Hey Guys!
This post continues our time in Memphis, TN.
Read Day one here – Read Day 3 here
Click here for 25 things to do in Memphis
On our 2nd day in Memphis, we had booked a tour of Graceland.
You can’t go to Memphis without visiting Graceland!
After arriving to the parking lot, we made a quick stop to take a picture in front of the Graceland sign.
You will then walk into the main entrance where you will find the ticket booths and Glady’s Diner.
Purchase tickets here
Once it gets close to your tour time, you will get in line and wait to be taken to a small room where they play a short film about Elvis.
After the film, you will board a shuttle bus where you will be taken across the street to Elvis’s house.
Before you board the bus, you are given a small interactive iPad with headphones where you will listen to a narrated tour of the house…the tour is narrated by John Stamos.
Standing in line for our tour
I was surprised by how small the house was.
Elvis purchased Graceland in 1957 for $102,000.00. The house sits on 14 acres.
After Elvis died in 1977, Lisa Marie (the sole owner of the house) and her mom, Priscilla, opened the house to the public in 1982.
Once you enter the house, you will start your interactive tour.
The tour includes the living room, his parents’ bedroom, the kitchen, TV room, pool room, the famous Jungle Room, his father’s office, the newly-enhanced Trophy Building, the Racquetball Building – newly-restored to how it looked in 1977, and Meditation Garden.
Here’s the living room
A shot of the stairs going up to Elvis’s bedroom – all of the upstairs is shut off to visitors. I had read that Elvis’s bedroom was left untouched since the day of his death.
His parent’s bedroom
You can still see his mom’s clothes hanging in the closet
The dining room
The Kitchen
The TV room
The pool room
The famous Jungle Room
Elvis added this tropical man cave to his mansion in the mid-’60s. Its jungle atmosphere came complete with a built-in rock waterfall and green shag carpet, and he furnished it with ferns and lacquered wood furniture.
The Jungle Room also became the King’s final recording studio, where he recorded much of his last two albums.
Lisa Marie’s favorite chair in the Jungle Room
After the Jungle Room, you will walk outside to see his dad’s office, the trophy building, the racquetball building and the Meditation Garden where Elvis, his twin brother, his mom, dad, grandmother and his grandson (Lisa Marie’s son), are all buried near the pool.
Lisa Marie’s swing set
His dad, Vernon’s office
A model of Elvis’ birthplace in Tupelo, MS
A shot of the back of the house
The Trophy building – this room displays lots of different items that Elvis owned along with a display of gold and platinum discs and other awards.
The only portrait that Elvis had painted of himself…he paid $18k to have it painted in 1969.
The Racquetball Building – completed in 1975 for 200k. It had a weight training area, a full size racquetball court, a Jacuzzi and a dressing room.
The Meditation garden and pool
The grave sites of the Presley’s
After the pool area, you will get back on the shuttle bus and go back over to the ticket building.
Also located on the grounds near the ticket building, is a huge complex of buildings that display tons of Elvis’s belongings such as his motorcycle collection, car collection, clothing, records, his airplanes and much, much more! You could easily spend a full day here!
I was shocked at how much there was to see!
The motorcycle and car collection building….he sure had a lot of stuff!
The most famous car he owned…the 1955 Pink Cadillac. He first used the car when he would go on tours but later gave it to his mom who didn’t even have a driver’s license!
After this exhibit, we walked over to Glady’s Diner to have lunch.
I ordered the famous peanut butter and banana sandwich while the hubby ordered a hotdog and fries.
After lunch, we headed to the next building that housed Elvis’s records, a document collection and some of his clothing.
Some of the items on display
The newly-opened Elvis: Dressed to Rock exhibit features more than 100 pieces of Elvis’s stagewear including jumpsuits, jewelry, capes and more!
This was my favorite exhibit!
After walking through all of the exhibits, we walked outside to go see his two airplanes that are on display.
His airplane that he named after Lisa Marie
Shots of the inside
Elvis’s private bedroom & bathroom on the plane
The other plane he owned
The inside
After seeing the planes, we decided to leave.
Tip: Click here to learn how you can visit the grounds of Graceland for free
After we left, we pulled over and took a picture of the gate at Graceland.
We then headed to an area called Victorian Village.
This area was once nicknamed Millionaire’s Row.
Between 1845 and 1890, over a dozen three- and four-story Victorian-style homes were built along this “Millionaire’s Row.”
Cotton magnates and riverboat tycoons were beating down the door to move into this prosperous neighborhood.
By the end of World War II, the neighborhood had changed so much that the wealthy families abandoned their mansions here. While many of these fantastic homes are gone, several still stand today, thanks to careful restoration.
Here’s a shot of the houses we saw….you can tour two of these – the Mallory-Neely House and the Woodruff-Fontaine house.
After admiring these beautiful homes, we drove a short distance to see the oldest house in Memphis called the Magevney House.
The house dates back to the early 1800’s.
After this stop, we headed to the Lorraine Motel which is now a civil rights museum.
This hotel is where Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968.
After leaving here, we stopped off for a quick picture of the Calvary Episcopal Church that was founded in 1832.
The church is the oldest public building in Memphis and the first Episcopal church in Shelby County.
After leaving this church, we passed another church….not sure what the name was.
We then headed to the Second Presbyterian Church that was started in 1844.
Martin Luther King spoke here several times.
The church was under renovations at the time so I was unable to get a good picture.
After we left here, we headed back to our hotel so we could go see the famous ducks at the historic Peabody Hotel.
You can see the “duck march” every day at 11 am and 5 pm….this has been a tradition since the 1930’s.
Tip: Arrive early because you wouldn’t believe how popular this is!
Bellman Edward Pembroke was the hotel’s first “duck master”. He retired after 50 years.
The hotel is absolutely beautiful! It opened in 1869 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The ducks being marched out of the fountain 
After watching the ducks, we headed to Beale Street to walk around for a while.
We went into A. Schwab to check it out….it’s the oldest surviving business on Beale St.
It opened in 1876 and was owned by the same family until 2011 when it was sold to someone outside of the Schwab family.
The store carries a lot of quirky souvenirs and has an old fashioned soda fountain where they serve sandwiches, salads, ice cream, shakes and more.
We looked around for a while and ended up purchasing a couple of t-shirts.
After leaving here, we headed back to BB Kings for dinner.
We had eaten here our first night in Memphis and really enjoyed the music and the food.
The first night I had ordered BBQ so this time, I decided to order chicken with creamed potatoes and steamed veggies.
The hubby ordered fried fish and fries.
Sadly, our food wasn’t as good this time….my chicken was like eating leather and my hubby said he wished he had stuck with the ribs.
The music wasn’t as good either as Memphis Jones wasn’t performing again.
Oh well, you win some and you lose some!
After dinner, we headed back out to Beale Street again….
It was cool seeing it all light up!
We got to see an amazing sunset!
After walking around for a while, we called it a night.
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 3!