Cross Country Road Trip, 2019 - Day 3

Graceland

Ducks waddling down a red carpet, a king’s jungle room, an assassination at a motel, and an elevator ride in a pyramid. What do these things have in common? The answer: Memphis, Tennessee. Today we experienced complete sensory overload as we spent the day bouncing from one new experience to the next.

We left Tupelo this morning heading straight to Memphis for our first stop at The Peabody Hotel, a luxury hotel with a charming little tradition dating back to the 1930’s called The Peabody Duck March. Every day at 11:00 am, the Duckmaster, wearing a red jacket and carrying a black cane with a polished brass duck head for a handle, retrieves 5 mallards from their $200,000 penthouse on top of the Peabody and escorts them to the lobby where they toddle along a tourist-lined red carpet all the way to the lobby’s fountain where they climb a few steps and jump in, spending the day swimming and eating until 5:00 pm when the Duck March runs in reverse, and they all go back to their rooftop home until the next day.

I wanted to get to the Peabody early to secure my place next to the red carpet. We pulled up to the hotel at 10:30 and a large group of senior citizens was shuffling down the sidewalk, and I knew there was only one place they could be headed. Chad told me to jump out and he’d park the car so I could get our spot. I speed-walked past the elderly to make sure none of them got a better spot than me. I’d like to formally apologize to the octogenarians for my selfish behavior. Don’t get me wrong, I’d do it again for sure, but, still I’m a little sorry. There were no good viewing spots left on the first floor, so, once again, I ran past the cast of Cocoon as they hobbled up the stairs and I wedged myself into an available spot. Chad showed up a few minutes later and we watched the procession which ended up being a little anti-climatic but still really cute.

The ducks are in the fountain behind us
because that's what happens when strangers
take pictures for you

Lunch at Gladys' Diner

After spending time wandering the hotel and stealing fancy monogrammed paper towels from the bathroom (relax, Mom, they were free), we drove to Graceland and paid $10 to park and another $98 to tour Elvis Presley’s mansion and airplanes. In 2017, a new 200,000 square-foot Graceland complex opened across the street from the actual mansion and cost $45,000,000 to build. The complex houses the ticket pavilion, gift shop, restaurants, and other things we didn't see. Before our tour started, we ate lunch at Gladys’ Diner which is named after Elvis’ mother. Of course we ordered the famous pb & banana sandwich friend in bacon grease, and we sat in a Cadillac booth while we ate it. I only ate half my sandwich because it tasted exactly how you think it would taste. Chad finished his sandwich, but said “Eh, it tastes like something I could make at home.” More than anything, he enjoyed dipping his onion rings in the mayo/mustard/ketchup dip I created which he dubbed “the condiment trinity.”

Actual photo of Chad watching
 the Elvis movie

When our tour was ready to begin, we were ushered into a room with a huge screen where they flashed images and videos and facts about Elvis before our eyes at such a rapid pace it was almost like we were being strategically brainwashed to worship The King of Rock and Roll. And I’ll admit that once the film was over any one of us would have probably screamed and cried and clawed at poor Elvis if he walked through the door.

Sufficiently indoctrinated, we boarded a 25-seat shuttle and were driven across the street and through the gates of Graceland. “Why is there snow on the ground?” was my first thought. My second thought was, “Why does that sign say ‘Merry Christmas to All’ when it’s 99 degrees outside?” It turns out they’re filming a Christmas movie at Graceland, so the home is decorated for the holidays.

Elvis bought Graceland in 1957 for about $100,000 and lived there until he died in it in 1977. Everything in the home is original, and velvet ropes prevent people like me from nose diving into the couches and smelling the carpets. Graceland employees handed us iPads and headphones for the audio tour narrated by John Stamos. Fun Fact: Elvis had a stillborn twin brother named Jesse (hold on, that’s not the fun part), and Uncle Jesse’s character on Full House was named after him as a tribute to Elvis.

As we walked through the house photographing the thick shag green carpet in the Jungle Room and the fabric-covered walls in the Billiard Room, Chad and I both agreed that our house should be decorated exactly like Graceland. There was something comforting and cozy about it and who cares if it’s outdated and gaudy? The entire upstairs is off-limits to tourists because it’s the Presley family’s private quarters. We were told Lisa Marie returns several times a year. After touring the home, we moved on to the backyard, Vernon’s office (Elvis’ dad), the racquetball building, and a few other stops. The tour ended at the Meditation Garden where Elvis, his parents, and his grandmother are all buried. Elvis was only 42 when he died—about a year younger than I am. The Meditation Garden was a moving end to a really fun tour.

