We booked a tour for today. The bus picks us up at 9.30 a.m. and after picking up at a few more hotels along the way, we are soon delivered to our tour bus proper for our longed-for visit to Gracelands. I have always been a fan of Elvis and this is such a dream come true for me. We arrived there at 10.50 a.m. and were soon handed our headphones for the audio tour, and loaded in to yet another bus to go across the road to the mansion.

At first view, it is smaller than we imagined it would be. When we see pictures of the music note gates and mansion, they always seem so large, but in reality they are not so big. We are guided around Elvis’ rooms, by the audio machines,  starting at the large sitting room with it’s 9′ long white sofa along one wall, and double glass doors, with side panels glazed with peacocks, leading through to the music room with it’s grand piano. It is a sumptuous room, and one could imagine Elvis sitting at the piano.

Our next room was Vernon’s bedroom, beautifully furnished, but not enormous. We went past the central staircase in to the dining room, which is much bigger with a very long oval table, and then on into the kitchen. Apparently, this was designed by Elvis, and was functional, but not oversized. Our tour took us down in to the basement to the TV room. There were 3 televisions in there, and black comfy sofas. The ceiling was covered in mirrors, and on the wall was Elvis’ original trademark of a lightning flash.

From here we went in to the pool room, the walls and ceiling were totally covered in  pleated patterned fabric, and a large pool table set in the centre, surrounded by armchairs for spectators. The stairs that we went  back up on, we found the walls and ceiling all covered in matching dark green carpet. These stairs led to the jungle room. This was the room Elvis would relax in with his daughter, Lisa, and a very large unusual shaped armchair was very prominent, where Lisa used to love to sit as a child. The wall at one end of the room was an indoor waterfall. The room next to the Jungle room was filled with memorabilia from the early days of his marriage. There were Elvis’ and Priscilla’s wedding outfits, Lisa Marie’s crib, the round fur bed from Elvis’ dressing room, and many other items of clothing and equipment from his hobbies, and interests. There was also Elvis’ collection of guns, and a scale model of the home in Tupelo where Elvis was born.

The tour does not venture to the upstairs rooms, out of respect for his memory, but it would have been lovely to see the whole house, even so. We then left the mansion and visited outbuildings which housed Vernon’s office, where he dealt with all Elvis fan dealings. Also we went in to the Raquetball building, the upper half of which was fitted out as a lounge, so that anyone could sit in comfort and watch the games in the lower half Racquet Court, through a glass wall. It was also furnished with a piano, which Elvis had been playing the morning of his death.

All through the tour there was a very informative audio to listen to, including memories of Lisa Marie and Priscilla. The racquet court is now used to display some of Elvis’ outfits and there were plenty of screens showing Elvis in Concert everywhere. We visited a display of gold, platinum and other discs and awards. It was awesome to see all of the awards he had received and I got the impression that not everything is on show all the time, and that items are circulated over a period of time.

I took a lot of photographs, but am not sure of the results as flash photography is banned everywhere. The tour ended by the swimming pool which is where Elvis and his family are buried. There is also a memorial for his twin brother, Jesse, who was born dead. Elvis’ mother, father and grandmother are all buried alongside him. It is a good spot for reflection and meditation, and although there were many other people filing past it was very peaceful and quiet. There were many floral tributes around the graves, and along the walkway back to the buses. All of these are from fans, and arrive daily. Great care seems to be taken to keep them on view as long as possible, and some of them are very elaborate.

This part of our tour ended with the bus trip back to the main entrance, from where we were able to visit the car museum, several other displays of Elvis artefacts, and the Lisa Marie aircraft. We boarded and saw the plush setting which Elvis and his family enjoyed when on flights. There is a lounge, dining room, quiet room which could be turned into a bedroom if necessary, as well as Elvis’ own bedroom aboard, with a seat belt which went the whole distance across the king size bed. There are 2 bathrooms, one with a half bath included, which was attached to Elvis’ bedroom.

We were ready to leave when the tour bus picked us up at 2.30 p.m. and took us back to Beale Street. We stopped for an ice cream at a shop in Peabody Place and sat on large wooden rocking chairs beside the small lake in the centre of the shops. Bill’s ice cream was Cotton Candy (which is blue) and marshmallows. I had a Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream cone. We rode the trams a couple of times, and ended up at the Welcome Centre on Riverside. At last we were able to get some good information on Memphis, and also on Nashville in case we get there. The very nice lady in there gave us a map with directions to get to the Greyhound station, so our next task was to get some times and prices for a bus to Nashville on Wednesday.

We stopped for dinner at TGI Friday’s before catching the bus back to the hotel, armed with masses of literature and the task of working out just how much we can fit in when we leave here. On the bus back, I got chatting to a very small boy, of about 4, who wanted to know how to draw a star. He had a pen which lit up, and on a spare timetable I showed him how to draw the star. Next he wanted a drawing of a dog. Art is not my best talent, and he roared with laughter at my version of a dog. I offered to draw a car (I can do that) but so could he and proceeded to draw a very nice car. It was a real pleasure talking to him, he was enchanting, and he looked so disappointed when we reached our hotel and left the bus. 

To sum up our visit today, we had feared that Graceland would be very commercialised, and some of it is, but the mansion is very well done, and we could feel why Elvis enjoyed living there with his family so much.