Arrival Tuesday, July 21
212 Miles | 3.5 Hours
Shortly after hitting the road, we spot the first of several dead armadillos by the side of the road before encountering a sign that gives us the choice of Nashville or Asheville. We pick Nashville, once again heading northwest but this time sticking to the outskirts and passing through. This portion of the state is flatter and the trip goes by pretty quickly. The streets and buildings in Memphis feel a little bit run-down as we approach our destination.
We pull into town mid-afternoon and are admitted by a security guard into the ramshackle Graceland RV park which is literally on the outskirts of tbe parking lot of Graceland.
It’s basically a glorified gravel lot with hookups and we park beside another vintage silver trailer that’s older and smaller than ours and head over to catch the last tour of the day, wrapping up our last call of the day minutes before the tour starts.
The Presley museum is a ghost town, it’s literally just us and one other couple on the bus over to the Graceland estate, which sits quietly frozen in time. The home is a testament to the eccentric taste of its longtime occupants with crazy decor and room after room of lavish living environment. We have the whole place pretty much to ourselves, with an iPad video tour guide to tell us about each of the rooms as we pass through them.
The tour of the home ends out in the meditation garden by the pool where the graves of Elvis and all his relatives have been place for security, overlooked by a giant cross and religious themed sculptures, including a tribute to Elvis' mother who was Jewish. It all imparts a peaceful and slightly somber environment.
Next up we tour Elvis’ planes, includjng a 727 which has been converted to an RV tour bus in the sky, complete with dinig room, a lounge and a lavish master suite with gold fixtures and king sized bed. Then it’s off to see the car museum which holds the collection of 20-30 of Elvis' cars and other vehicles that range from a purple Cadillac to a Mercedes 600 limo.
This is followed by another wing dedicated to Elvis’ time in the service, and then another museum called legends that is laid out like a wing of tbe rock n roll hall of fame with artifacts from a wide-range of artists ranging from Gene Simmons to Dolly Parton to john Lennon with quotes from them dedicated to Elvis and his influence on them.
This is followed by another museum wing called "Elvis the Entertainer" where row after row of gold records and hundreds of his stage outfits are on display in full glory. More museum wings follow, each with a gift shop in between and we are literally the last visitors of the day so we quietly stroll through, taking our time to see the sights before they close the place down behind us.
Mari takes one more important call in the courtyard while Datta enjoys his favorite exhibit which is a walk back through Elvis’ early career through a vignette of rooms with recreated scenes from sun studios and KWKH radio station where he got his first airplay.
We return to the trailer and meet our neighbors in tbe canned ham who are a pleasant enough older hippie couple from Michigan who give us a tour of their vintage trailer before setting up to play a game of Euchre (of course).
We head downtown to check out the blues scene on Beale street, finding it pretty quiet, and still showing signs of recent rioting, as the Hard Rock Cafe is boarded up.
We walk to a nearby hotel that’s serving breakfast under the lights on tbe Sidewalk, while streetcars pass by intermittently. There’s an undercurrent of poverty and racial unrest that is a little unsettling despite a visible police presence as we make our way back to the car which tends to stand out with our mountain bikes mounted on top.
Departure Wednesday, July 22
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