Sunday 19th March, 2017
Today was all about Graceland, Graceland, I’m going to Graceland….. to quote the Paul Simon song. The home of Elvis Presley. The house itself is not so huge, however he certainly knew how to decorate it with outlandish style as was the norm in the 50’s and 60’s. The Peacock Room with the Grand Piano, the media room, the jungle room all having very distinctive styles. It seems as though Elvis and his family never threw anything out – it was all in storage. So when it came time to open up the house to the public there was plenty to put on display, The brand new visitor centre across the road (only opened 2 weeks ago) is now displaying many more items not previously seen. On our VIP tour we got to hold a pair of Elvis’s boots, a microphone he used and one of his many metal belts that featured as part of his “jump suit” outfits. We were told lots of great Elvis stories, heard some of his music, looked at some of his movies, checked out his car collection and many of his toys. We also heard about his last hours, which was sad.
After Graceland we drove back to our hotel. Checked out the “over the top” Pyramid shaped Bass Pro Shop (BFC equivalent in Australia). It has everything for the outdoor enthusiast – fishing, boating, camping, shooting all set in appropriate settings with alligators, fish, fowl in the cypress swamp, an aquarium, a diner, a hotel, grocery shop and the list goes on. The elevator in the middle of the pyramid is the nation’s highest freestanding glass elevator and at the top the views extend across the Mississippi to the state are Arkansas.
After that little bit of retail therapy we strolled the banks of the Mississippi and took in a glorious sunset before a traditional Memphis BBQ dinner. Not that it is what we call BBQ in Australia. It is mostly about ribs, ribs and more ribs. So we had some ribs and we did enjoy our meal.
