MEMPHIS, ELVIS AND GRACELAND

Although neither Rachel and Bill are massive Elvis fans, he did and still does play a huge part in music history, and you can’t go to Memphis without making a pilgrimage to the very home of the King of Rock & Roll himself, Graceland. It’s only a short drive from Memphis with ample parking, although you can take an organised tour from Memphis if you don’t have a car (or indeed, Graceland will be included on many escorted group tour itineraries, often with skip-the-line access on many USA holidays).

It’s important to pre-book your tickets for Graceland, and prices range from the basic tour – Elvis’ Memphis and Planes – which includes 10 different exhibits and ‘all-new interactive experiences’ but  not  a tour of Graceland Mansion itself for $48pp (kids aged between 5 & 10 get a concession at $27pp) through to the ‘Elvis Ultimate VIP Tour’ package at $196pp, which gives you access to all of the exhibits, along with ‘skip the lines to VIP Shuttle to the Mansion’ and an ‘exclusive exhibit for VIPs in private VIP lounge’ (all of which is also included in the slightly cheaper ‘Elvis Entourage VIP Tour’ for $128pp),  plus  a meal voucher for the restaurant at Elvis Presley’s Memphis, a keepsake ‘Backstage’ pass, exclusive photo opportunity, personal Graceland Archives Show and Tell session, options to purchase special merchandise exclusively available to ‘Ultimate Guests’. The Graceland Mansion tour is led by an expert guide for groups of up to ten people, whereas the Mansion is independently explored with an audio-guide for all other tour packages where included.

Watch Rachel’s exclusive Graceland video

Rachel and Bill opted for the  ‘Elvis Experience’  tickets, without all the VIP treatment, but including a self-guided audio tour of the Graceland Mansion, in addition to the exhibits included in the basic package, which cost $77pp ($44 for children aged between 5 and 10; there are no concessionary prices for children for the VIP experiences, although children aged 2 and under or 4 and under go free to the ‘Elvis Ultimate VIP Tour’ and the ‘Elvis Entourage VIP Tour’ respectively).

‘Elvis Presley’s Memphis’ (which is essentially the basic package) is a sprawling 200,000-square-foot state-of-the-art entertainment and exhibit complex, which showcases so many different aspects of Elvis’ life and career, his hobbies and interests, and is across the road (or, rather, Elvis Presley Boulevard, part of the Highway Route 51) from the entrance to Graceland Mansion, with shuttles going to-and-fro the two attractions.

Although VIP ticket holders can visit the Mansion as many times as they want until closing time, the Elvis Experience package offers single-entry only (and the basic package does  not  include entry) and those tickets come with an allotted shuttle time for entry to Graceland Mansion. Rachel and Bill’s shuttle was at 12.30, so they had plenty of time to explore the many exhibitions at Elvis Presley’s Memphis beforehand.

There’s a lot to see and take in, and the exhibitions are well laid out and spacious. From ‘Elvis’ Tupelo Exhibit’ and ‘Private Presley: Elvis in the Army’, to ‘Lisa Marie: Growing Up Presley’ and ‘ICONS: The Influence of Elvis Presley’, there’s not much in Elvis’ private and public life that isn’t showcased, from his childhood and army days to his family life and musical influence. Rachel especially loved the car museum; her favourite car was the Ferrari but the Pink Cadillac was a close runner up.

The shuttle takes just a few minutes to the mansion, and headsets fo­r the audio tour are supplied onboard. Graceland has over 650,000 visitors each year, and is the most visited privately-owned home in the US. Sitting atop a hill and surrounded by rolling pastures and a grove of oak trees, Elvis had asked his parents to find a ‘farmhouse’ style property in 1957. The two-storey mansion is built in the Colonial Revival style, with a prominent two-story central portico with four Corinthian columns, giving a neoclassical flavour to the façade.

Beyond this impressive entrance, Graceland was surprisingly small; just a little hallway with rooms leading off to the lounge on one side and dining room on the other. Further down was the kitchen, and Elvis’s parents’ bedroom.

Everything has been kept as it was, with décor in a chintzy 1970s’ time warp, and apparently Lisa Marie still visits a couple of times a year. The audio was excellent and talked you through each room. Elvis loved TV; there was at least one in every room.

On the lower floor was the Pool Room and next to that the ‘Jungle Room’ with natural stone floor and an indoor waterfall, where Elvis recorded his last two albums.

Of course, there had to be a TV Room, where (perhaps unsurprisingly) there were many TVs, and this was Elvis’s hideaway. Outside there are stables where there are still horses which can be seen grazing. Rachel especially loved what is now called the Trophy Room, where Elvis and Priscilla had their wedding reception following their wedding in Vegas.

The walls are covered with photos, paintings, and a huge amount of memorabilia, including Elvis’s wallet, family bible, his birth certificate, Lisa Marie’s baby footprints – the list is endless – and Rachel loved reading and looking at as many pieces as she could!

Just outside the Trophy Room is the pool area, which might not be very big by today’s standards, but the pool alone (never mind the mansion) would have been a far cry from the two-room shotgun house Elvis had been born in. Just a short walk from the pool are the Meditation Gardens, another of Elvis’s favourite places to be on his own, and is now where he is buried along with his parents, Gladys and Vernon, his Grandmother Minnie Mae, Lisa Marie’s son, Benjamin Keough, and a memorial stone commemorating his twin brother Jesse. Goes without saying, this area is beautiful, peaceful, very moving, and as it holds so much family history, it felt surreal in a way.

You can spend as much time as you like in the garden area after the mansion tour, but once you’re ready, a shuttle takes you back to the Exhibition centre where Rachel and Bill visited the Aircraft Museum, which showcased Elvis’s personal collection of planes, which were very plush when you think how many years ago it was.

Featuring a double bed, settees and spacious seating, and (of course!) a TV, it would’ve been a luxurious way to travel in that era, fit for a King!

Rachel and Bill left Graceland, now firm Elvis fans; for them, it was one of the trip highlights, and they say it is easy to spend a whole day exploring the many exhibitions. Following their visit, they parked their car up at the hotel, which was pretty much on the waterfront and decided to do a cruise on the Mississippi, which was perfectly timed to escape the hot afternoon weather.

It is a 90-minute cruise onboard a Paddle-wheeler for $25pp (Memphis Queen III) with live commentary where the guide gave a comical history lesson. On the cruise they crossed the Stateline to Arkansas, and while the views of the Memphis riverside were not overly exciting views, it was a great way to chill out, relax and cool off.

Memphis might be associated with some very famous names – Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Justin Timberlake, to name just a few – but the people there are so friendly, and it’s a very laidback city; cars would just stop to let you cross the road, random street performers create a big build-up with audience participation before (literally) leaping into action, and there are plenty of eateries, including quirky food vans.

There are plenty of ways to get around the city, not least Rachel’s beloved trolley bus, as well as horse and carriage, 16-seater ‘Sprock & Roll’ beer bikes, or even a sparkling pink Cinderella carriage!

Throughout Memphis (whatever your method of transportation), you’ll find Music History Signage, with great snippets of information, but as Rachel and Bill discovered, there is a lot more to Memphis than just the famous Beale Street; there is plenty to see and do. With a lot more miles yet to travel, they found three days was just fine, but they could be tempted back again.

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