NotTheRock Musings

So there we were, in Memphis, Tennessee.

The morning of 12/28, we took our time getting moving and headed over to Graceland at about noon-ish. And the lines were already there. It was like freakin' Disneyland. And Graceland falls into that category I spoke of in my last post of things I would never make a point to go see unless I happened to be passing through town. I mean, seriously... Elvis' home?

To be fair, though, it was definitely a cool experience and I'm glad we did it. Considering that the King died when I was not even two years old, it was interesting to see his incredible legacy and the impact he had on America. I mean, this guy was a true icon and it seemed like everything he touched turned gold (or platinum, to make a pun).

Every album or appearance was gobbled up by the public and he was outrageously famous from the '50s through his death in 1977. And he was only 42 when he died. Granted, he looked like hell, but can you imagine if he'd lived longer? I couldn't help but wonder how he would have altered his act for the '80s. It probably would have been pretty cool to see. Who else transcended music in the '50s, '60s AND '70s, all while kind of reinventing his image each time and adjusting to the times? I think that's what made him as cool as he was -- he was loved by many generations and he didn't just sit on what had made him famous. He kept reinventing himself and I respect that.


The car museum, with a collection of Elvis-related cars, was quite cool. It had his famous pink Cadillac, as well as Priscilla's favorite Mercedes, a gift from Elvis. Very cool stuff.

We also saw his private plane and THAT was nifty. It was, obviously, all customized and gaudy as hell. It was from the '70s so I guess that made sense, but even the seat belts were trimmed in gold.

As we walked through, Watersyne says to me, "Can you even imagine the drugs they were doing while partying in this thing?"

And it's true... I mean, this was like being on an early version of Air Force One. Everything was customized with sofas and tables and private rooms, etc. Elvis could play any music he wanted through the system and, of course, near his favorite chair was the control panel for everything. He had a phone to the cockpit, of course, but he also had a telephone that could call anywhere in the world. I know that sounds simple enough, but think about that for a second. This was in the early-to-mid-1970s. Calling anywhere in the world... from an airplane?? That was truly incredible and all of this plane stuff gives you a rough idea just how rich this guy really was. He couldn't burn through his money if he tried. And it sure seemed like he was trying.

Another cool thing was the fact that Elvis helped so many local Memphis charities. Many of his thousand-dollar donation checks are on the wall in the mansion. The guy continually gave a thousand here, a thousand there and he really spread it around. There were dozens on the wall and apparently that was just a sampling and it was something he did every year with little to no publicity about it. So that's good.

The mansion was pretty neat, too. And it was kind of surprising, honestly, how modest it actually was. Sure, there was a lot of gaudy, '70s shit and parts of it looked like the Brady Bunch house... but it wasn't as extreme of a home as you might expect, especially after seeing his plane.


The kitchen in particular was modest and had those old green sinks and appliances that everybody seemed to have in the '70s. Apparently, Elvis bought the place early on in his career and never wanted to leave. So while he built some additions to it and added many features, the home remained relatively modest, as I said. It's certainly a mansion by 1950s Memphis standards, I'm sure, but you know what I mean. The pic of the yellow room is a shot of Elvis' rec room. This was redesigned in the '70s -- in case you couldn't tell -- and had three or four TVs (also from that era) built into the wall. Back then, even the richest guys had nothing more than 20-inchers. Heh. Suckas.

He also had a stable for his horses and an expansive run of land, which he used to like to race around on golf carts, leading friends and family and acting like a kid. It's kind of cool sounding and it must have been nice to be Elvis.

We also saw the gravesites of his parents, his grandmother and him. It's very sad, of course, because the guy would only be 73 today. He predeceased his father and even his grandmother. And I didn't know this little factoid, but Elvis was actually a twin but his brother died at birth. I'm sure true Elvis fans know all of this but it was news to me.

After leaving Graceland, we headed into downtown Memphis to find a place called Rendezvous, which was recommended to us for really good ribs. We each got an order and, yes indeed, they were good.

So after stuffing ourselves on ribs and getting heartburn (God, we're old), hit the road again, barrelling South into Mississippi and the "deep South." Yee-haw. Good thing we were white. Although I'm sure the Jersey tags wouldn't do us any favors.

Labels: driving to Tejas, Elvis, Graceland, on the road again