I'm going to Graceland, Graceland In Memphis Tennessee

After our plantation tour in Louisiana we made our way towards Memphis (5½hrs away). we left late afternoon so were just going to try and drive as far as we could. The drive was actually really nice following interstate 40, an elevated road over the swamp lands was crazy and covered a long distance. That night we made it about 30mins outside of Memphis and stopped at a rest stop for the night, sleeping in the car.
Day 1: The rest stop was a little noisy last night as the truck drivers left their trucks running, but overall a pretty good place to stop for free! In the morning we stopped off for some supplies, then made our way into Memphis.

First stop in Memphis was the visitor center to find out about the Memphis area and Graceland. We ended up buying a discounted package from the center, which got us into the rock n roll sights around Memphis at a discounted rate. So we had lots to do over the next two days.

Next we made our way to the Graceland campground that was owned by Lisa Marie Presley and conveniently located right across the road from Graceland. Set up the tent and had some lunch before making our way to see Elvis’s house. The campground was awesome all the little roads were named after Elvis songs and Elvis radio was played throughout the park.

For the afternoon we decided to go and see Graceland, which was only a short walk across the campground. The attraction had more of a theme park feel not a house. After getting our tickets we lined up for the shuttle bus to take us to the actual house that was just across the road. There was an audio tour included with the tour so we put on the headsets and were on our way. We drove through the famous musical note gates and pulled up to the house, not huge by today’s standards but still a beautiful house.

The tour through the house was really cool; we could only see the first floor and the basement, as the top floor was kept private. The rooms were all very extravagant and state of the art design for the time. Our favourite rooms were the bright blue and yellow TV room in the basement and the jungle room that had green carpet from the floor to the roof.

We also got the see some of the grounds around the house, rooms filled with Elvis awards and memorabilia. Before we left we passed the meditation garden where Elvis and his parents were buried. It was so awesome seeing and learning about Elvis. It was even more crazy when we realized that he had passed on before we were even born.

After seeing the amazing house and hearing all about Elvis’s amazing achievements we were even bigger fans. Next we were shuttled back to the main entrance where we continued to look at the sights; the car and fashion museum, Lisa Marie private jet and the Elvis today exhibition.

 

We stopped in at the Graceland Harley Davidson before making our way back to the campground. There was an Elvis Presley Harley Davidson in the store that I sat on and took a picture with some Elvis sunnies.

That evening we made our way to the famous Beal Street, on the way stopping for some Memphis BBQ at A&R for dinner. The restaurant was very basic and the smoker was out the back you could smell the deliciousness as soon as you entered. I had a pulled pork sandwich and Marc had some ribs, the food was really good, probably the best BBQ we had ever had mmm.

Both extremely full we continued onto Beal St; found a park and went for a walk. Beal St. was very busy for a Wednesday night and to make it better there were hundreds of bikes up and down the street. It was really cool walking around the street checking out the bikes, stores, live music and enjoying a beer or two. We really liked Beal St. and can only imagine what it would have been like back in the day.

Day 2: We went and saw the rest of the sights we had tickets for; first stop ‘Sun Studios’ where such stars as Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison were discovered. It was awesome to learn about the history and to actually stand on the spot where Elvis stood and recorded his first song.

After an awesome tour with a great tour guide, we made our way to Stax museum. Stax or ‘Soulsville USA’ originally a recording studio, now a museum and school we read about such stars as Memphis Horns, Staple Singers and Isaac Hayes. All very interesting however we did not know the music as well so we could not relate as easily.

By this stage we were getting hungry so made our way to another BBQ place for lunch. Payne’s BBQ was a little bit of a drive but well worth the effort, we both got a pulled pork sandwich and hands down we had found a new favourite for the best ever. Payne’s was only open for lunch and the smoker was actually in the restaurant, it was very smoky inside but totally worth it (drool)

For the afternoon we only had 2 places left to visit, Gibson guitar factory and the Rock n Soul museum. We hit the guitar factory first; you were not allowed to take any photos but very cool to see how the guitars were made. Each guitar took about 6 weeks to make and the production was crazy with about 50 guitars finished a day. Guitars were only made when ordered and were made in an arrangement of styles and colours.

The Rock n Soul museum was a good way to end the day; the entry cost also came with an audio tour you could listen to as you made your way around the exhibits. We really enjoyed seeing the over all history of music in Memphis and how the music came about from farming families who had run out of work and needed to move to Memphis to find work. It was crazy reading more about the black and white divide and how Martin Luther King Jr. was actually murdered in Memphis. 

That night was pretty quiet for us, we just relaxed at the campground and had an early night.