Well I am back to the “real” world now, but thought I would give yall a play by play of our trip to the historical, magical, and wonderful world they call GRACELAND....               

Friday, August 15, 2003

We had originally planned to be on the road to Tennessee by 2pm, but if you know us and our plans then you know we ran late as we usually do, LOL!  I got off work Friday at 12pm so that we could be ready and leave on time, but we didn’t actually get going on the interstate good until about 4pm.  We had to drive through the rest of Georgia, Alabama, and then finally into Memphis, TN.  We got to Graceland around 1:30 - 2am, so it took about 9 hours.  I drove (and too slow apparently) the first 6 - 7 hours and then Tony took over and drove the last couple of hours.  When we got to Graceland we noticed they had the whole street (Elvis Presley Blvd.) blocked off.  We parked in the Graceland parking lot across the street from the mansion, right next to the Heartbreak Hotel!!  It’s usually $2 to park but for the candlelight vigil everything was free.  All you had to do was stand in line; we stood in line for about 3 hours from the time we got to the gate until we walked all the way up the driveway, through the meditation garden where his grave is located, and then back down the driveway and out the gate.  The place was packed (you shoulda seen all the older ladies, a lot of them were probably there the day he died and have been back every year since then, they hung in there standing in that line too!!) with people from Canada, Missouri, New Jersey, Texas, etc.  We even met a couple that flew there from Japan!!  We seen license plates from just about every state!  I think I heard someone say there about around 25, 000 people there, maybe more.  By the time we got to his grave our candles had almost burned up.  The meditation garden was so beautiful and peaceful, it is located behind the pool area in back of the mansion.  After some people made the trek to and from the grave a lot of them still hung out in the street with more candles and lawn chairs, listening to the Elvis gospel music being played on big speakers all around the gates of Graceland.  There were still people there when we left at 4:30am.

Saturday, August 16, 2003

Then we went to Arby’s (we couldn’t believe it was open then, but it was and we were starving!), it was located in a Pilot convenient store.  After we ate we rented a room at a Best Western for that night (what was left of it), and the next night.  We slept til about 10am and then headed back to Graceland for our tour.  We had to pay the $2 to park in the lot that day.  We decided to go check out the Impersonators under the tent first (they had a tent set up in the parking lot across the street where a lot of the souvenir shops were), then we shopped in the gift shops (too much $$), and got some lunch at the Rock N Roll Café (which didn’t serve SWEET TEA, how weird is THAT?!).  There was this one Impersonator who was REALLY GOOD, and then we found out he was only 16 years old and that he had been doing it every year since he was 10 years old.  He was really good, had the moves, the look, AND the voice!!!!  Then we went on to see the Airplanes, the “Lisa Marie” and the “Hound Dog II Jetstar”.  Then we went on the tour of the mansion and seen all kinds of things...the kitchen, the jungle room, Gladys’ bedroom, etc...I got A LOT of pictures that I will send yall when I get them developed.  We couldn’t go upstairs cause it is closed off to the public, there is NO TELLING what is up there!!!  That took about an hour and then we moved on to the car museum, he had about 12 cars or more.  We then went to the Sincerely Elvis museum where we seen Pricilla’s wedding dress and Elvis’ tux, Lisa Marie’s baby furniture, Elvis concert clothes, and BUNCH of other stuff.  By then it was almost 6pm and we decided to load up and head to Sun Studios about 15 minutes away.  It was closed but we got pictures of it and in the process met this really nice, old, drunk guy that showed us where we could park without getting into trouble or having our car towed; in the alley behind Sun Studios (where Elvis himself probably parked over a dozen times!!!  BIG SMILE) Right across the street was “Forest Park”, named after Nathan Forest.  Tony wanted to go there because Nathan Forest, a calvary commander/lieutenant general for the army of Tennessee, was buried there with his wife under a huge statue of him sitting on a horse.  It was a good thing we ran into that too cause it eliminated me having to stop off at a civil war battlefield (Bryce’s Crossroads) in Tupelo later on!  We then took off walking (we realized later that we parked too far away, it was about 1 mile walk to Beale St.) to Beale St. in downtown Memphis.  We had heard about this restaurant on Beale St. called Dyers, it is an old place that opened in 1912.  We heard about it on a show that came on Turner South (a Ted Turner network) about the best hamburger joints in the south.  So we went there, just thinking we’d walk down get something to eat and go back.  Little did we know we were about to step into a big street party!  Old men (reminiscent of BB King), with their instruments and tip buckets set up on the sidewalks lining both sides of the street, playing the blues!  They were jammin out let me tell ya!  I have been yearning for some of that, but didn’t know how bad til I got there and heard it.  I danced in the street with strangers for hours to some straight up Memphis style blues!  We had sooooo much fun there and even found a Wet Willies!  Wet Willies is a bar that they have in Savannah (they are also in LA, FL, and SC) that me and Pam always meet up at when we go to River St.  Beale St. reminds me a lot of River St. and Bourbon St. in New Orleans.  Though I haven’t been to Bourbon St., YET that is!  Give me time; I’d love to go to Mardi Gras some day.  By the time we walked that long walk (well it was over ½ a mile I know!), got back to our room, and got in bed it was after midnight and we went to sleep.

Sunday, August 17, 2003

We got up Sunday morning around 8:30am and packed everything up in the car.  I left my little shampoo/conditioner bottles and razor in the hotel bathroom, AS USUAL!  We headed out around 9:30am for Tupelo, Mississippi to see Elvis’ birthplace and boyhood home.  We got there about 11:30am and it was closed (didn’t open until 1pm), but you know us, we STILL took pictures for about an hour while we looked around.  I got a picture of myself sitting in the porch swing on the front porch of the house!!!!!!!!!!  Don’t know if it is the original swing or not, looked old though, who knows, but maybe I sat where Elvis once sat many, many years ago!!! 

After that we got back on 78 East for the LONG HAUL back to Macon, Georgia.  It was HOT and my A/C kept cutting out, we were some sweaty people by the time we got home!  I drove from there to Birmingham and let Tony take over from there to the house.  I can drive for about 4-6 hours before it REALLY starts to bother me.  When we got back home it was about 7:30pm.  I think we made better time on the way home than we did going there.  It did rain through sections in both directions, but the rain came down harder and lasted longer with me driving on the way there.  When we went through Alabama we hollered out “RUBEN” when we were around the Birmingham area.  Ha!! Ha!!

All in all we had a GREAT time and all the people we met, from the Elvis fans, to the Graceland staff, to the people on Beale St, and even the “bums” were just as nice as they could be to us.  It was nice to see the older people and the younger people coming together and sharing their memories of Elvis.  He has brought so much joy and touched so many people!!  It is amazing to see all that still going on 26 years after his death!  I also felt so lucky to have experienced the music and people that I did while on Beale St.  I fear this may become an annual event with me from now on.  I will have to take my boys next time, I know they will have a good time too, and I have to pass down the Elvis experience to them so hopefully his memory lives on with them.  For anyone who has thought about going and just hasn’t made it yet...HURRY UP you will love it and wonder why you waited so long!!