We both had the short order. This is pork ribs with a seasoning rubbed in & then grilled over charcoal for hours. They came with baked beans & coleslaw. They were nice & not overly filling. I think they were ok because they weren't smothered in the smoky BBQ sauce.
After dinner we walked down to Beale St. There were more people around tonight, probably because it was fine. I bought a couple of things & we heard/saw live music being played.
We didn't stay though, as Robyn is slowly succumbing to a cold. Hopefully she will feel better over the next day or two so we can enjoy the music of Bourbon St.