Nashville & Graceland

My stay in Memphis was overshadowed by my recovering from food poisoning from my last evening in Nashville. The hotel we stayed in, The Peabody was a luxury for us with a beautiful room. A welcome place to rest after my awful last night in Nashville. We arrived in time to see The Parade of the Ducks. What a hoot! The hotel makes quite a productions out of their entrances and departures, with a grand master dressed in a red coat and cane to give us the patter about the ducks. At precisely 5 pm on red carpet the 5 ducks leave the fountain and march to a waiting elevator to go to their rooms. What fun to watch.The next morning somewhat recovered we packed our bags, and drove to Graceland which is not very far outside of Memphis.

A shuttle bus takes you from the parking lot to the grounds and house. The house is not large, which was a surprise. The tour though is self guided with a audio cassette and takes about an hour. The house has been preserved just as it was when Elvis lived there. Photos were allowed, and we were able to tour the ground floor, basement rooms and some out buildings.

My favorite part of the tour was have a chance to view the costumes that Elvis wore through out his career.

One disappointment was that the audio tour only gave a very brief overview and I never gave a sense of who Elvis was beyond the performer.

This photo of Elvis's Aloha Jumpsuit which includes belt & cape that could be yours for $3400.00. There was no lack of Elvis memorabilia for sale at Graceland's shops.

After our tour finished we headed north and home. The first leg of the journey we crossed the Mississippi twice and drove through 4 states Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri and Kentucky where we stayed the night.

It's good to be back.