My flight does not leave until 7:45pm but I do have a three hour drive to Nashville. I talked to Karen to see if she could help me figure out what I should do today. I could hang around Memphis or I could just head to Nashville and do something there. We decided that the best option was to go to Graceland and tour the mansion since I did not do that earlier in my trip. I bought my ticket online ($45.75 USD including taxes) and then did some final packing before checking out of the hotel.
I got to Graceland around 9:30am and since my tour was not until 10:15am, I walked across the street to get some pictures of the gates and the wall. There were many messages to Elvis written on the wall and even the sidewalk. When I got back to the complex, I asked if I could do the tour earlier and they said yes. Before the actual tour starts, you are required to watch a five minute movie about Elvis and then it’s off to have the mandatory photo taken in front of the Gates of Graceland backdrop. While you are waiting to board the bus, everyone is given an iPad which is your audio/video guide to the mansion. Ten years ago, it was a like a Walkman. My how things have changed.
It is only a two minute drive from the complex to the mansion. It is so cool when you drive through the gates and up the driveway. We got off of the bus and just had to wait a few minutes before entering. I really wanted to see what has changed in the house with the opening of the entertainment complex. Thankfully it is exactly as it was the last time I was there. The iPad was nice because you could get additional information about any of the rooms you were in. What I really liked was that you go through the house at your own pace. There is no actual tour guide moving you along. If you want to take more time in a room, feel free to do that.
When you finish touring the house, you head outside to visit Vernon’s office, the Trophy Building and the Racquetball Building. The only thing that has changed is that all of the gold records that were on the walls of the racquetball court are now housed back at the entertainment complex.
The final place you visit on the tour is the Meditation Garden. This is where Elvis is buried along with his parents and his grandmother. As I was standing in front of Elvis’ grave, I was struck as to how much Elvis meant to the world. There were notes, flowers and displays from every part of the world. Elvis is still loved by many people. I spent a little bit of time here paying my respects. After picking up a couple of last minute things from the gift shop, I started my road trip to Nashville.
The drive was long and boring and I don’t think it helped that I only got a few hours of sleep last night. Even though I had about an hour before I needed to drop the car off, I just headed straight to the airport. This gave me some extra time to work on the blog. I think it took me about ten minutes to drop the bag off and go through security. I checked the information board to see what was available for food and to my surprise, there was Neely’s BBQ. Now this truly was the last BBQ of the trip.
Boarding began at 7:15pm and even though I was in the “B” group, I was able to get an entire row to myself. Yippee. The flight went by quickly and we landed at 10:10am. After I got my bag, I walked outside to find the shuttle bus for the Baymont Inn & Suites. That was a lucky break. I got back to the hotel and checked in. I figured I would be too tired to drive home so I decided to stay the night ($89.49 USD including taxes).
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