Day 4 - Graceland and all that is Elvis

We woke up at our Ramada hotel in time to catch the end of the continental breakfast .. pretty basic options, but we were not really expecting much considering the price. The staff was very diligent in stopping breakfast at exactly 9:30, Lu was in the process of pouring some cereal into her bowl when the lady turned the cereal dispensers against the wall .. Lu had 2 fruit loops in her bowl .. very funny. What was not funny was the hotel turning the internet off at 10:30, 30 minutes before checkout .. negative good-will for Ramada.

Ok, so after packing up the vehicle and punching in the new coordinates it was off to the real Memphis .. the one in Tennessee, no longer in Arkansas everything just started feeling right.

We stopped at the first tourist info booth we could find, cause you can never have enough flyers .. then it was off to see the King. Nuvi had a good sleep last night and was not cranky at all, we arrived at Graceland and got a 9$ parking spot (oh ya, I knew how this day was going to go) .. and then proceeded inside to get some access, after reviewing the options we went with the Platinum package, this gave us access to Graceland, Elvis' planes, Elvis' cars and other Elvis themed events.

When walking through Graceland it came to light that today was the anniversary of Elvis' passing ... August 16th 1977. I have to admit after going through the whole experience it was tough not to be affected and felt some sadness, it was an experience that cannot be put into words.

Once the tour was over, we walked to the front of the mansion and waited for the crowds to disperse, there was a family taking pictures and Luanne offered to take a picture of all of them, this opened up a conversation with 2 history teachers and their daughter from New York. We had a really great conversation and I was impressed with their knowledge and respect for Canada, totally not what I would expect from an American from New York, a nice experience. They were on their way up from New Orleans and gave us an inside tip on a hotel they stayed at in New Orleans, we are in the process of booking a room there as I type. Stay tuned for the upcoming review :)

After Graceland and the other money grab tours we strolled down Elvis Presley Boulevard to find a big tent with some Elvis impersonators entertaining a crowd .. by the time I got around to sitting down while Lu checked out the last of our paid tours, I was horrified to listen to a guy who vaguely resembled Elvis (in his fat years) but had no similarities when it came to sounding like Elvis .. basically it was a karaoke contest and I couldn't wait to get out of there.

So about 5 hours after we arrived it was time to leave, we got our 9$ worth of parking let me tell you.

We typed 'Memphis' into Nuvi and off we went .. after a few miles and a few minutes we found ourselves driving right by the other main attraction of Memphis, Sun Studio ... we stopped in for a sneak peek to tomorrows main event, we also picked up a few souvenirs .. cant wait until tomorrow, I think this is going to be pretty cool.

We ate supper at the Hard Rock Cafe on Beale street, this street had a party like atmosphere that was nice to see, although I am not sure what the party was for, it was still cool to check out.

We then back tracked to a few blocks from Graceland and are staying in the 'Scottish Inns and Suites' which has a really wicked heated pool.

Time to crash and review all the sights and sounds of the day .. truly a memorable day was enjoyed from start to end.