Graceland

This is the staircase that you see as you walk in the front door.


This sitting room is just to the right as you walk in the door. This is a 15 foot white couch and there is a magnificient stained glass that partially closes off the inner room where the piano is.



The Dining Room ... this beautiful room was just to the left as you walked in the front door.

Elvis` parents bedroom.
The TV Room....rhinestone studded cushions, lots of mirrors and bright yellow room ....all looks pretty normal to me.


The Pool Room .... in this room the ceiling, walls and the couch were all covered in the same fabric.


The Jungle Room ..... unique in that the back wall was a flowing water wall and the floor and ceiling was covered with green carpet.








There were so many trophys, as well as gold and platium records that it was unbelievable. It took three rooms to display all the awards.


This is Elvis` final resting place.

Memphis City Tour

Today we toured Memphis where we got to see some of the downtown area and the Mississippi River as well as a glimpse of Mud Island. It is not really an island but instead a small peninsula crated when the river was diverted in 1960. Today it houses a museum, resturants and an amphitheater. It is accessible by monorail, by foot or by ferry.

We drove by Victorian Village, a street where in the mid 19th century a few wealthy lawyers, bankers and cottom giants etc. built victorian style homes. The homes have been maintained or restored to their original glory and some of them offer public tours.



We made a stop at the famous Beale Street named birthplace of the Blues and Rock and Roll. It has many bars, resturants and of course Schwab, a 120 year old general store.


We drove passed the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assinated on April 4 1968. It has been kept exactly the same as it was when he was assinated and is now part of the National Civil Rights Museum. A wreath hangs on the motel's second floor balcony where Martin Luther King was standing when a single bullet claimed his life.

We passed by the Pyramid Arena ahich has been a focal point of the city's skyline since 1991. The arena, guarded by Ramses a 20 foot statue which stands outside, is 32 stories high, holds 21000 people and has a stainless steel exterior. Sadly it is being used less and less but plans are underway to breathe new life into the Pyramid.

We were treated to a special performance by the Peabody Ducks. The story goes that the owners of the Peabody Hotel went duck hunting using live decoys for the hunt. After the hunt was over and being pretty full of Tennessee Whiskey the "Boys" thought it would be pretty funny to put the "live decoy ducks" in the hotel fountain which was in the lobby. The hotel patrons were so thrilled whth the spectacle and so began a tradition of having ducks in the lobby fountain. At 11:00 AM each day the ducks are brought by elevator from their penthouse suite in the hotel to the lobby fountain where they spend their day and then at 5:00 PM they get out of the fountain and march along the red carpet to the elevator which again takes them to their penthouse suite. The ducks "work" 7 days a week but after 3 months they are able to retire and do what ducks do for the remainder of their lives.

Bristol Caverns

Founded in 1863 by Samuel Sesler who was digging a cellar the caverns had been used for many years before by the natives as an escape route and as a means of fresh water and to keep food items cool. After its discovery it continued to be used as a means of fresh water and for keeping things cool but was also used by the mayor of the town to hold council meetings in. It seems its constant temperature...apporximately 70 celcus and the outstanding accoustics made the chambers excellent for this purpose. It was said that whatever was said in the room could be heard by the mayor.
The river which helped form the caverns now flows some 180 feet below the surface.

The amazing stalactites attached to the roof of the caverns extend in some areas to meet the stalagmite which form upward from the cavern floor. The caverns are continually forming more stalactites and stalagmites from the constant dripping of ground water through the roof of the caverns. It takes approximately 150 years for a statactite to grow half of an inch.




This tour was so worth the small sum of $9.00 and time-wise the approximately 45 minutes that it took. It was very informative and a joy for the eyes.

No I didn't go into this small space...I stayed on the designated path and kept an eye out for the bats that the tour guide was kind? enough to point out to us.