We stayed around at the R.V. Park, after taking the dogs out and blogging, we made arrangements to go to a Peabody Hotel in Memphis for Thanksgiving. That will happen in two days time. Anyway we were around 'til about 11, and then we made sandwiches, ate them, and prepared to leave. We got in the jeep, drove out of EZ Daze, and made for a highway. We stopped by a Memphis Visitors Center, which was a pretty big building with a large information desk and a little gift shop. We got some info on what to see, like where MLK jr. died and of course, Graceland.
We then drove to Graceland, on a busy road. It wasn't crazily large, but it had some buildings and had the Graceland Complex on it. It was a flat connected building, and had across the street from it a hill with a nice house on it. I will describe that later. But anyway, we paid ten dollars to park, and walked under a covered bridge to the complex. We saw a huge private plane, silver with blue and red trim, with a lightning bolt and a T C B. Taking Care of Business in a Flash. It also had a Lisa Marie on it, Presley's daughter. We went into the complex and showed our ticket discounts we had gotten at the visitor's center, and got ready to go on the bus to go to Graceland. They had a cafe, quite a few gift shops in the circular lobby, and an outside area. We then went outside, and got audio headphones, orange rope around my neck, and a little ipod looking thing with numbers, a red square and green play button, and also a button making the sound go up and down. We prepared to board the bus. It came around, and we boarded, some ways behind the driver. We went up that hill, and looked at a beautiful colonial designed building, pretty large and with columns and stone. This was Graceland, where Elvis lived in physical, and where, some people think, he STILL lives, in spirit. Nonsense. We got off, and got ready to see the King's house.
Tours in front of the front door told us no video and some other rules I don't want to take time to explain, but the point is that we went in, turning on our tape recorder things. They said welcome, and went on a long intro. Then they said to turn right, seeing Elvis's Christmas Room, which was in itself very beautiful. There was a cool 15ft little couch, which was low and long. On either sides of a three sided square we were in, surrounded by rope, there were pictures of Elvis, his parents, and some other things, like fake oranges. But back to the long room. There was a painting over a fireplace, and two soft nice leather chairs. Beyond was a beautiful Christmas Tree, complete with velvet, ornaments, presents at it's bottom, and a train going around. It was a brilliant display of reds, greens, and whites. And, to top it off, was a white glittering star at the top of the tree. An elegant jewel, in my opinion. There were glass panels with peacocks on them, and a painting and bust of Elvis. Behind all this was a small room with a grand piano and other instruments, where Elvis would play and then go and lay down on the couch. He relaxed a lot in this room. We turned left, and saw a dining room table, with flowers, plates, silver ware, and many fake plants on and beside a china cabinet. By the front right corner was a green chair with wooden legs. It had a present on it. In the two front corners, were kind of thin slim cabinets with many things, even two oriental robed people, one in each cabinet. I listened in the audio tape that in these two rooms Elvis would spend time with his family, read and relax, and also play music that would change the nation. Kind of cool to see the place.
"If you are done in this room," a deep soothing voice on the audio tape said, "please follow me to other rooms. If you want to stay a little longer, press the red stop button and press the green one when you are done with these rooms. (PAUSE AFTER I DON'T STOP IT) Okay then, please follow me. Go down the hall(went down it) and turn left. Get as close to the rope as you can to let others see too. This is the bedroom of Elvis's parents, Gladys Love Presley and Vernon Presley. Elvis loved his parents and wanted them to stay at his home all the time he was living. They had had a little home and had been poor in Elvis's childhood, so Elvis promised he would do a lot for his parents because they had carried him so far. And this is their room. If you are done with etc etc."(go's on whole thing. Let me tell you what I saw in the room. ) It was a dark violet bed, being pretty big but not bragging. It was a pretty simple room, and very light beige. A few paintings, drawers, a bathroom and closet, not much. It told the characters that occupied the room. Simple and plain. Not plain as in boring, just not decorative or radical.
