Elvis has not left the building, at least not here in Graceland, his home in Memphis, TN when he was alive and entertaining the world with his music.
Our trip has taken us to Memphis and we have decided to spend a day and visit Graceland. There are many things that a visitor to Memphis can enjoy. For example you can tour the Gibson Guitar factory, or stroll down Beale Street the home of the Blues, you can visit several museums such as the Memphis Pink Palace something that is a must see if you haven’t seen it before, or the Mississippi River Museum plus a few more.
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Entering the ticket concourse the first thing you are faced with is making the decision on what tour you should take. My recommendation is the Platinum Tour. This tour gives you the opportunity to wander through the Mansion and grounds guided by your own personal audio system given to you at the beginning of the tour. After this you can tour Elvis’s two custom planes and his automobile museum then move on to his 'Sincerely Elvis' a display of his Jump Suits. But let me give you a little taste of what to expect.
Taken by bus from the ticket area to the front door of the mansion you really don’t know what to expect. Built in 1939 by a local doctor, Elvis Presley purchased the mansion and 14 surrounding acres for $100,000 in 1957 and lived there until his death in 1977.
The first impression you have that the mansion is smaller than you expected because of the image you may have had of Elvis. After all he was a giant on stage, but off stage he was by all accounts an ordinary man and this becomes evident as you pass through rooms of his home still furnished, as it was when he lived there.
Of course the furnishings are lavish but not over stated in the manner of many of celebs that come into fame and wealth overnight and wish to impress the world with their success. The rooms you see are fairly normal and are furnished in the style of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.
The only room that is overstated in my opinion is the 'Jungle Room' but as it was a fad in the seventies to furnish rooms in this style (if you had the money to do so) you could accept it as ’Ķwell it’s Elvis right?
As you leave the area in the mansion that has the living rooms you are guided to the area known as 'The Hall of Gold., This houses the gold and platinum records that were awarded to Elvis for his work in music. He recorded many different hits, most of them still well known today. He recorded songs in every modern different music genre of the time, including Rock-n- Roll, Gospel (a personal love of his) R&B and Country, receiving awards in all of them, Elvis sold over a billion records during his career the most productive performer of his time. Also in this hall are displays of Elvis’s generosity that is largely forgotten by the public. He was always donating money and holding benefit concerts for charity and it is said that if you lived in Memphis and landed on hard times you could approach him and he’d help you get back on your feet.
Elvis’s most common donation and handout was $1,000 but it is said that he paid off debts and bought houses for those he felt were in need. In 1979 he was recognized as one of ten young man of the year by the international Jaycee’s and received a joined hands trophy that he took everywhere he performed.
Once leaving the main mansion you are guided to the Racquet Ball Court building that is converted to another display room of Elvis’s career. When you enter this building you are struck by the number of people who are just standing entranced watching a TV screen that is showing a video of Elvis performing a concert in Hawaii.
Most of the people watching are in their late fifties to mid sixty years of age, the woman stand enraptured by what’s occurring on the screen and most have looks of adoration on their faces. The men stand and try to look cool and disinterested, but if you look closely you notice them also looking closely at the screen and tapping their feet in time to the music. All of them have a look of times being remembered and a dream of times gone by.
As you leave this building you walk along a short path past a large area that is fenced and still has horses grazing. This is the area that Elvis rode horses in just for fun. Further along the path you enter the 'Garden of Inspiration' originally built for a place to go to and be alone with your thoughts that now has become a shrine to Elvis.
This is the site where Elvis, his parents and grandmother lie in their final resting place and is the place where fans of Elvis place flowers and other mementos on the celebration of his birthday and death.
After you leave the garden of inspiration you basically have concluded the tour of the mansion and grounds. Once again you board a tour bus that takes you back to the other exhibits. From here you can tour the two planes that Elvis used but to be candid it takes only a few minutes to do so.
Take the time to visit instead the 'Sincerely Elvis' exhibit of costumes he wore on stage. All of us remember seeing Elvis in jump suits, but I don’t believe that we had any concept of the number of suits he had or the exquisite work that went into them. All hand stitched, the workmanship is outstanding and causes you to make two observations. The first is that these outfits must have cost Elvis a fortune. The second is that although Elvis was as large as life on stage, in life he actually was of slender build and was probably just shy of being six foot in height.
Continue on to some of the other exhibits such as his collection of cars and an interesting exhibit of his life after the lights went out in most homes of normal people in the world.
As John Lennon once said 'Before Elvis Presley there was nothing' but then Elvis was the King and if ever there is a vote for entertainer of the century then Elvis would be in the running. One thing is sure, if you were ever a fan, then Elvis is still very much in the building, at least his spirit is. So if you’re in Memphis take the time to visit Elvis in his home at Graceland.
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