Captain's Log: Graceland


Graceland

Captain's Log: Graceland
Remember when Elvis died? Me neither. I remember Elvis of course, but I guess I wasn't paying attention when he died. I didn't know where he lived either, but I do now: he lived at Graceland, his home in Memphis, Tennessee.
Elvis' livingroom
Graceland is now a big tourist destination for all things Elvis. Turns out that's a lot of things. It takes, at a minimum, six gift shops to hold all the stuff you can buy to remind you of your trip to Graceland. One for each tour we signed up for. There may be more, but we were too toured to go on any more tours. Six sounds like a lot, but we had a coupon.
The main tour was of the home and the surrounding estate. If you forgot what the 70's looked like, this will remind you. Lots of buildings stuffed with awards Elvis earned throughout his long career. And outfits he wore. And movies he was in. And more awards. Turns out the other tours had more of the same. Guess they couldn't fit them all into the main tour. A truly impressive display.

One of the tours was devoted to the cars Elvis owned, and he owned a few. His estate even managed to hunt down cars he had traded in or given away over the years, so it was quite a collection. The most iconic car was probably his pink Cadillac, but there was also two Stutz Bearcats and a John Deere tractor. Also included was a golf cart representing the dozen or so he owned so everyone in his entourage could have their own for the cart races he liked to have. I'm guessing he got to win a lot.
Elvis'Pink Cadillac
Some of Elvis' record awards










We enjoyed the tour. It was quite a testament to a remarkable career and I found it interesting to see how someone who had essentially unlimited funds lived in the 70s.
- John

Comments

  1. Jim and SandieOctober 14, 2013 at 9:45 PM

    It has been so many years since I was there, this brought back a lot of memories. He definitely lived large.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RickOctober 14, 2013 at 10:31 PM

    Elvis is dead??

    ReplyDelete
  3. Faye N DaveOctober 15, 2013 at 6:04 AM

    Amazing what he accomplished, we were surprised to find out how small Graceland really was, heard about his death on the radio-probably an FM converter.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Odd EssayOctober 15, 2013 at 7:15 AM

    I had taken my kids to Kings Island (Ohio's answer to Disneyworld) for a day's outing... learned that Elvis had died... they played Elvis music over the speakers ALL DAY. Never was an Elvis fan, but we did do the Graceland tour a few years ago. Your blog reminded me of our tour.

    ReplyDelete
  5. RV Khronicles of KevelynOctober 15, 2013 at 7:37 AM

    We haven't been there. Maybe some day. I do remember when Elvis died. It was the day before my birthday the year we got married. Glad you enjoyed the tour.

    ReplyDelete
  6. The Bright'sOctober 15, 2013 at 9:33 AM

    So That's Graceland! Thanks. Looking forward to seeing you soon!

    ReplyDelete
  7. RV Khronicles of KevelynOctober 19, 2013 at 11:57 AM

    Amazon is still actively recruiting workampers. Come on down :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousOctober 20, 2013 at 11:03 AM

    We have never been to Graceland nor did I think I would want to go. You have peaked my curiosity with this post John.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Back in Iowa and changes ahead

Image
The Birthday Girl! I've been contemplating this post ever since we arrive back in Iowa. We got here by way of Smith Center KS where we had some work done at the Excel Service Center. A new air conditioner, gray tank, slide seals and adjustment and we were on our way.  They do a great job there but it was definitely a bill. Our spot outside the bay at the service center I'm 4!! Add caption We arrived back in Iowa in time for both John's birthday and our granddaughter Evie's 4th birthday. It has been so great to see her, Mitch and Jen again. Soon we hope to see our older son Gabe and his wife Melissa. They live in NW Iowa and hope to make it here in a couple weeks. It's also good to see old friends again. A good friend Steph is recovering from chemo and it was so good to see her and hear her CT scan looked good at the end of treatment. My BFF (as the kids say) Trudy and I are back to regular coffee sessions and have a trip to Galena planned next w...
Read more

Time for me to learn to drive this rig.

Image
Trail at Squaw Creek park Yesterday we moved back to Morgan Creek park (about a 15 mile drive) and I drove the rig! We have always said that I needed to start doing this but I never seem to do it. The first year I think John just felt he needed to get proficient at all the driving & parking things before he had me do it and then we just got lazy. It was just easier for him to do it. Recently friends of our that we met in Tucson, John and Terri had a very harrowing experience that reminded us why we both need to be able to drive this rig. John they think had a seizure while driving, luckily not towing but still it is amazing that they survived it. What this meant is that now Terri had to do the driving back to their former home town Sacramento and like me she had not done much driving. She did great and they are now coming off the road and starting a new phase of life. All of John's test look good so far and we wish him the best and hope that it was just a one time isolated...
Read more

The Urban Life

Image
The view from our balcony I have been thinking about this post for awhile. When we are not traveling I find it hard to sit down and write but I have wanted to tell you about our new digs and what living downtown has been like for us. Another balcony view We moved into a one bedroom apartment on the west side of the river in the downtown Cedar Rapids area. This is a brand new building that actually they are still working on. The first floor is businesses, floors 2 and 3 are apartments and floors 4, 5, & 6 are condos. We love the building. Every apartment and condo has a balcony that looks out over the river and the McGrath Amphitheatre. Our little apartment in this building is 767 sq. which, after living in our 5th Wheel for 7 years, seems huge. We feel these apartments were well thought out. The kitchen is wonderful. It has a large island (all  solid countertops - quartz I think) with a large sink and plenty of seating room . We started by buying 3 barstools but f...
Read more