We saw down a hallway a kitchen, where the tape told me that it was "grand central" as Priscella Presley described it. She said their was always SOMEONE in there, because of Elvis being so great of a star. (I'm sorry I keep saying Elvis, my science teacher Mrs. Glover and her assistant Mrs. Mihich say to address someone you don't know as, in an example, Albert Einstein as Einstein or Albert Einstein. But, as everyone knows Elvis Aaron Presley as Elvis, I will address him as Elvis.) Anyway it had a T.V. in the back, cabinets and a stove and microwave and counter tops and all other kitchen things were in it, being mostly of a creamy white color, with a few chestnut wood counters. It connected by doors with the dining room. So did the parents' bedroom with the music room and Christmas room. The audio tape told me to go down the stairs to the basement, but I saw a great interesting room I wanted to see also. They won't skip THIS room, will they. It's so strange and odd..."We will return to the jungle room later, please make down the stairs." Weird. The audio tape knows I'm still up here. I guess it makes that play if I don't go down and activate some motion detector activated. The technology of the 21st Century. Amazing.
I went down. It was a green carpeted staircase with leaves and such separated with glass. I then looked to the left. There was a large yellow low couch, going all around in a semi-square. There was three small T.V.'s, in which had ever changing shows on it. There was a mirror on the left, the full size of the wall.There were some other things in that room, like A LOT of books. I learned in the course of the stay that Elvis was an AVID reader, which would become more real to me in a few minutes. After going into another room, I saw a big pool table, some tables and such, and a really hippie look to it. The ceiling was multicolored with pleated fabric kind of sticks going out like a sun. It was a funky room,where Elvis, like Mark Twain, spent times with his friends until like 3 in the morning, playing billiards, or pool.(Twain called it billiards, Elvis pool) I looked at a small desk with a few old dusty books on it. An African- American 20 year old girl was talking to a person I couldn't see, who was on the stairs. I asked her what the books were, and I had to ask many times before I got an answer. I guess she didn't hear me. Finally she said she couldn't go in without gloves, so I said it wasn't worth it. I went up the stairs to where you could see the Jungle Room. The man she was talking to you on the stairs said, "Wait sir! She has gloves now If you would just go on down...."
"Sure thanks." I went down again. The rope was up and the girls gloves were looking at the books. She said one was about chemistry, one about the most famous people in the world, and one about catholics, a catholic 5th reader. She said Elvis studied about all different kinds of religions, that he wore a cross around his neck and a star on his jacket, so he could gain access to every heaven. It doesn't work like that, but oh well. I thanked the lady for the help. I went to look at that Jungle Room. It had a green grass ceiling and carpet, and had numbersome amounts of wooden chairs with green, dark and light, with designs and carvings in all of the furniture. A few fake vines hung from the ceiling, swinging slightly. Some chairs had animals on the part where you back goes on, particularly a monkey and owl. It was so funky and peculiar, and very jungly. It was a very unique room. We went and saw a car port, a little asphalt patch under a wooden roof Elvis parked his cars under, and also saw a tiny playground with painted red, blue, white metal, with a little slide and swing.Elvis's child used that. There was a white wooden building, where Elvis used as an office. It was on a incline slightly up from us, which was pretty wide in itself. It had a glass wall separating it from us. There was a large desk with papers and paintings and busts and sculptures and little trinkets. It was cool to see the printers, the desk, all the paperwork and old computer, you would think it was anything but that of Elvis's. You might not know this, but besides being a singing rock star, he was a business man to. We saw a model of his old home, and a little shed like room Elvis used for target practice. We had been by now out of the main house, we had been since we were at the car port. We saw a large farm like area with a fence around it, it was like a horse field. It was here where Elvis go carted, tri biked, and did a lot of other fun stuff. He would have fun with his friends, and mess around and just have fun. Even a rock star can play.
