Graceland

(Today's post by Derek)

Hello Friends! I've been asked to do a guest blog post and tell a little story about an adventure that Tyler and I went on. A good friend of ours, Chris Misun, was getting married at the beginning of October. Tyler and I decided to make a quick trip down to Alabama for the wedding. Of course, because I'm an Elvis lover, one of my first thoughts was, "This is my chance to visit Graceland"! Something I have been wanting to do for quite a while. Tyler and I made a plan and left KC around 11pm. this had us arriving in Memphis around 7am the next morning. Graceland opens at 9am, so Ty got some sleep before we went in. I was way too excited to sleep.

We purchased the Platinum Tour which include a tour of the mansion, and 6 other exhibits. (If I was there alone I totally would have gone for the VIP tour, but because I'm the one with the unhealthy Elvis fascination, I didn't want to force Ty to spend the extra money. He was a good sport joining me for the Platinum Tour though!)

On the bus ready to cross the street to tour the mansion.

This window is directly above the front door to Graceland and is the window to E's bathroom. Elvis died right on the other side of that glass.

E's living room and music room in the back.

This staircase leads upstairs to the bedrooms. The door is locked and they guard the steps. Visitors are not allowed upstairs in Graceland. Apparently they have not moved or cleaned anything in Elvis' room since he died. I'm not sure whether that's true or not, but it would be awesome if it was.

The dining room where E would snack on a Peanut Butter and 'nana sandwich.

The kitchen.

This is E's TV room. He had 3 TVs installed so he could watch ABC, NBC, and CBS at the same time. He saw that the President watched 3 TVs so he thought he should too.

The pool room with walls and ceiling lined with over 3000 yards of fabric. There is a tear in the pool table felt from a trick shot gone bad.

This is the jungle room. Elvis added this room to Graceland. Notice the matching carpet on the floor and ceiling. Nice.

The office is in a building behind Graceland. This is where Elvis' dad, Vernon, worked. All of the fan mail was filtered through here. Also, when Elvis returned to Graceland from the Army, he did a television interview behind one of the desks.

In one of the other buildings on the property, there is a hall of fame set up with lots of Elvis' accomplishments. Here I am in a long hall lined with gold records!

This is Elvis' racquetball court. It's been converted into another showcase for gold records and jumpsuits. The night before Elvis died, he played some racquetball in this very room, then went in and ate some ice cream and cookies before going to bed.

This is the Meditation Garden where Elvis, his mother, father, and grandmother are buried. There is also a memorial stone for his twin brother who died at birth, Jesse Garon.

Graceland from the front yard. Keep off the grass. I got yelled at right after snapping this photo.

Me at Graceland.

We toured Elvis' car collection. This is Elvis' famous pink Cadillac. It was his mother's favorite car.

This is one of Elvis' limousines. This car can be seen in the film "Elvis on Tour". There is a shot of Elvis and crew getting into this car after a show.

Elvis' plane the "Lisa Marie".

Taking Care of Business in a Flash! Elvis adopted this slogan and had the TCB logo put on all kinds of things. I really wanted to buy a sweet TCB sweatshirt in the gift shop, but I thought $50 was a little steep. I settled for a coffee mug.

After touring Graceland, we traveled south for 5 more hours to Meridian, Mississippi where we met up with our friend Chris and his family. The wedding was held an hour East of Meridian, near Livingston, Alabama. It was on a cool property along a river. There was a chapel, and cabins to stay in on the property. This was our cabin.

Behind the Chapel was an area for the reception. It was very nice!

The happy couple.

One last photo op before Tyler and I headed home.