Day 19: The King has Left the Building. And So Did We…Eventually.

We woke up and “enjoyed” the free breakfast provided by the hotel. On the plus side, they had one of those conveyer toasters, so you didn’t have to wait for everyone in line in front of you to toast (or, in my case, double toast – who are all these crazy people who just want their bagels warmed up a little???) before you could start. On the minus side, bad coffee. Baaaaaaaaaaad coffee. Ugh.

Then, we embarked upon the 3 hours extravaganza that was our visit to the Graceland complex. This was the entire reason we went to Memphis which, as you may have noticed if you ever looked at a map, is a bit out of the way for a trip from Florida to Texas…Neither Anja nor I is a particularly rabid Elvis fan – I could maybe name a couple of movies, probably sing most of his ten most favourite songs, and I think I’m doing better than Anja – but who could resist the allure of all that fabulousness???

Not us, that’s fer sher!

We were taken by shuttle from the ticket area (right next door to the Heartbreak Hotel) across the street to Graceland, given headphones and a self-guided tour set, and sent off to shuffle our merry way through the house. It was PACKED. On a weekday. At about 10:30 a.m. It was pretty amazing.

The house and property are both a fair bit smaller than I would have guessed, and I didn’t know that Elvis had bought the house; I always thought he had it built. I also didn’t know how close he was to his family, or how much money he gave away, or about all of his toys and sports. You leave the tour with a much better sense of him as an interesting, flawed person than as an icon; it’s very interesting.

Except, really? The man couldn’t decorate AT ALL. I’m sorry. It’s true.

After the whole Graceland tour (which included stops – and purchases – at no less than 5 – FIVE – themed Elvis gift shops), we headed downtown to tour Beale Street (home of the blues), Sun Studio (where Elvis and Johnny Cash first recorded, among others), and the Rock and Soul Museum. It was jam-packed, but sooo amazing. I bought muuuuusic, we bought t-shirts and writing paper and mugs and all kinds of awesomeness!

(And had much less trouble finding dinner that night!)