Elvis' living room with the 15-foot couch

The dining room

The kitchen

The TV room

The billiard room

The jungle room

The piano in Elvis' racquetball building.
He played it a few hours before he died

The Meditation Garden where Elvis is buried

By now it was 3:00 and we had a 25-minute wait for our shuttle to return. The 99-degree Memphis heat was sweltering. Imagine cramming into a sauna with a large group while 600 children point blow dryers set to high at you, and then you climb into a tanning bed that’s been lit on fire and someone serves you a sizzling platter of fajitas. It was about 10 degrees hotter than that. I am not exaggerating.

The plane was cool. Everything was wrapped in plastic
like at a grandma's house in the 50's, though.

When we finally got back to the Graceland complex, we bought some things from the gift shop and then braved the heat once more for a tour of Elvis’ planes. At first, the gold flecked sinks and 24-karat-gold-plated seat belt buckles on the plane seemed a bit over the top, but when we learned Elvis cut corners by only installing 3 televisions on his plane, the gold became much more palatable.

We guzzled water on our walk back to the car and shifted our focus from one King to another.

Our next stop was the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 while he stood on the balcony outside room 306. The motel is now a part of the National Civil Rights Museum whose goal is to educate visitors about the Civil Rights Movement. We arrived too late to buy tickets for the museum, but we were able to walk the streets and read the placards placed around the motel. We watched families bringing their kids to the motel to teach them about this dreamer who changed history. We were encouraged by their sweet little faces as they learned some hard truths about our country’s past and some amazing truths about people like Dr. King who worked to make our country better. He was only 39 when he died. A beautiful memorial sits below the balcony where Dr. King was shot inscribed with this verse from the bible: “They said to one another, ‘behold, here cometh the dreamer. Let us slay him, and we shall see what will become of his dreams.’” Genesis 37:19-20  

The wreath marks the place where Dr. King was shot

When the heat became too much to bear, we got back in the car and drove toward the Mississippi River and the giant pyramid that sits on its banks. The pyramid used to be a 20,000-seat basketball arena, but a few years ago it was converted to a Bass Pro Shop. Why would we want to visit a Bass Pro Shop while on vacation? Because we rode the country’s tallest freestanding elevator 28 stories up to the top of the pyramid and ate dinner at The Lookout at The Pyramid. 

Bass Pro Shop

The elevator to the top of the pyramid

The cost of the ride is $10 per person and is deducted from your bill if you dine in the restaurant. With incredible 360-degree views of the Mississippi River, Arkansas on the other side of the river, and downtown Memphis, we at a delicious meal of salmon with asparagus on a bed of grits, and fried chicken with mashed potatoes and farm fresh vegetables. As the delirium began to set in from the heat and humidity we endured all day, our conversation went like this:

“Look around and tell me which person in this restaurant you think has murdered someone and still hasn’t been caught,” I said to Chad.

Chad scanned the restaurant and pointed out an older, unsmiling man wearing a pink polo shirt. But Chad was wrong—I’d already identified the murderer. He was sitting across the restaurant next to a woman who had the kind of plastic surgery where her eyes got smaller and don’t close all the way when she blinks. “I think he murdered a prostitute in the early 80’s,” I said. Then Chad pointed out that his suspect was wearing a belt that bore a ridiculous amount of chrome and only murderers would wear that much chrome.

Mid panic-attack at the top of the pyramid

Clearly it was time to call it a night and decide our next destination. We paid for dinner and then went outside to the observation deck near the peak of the pyramid. The flooring is see-through, which created a little panic attack within me, but I pressed through and was able to enjoy the beautiful views while simultaneously envisioning falling to my death. Once we were safely back inside, we rode the elevator down to the Bass Pro Shop where we explored a cypress swamp stocked with so many types of fish. Large, Spanish moss-covered cypress trees jut out of the swamp and it’s all very reminiscent of the first few minutes of the Pirate of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland. Only (dare I say) better. We toured the rest of the store and when I started thinking that I wanted to buy a pair of camouflage duck hunting waders, we knew it was time to go.

We got in the car and drove to Beale Street, but saw that it looked like hot steamy bowl of drunk people, so we decided it was time to get out of Memphis. We crossed the Mississippi and drove until we were too tired to go on. So, tonight we’re at a Best Western in Russellville, Arkansas wondering where we'll end up next.

"Saw the ghost of Elvis

On Union Avenue

Followed him up to the gates of Graceland

Then I watched him walk right through

Now security they did not see him

They just hovered ‘round his tomb

But there’s a pretty little thing

Waiting for the King

Down in the Jungle Room

When I was walking in Memphis

I was walking with my feet 10 feet off of Beale

Walking in Memphis

But do I really feel the way I feel?”  -Marc Cohn

-Rachel