We arrived in Memphis early this morning and went directly to Graceland.
My disappointment at the lack of a Waffle House along our route from the airport disappeared as soon as we turned onto Elvis Presley Boulevard. Alas, happiness is fleeting and my disappointment returned as soon as they charged us $10 just to park the car. I was immediately worried about Graceland being just some horrible tourist trap.
In the end, Graceland turned out to be everything we hoped for - mirrors everywhere, abundant shag carpet in the mansion, an entire building dedicated to his costumes and awards, the pink cadillac and his grave. The crowd of people consisted of that perfect ratio of tattoos to walkers. The staff was not too pushy about us buying the souvenir photo. Each person is given a tablet and headphones to use for the mansion tour. Pro tip: Bring your own headphones for the tour.
And the gift shops... What can I say about the gift shops? While there were the expected decorative shot glasses, t-shirts, magnets, mugs and koozies featuring every image of Elvis you could possibly imagine, there was so much more. If you could put a picture of Elvis on it then they had it. Butch suggested we buy a statue to put on the shelf in the bathroom with the Queen and the Pope but I opted for the salt and pepper shakers. They are sure to add that touch of je ne sais quoi to our next dinner party.
Some pictures from the mansion
My disappointment at the lack of a Waffle House along our route from the airport disappeared as soon as we turned onto Elvis Presley Boulevard. Alas, happiness is fleeting and my disappointment returned as soon as they charged us $10 just to park the car. I was immediately worried about Graceland being just some horrible tourist trap.
In the end, Graceland turned out to be everything we hoped for - mirrors everywhere, abundant shag carpet in the mansion, an entire building dedicated to his costumes and awards, the pink cadillac and his grave. The crowd of people consisted of that perfect ratio of tattoos to walkers. The staff was not too pushy about us buying the souvenir photo. Each person is given a tablet and headphones to use for the mansion tour. Pro tip: Bring your own headphones for the tour.
And the gift shops... What can I say about the gift shops? While there were the expected decorative shot glasses, t-shirts, magnets, mugs and koozies featuring every image of Elvis you could possibly imagine, there was so much more. If you could put a picture of Elvis on it then they had it. Butch suggested we buy a statue to put on the shelf in the bathroom with the Queen and the Pope but I opted for the salt and pepper shakers. They are sure to add that touch of je ne sais quoi to our next dinner party.
Some pictures from the mansion
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