The next building kind of looked like an apartment building, brick, with windows and stuff like that. It was where Elvis played raquet ball, although today it's just where they show cool displays. They had an upper part, where their was some gym equipment, and down below was a piano, some yellow couches, a T.V. and bathrooms and a water fountain, which is today still used. This is where, and I can say it truthfully, Elvis sung for the last time, even though he felt terrible. He sung for his friends, at their request. He tried going to sleep, and napped, and then said to his girlfriend he was going to try to read in the bathroom, and of course, go. The last thing she ever said to him was, "Just try to not go to sleep." Elvis called his friend nurse, and she told him what to do, shortly before Elvis Aaron Presley, the King of Rock, died. We didn't get to see the upper level of the house; that was the only place Elvis had private and they want it to stay that way. We didn't see where he died, which was in his bathroom. In a way, I don't want to see it. It's kind of unrespectful to take pictures where a man died, which was in a bathroom, a terrible place and an embarrassing place to die.
We saw some displays, like his sparkly jumpsuits and some old awards. We saw a trophy room, where we saw MORE awards and all record awards he made, like when Hound dog became really famous or one of his other songs did. Did you know Elvis gave money to charities... a lot? He donated much money, being a humanitarian. We saw real newspapers talking about Elvis, and it was there that I saw ELVIS in big words. I do this cool thing sometimes where I can anagram words, it's just something weird about me. It's probably occurred to some of you before, but if you take the second letter, an l, and put it first, then taking the fourth, an i,next, next taking the 3rd, a v, and putting it after that, after that taking the first word, the e, and putting it next, finally taking the final letter, the s, and putting it all together, what does it spell? LIVES. Elvis LIVES. ELVIS lives. ELVIS LIVES. Isn't that kind of cool?
Just something I thought I'd share. I told a lot of the employees about it.
Well, the tour of Elvis's house ended with a stop at the Meditation Garden, an area with statues, plants, a kind of platform supported by columns with steps, and a whole lot of Venetian ivy. It had four long stone rectangles, with names on it. The day had been eerie all along, but this topped the sadness off. I blinked, and then blinked again, after looking at the grave of Elvis. Elvis Presley. It was truly spellbinding. There were photos, stuffed animals and flowers, and even sad music in the background. Here was a man, who changed the face of Rock'n Roll, became an icon, legend, and also a reader and humanitarian. It was sad, yes it was sad, even though I did not know Elvis. But, even if a fan does not know someone, it can still affect them if the person dies. That's because they looked up to them, liked them, and had a relationship with them. Also it's a sense of human pity that every human has. It's feeling sorry for something that's not even your fault. Compassion. Grief. Solitude. And it's what I felt there. I wasn't a fan before going to Graceland, I thought Elvis a stuck-up, rude, regular traditional rock star. Elvis was none of that. He was just the opposite. I believe I've made my point. Let me rest the subject now.
We boarded the bus again, and left the house part. After that we saw an auto museum, seeing all his cars, like that pink one.(Mom name some cars) We saw a black one he drove in the day he died, the last car he drove. We saw some other cool cars, then left that. We saw another museum and such, and saw gift shops. We saw where they operate their radio station, a little box like room with all kinds of equipment. Then we went on the plane, and it was very large, with tables and chairs, even a couch, and surprisingly a full size bed, half-tub, trunk full of books, and more all for Elvis. We then left Graceland. I had a great time seeing where Elvis lived... and lives.
We had dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Good, but they allow you to smoke so very stuffy and uncomfortable. I had potato soup and a loaded potato. Potato Day!
We went back and I did some stuff before sleeping. I had a great day!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!! I didn't say it earlier because I had started it before today, so I guess at the bottom is better than not at all. Gobble, gobble. You'll get to learn all about my Thanksgiving in a day or too. For now, goodbye.
Did you see Squanto? He's supposed to be here for the meal. His whole tribe is here! What do we do? Squanto! Dang! Come on man! Hello, Martha make that turkey more cooked! Hey you! That's not proper pilgrim clothing! Stop right there! The drumsticks are for the meal! Dang! I wish Advil are going to be invented 400 centuries earlier. Not 1621, but 1984 it's going to invented. Oh well. Don't eat the dressing! Come on man! We have to make a good impression! Uh, why can't someone else have this job?-
Andrew.
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