Day 3, Sunday 12/30/07

Today was a full day in Memphis.
Blue sky, and about mid-50's.
We walked next door to Graceland and were surprised to find a 2 hour wait - for the $30.00 tickets. There are "ton's" of people here to see this place. It's unbelievable. And it's every day of the week.
However, for $68.00 per person, we could get a VIP pass and go to the front of the line wherever we visited.
We waited!

We spent the time visiting the two jets Elvis owned that are on display here, his auto museum, his wardrobe collection, and lots of gift shops.
The visit to Graceland itself was about one hour long. I had forgotten just how many records Elvis recorded, how many awards he won, and how many movies he made in his brief 20 some years in the business. Everything is here to see.

After the tour we headed to downtown to see Beale Street - it's the Bourbon Street of Memphis. Lot's of bars and restaurants and music. Most of the music was to be later on in the evening so we listened to a little "house" blues at B.B. Kings place. Ate ribs, beans, and tamales at Blues City Cafe chased down with a few beers, then back on the shuttle back to camp.

It's Monday as I write this and we are traveling today to Texarkana, TX. I'll post pictures of Graceland tonight if we get settled in early enough. But, anyway, we hope everyone has a Happy New Year. It's time to get back on the road.


The Pink Cadillac

Some of the hundreds of wardrobes on display - I mean hundreds!

Elvis is buried at Graceland! I never knew that. They moved his remains there for security purposes - along with his parents.

The "Jungle" room
The kitchen where fried peanutbutter & banana sandwiches were prepared.
Some more wardrobes.
Graceland from the highway outside
Another kitchen picture
Elvis's Graceland livingroom

Graceland from the driveway
Elvis's business office
Elvis's desk
Graceland back yard & horse pasture
More of the cemetery at Graceland
The dining table at Graceland
Just one room of many displaying the awards Elvis received
Elvis's private jet
His smaller jet
Ellen inspecting Elvis's bedroom aboard the jet
The dining table on the "Lisa Marie"

Day 2, Saturday 12/29/07

Today we drove 375 miles to Memphis, TN.

On the way we stopped by the National Corvette Museum. Always wanted to but always in too big a hurry to get on to the next stop. Today we got an early start and saw the billboard for the museum again and just decided to pull off and have a look. Very nice Vett's there but not enough of the 65 - 67's I personally like so much. Some pictures below.

Tonight we are in a campground right next to Graceland.
Tomorrow we will do the tourist thing and take a tour.
Everything around here is about Elvis!

The car battery was completely dead for the second straight day after towing it with the BrakeBuddy hooked up.

That's it for excitement around here.

Day 1, Friday 12/28/07

Our Southwest 2008 adventure began this morning at 10:30. We pulled out of the drive just as the snow started falling. It seemed as though we picked the exact time to head for the desert southwest. However the snow followed us all the way to Kokomo before it turned to rain.

We got to our destination - the KOA campground in Shepherdsville, Ky - 300 miles south.

The BrakeBuddy malfunctioned and drained the car battery. I got the charger out and it wouldn't work. Had to get the KOA "guy" to stay 5 minutes past his "go home" time of 6:00pm to run to the shed to loan me their charger. He seemed really put out considering he charged me $41.00 to spend the night in his muddy campground.

Certainly nothing picture worthy around here. Tomorrow Memphis.

Bye!