US $50.95
Did the Graceland tour today and it really impressed me. I'm not much of an Elvis fan but once the tour was done you can't help but be impressed with his accomplishments. I did the "Platinum" tour for $35 which includes a tour of the Graceland mansion, his car collection, the Lisa Marie airplane and a couple other minor exhibits.
When touring the mansion you see that while things were fancy, they really didn't seem over the top. But then maybe back then 3 TVs in the TV room were a big considering there was only 3 channels back then. The place doesn't appear to be huge, I would guess no more then 5000 sq. ft. and would pale in comparison to what stars of today have for homes.
During the tour you view the living room, dining room, kitchen, TV room and jungle room. The jungle room is so named because it has wood carvings, leather and animal skin furniture and a waterfall on one wall. Of course don't forget the green shag carpet on the floor and ceiling. They made a big deal out of the limestone waterfall on one wall but I think you could buy something like that now at Target.
Out back there is a handball court building as Elvis was a handball fan. Inside the handball court building is a large display of many of his costumes and walls of gold records. This is where it hit me just how big of a star that Elvis was. You move on to view the horse pasture and then the Meditation Garden where Elvis, his parents and grandmother is buried. All of this on a 14 acre estate makes it a modest setup for a star of his size.
Once the tour is done they take you back across the street where you can then visit Elvis's car collection, the Lisa Marie airplane and other exhibits. Even though this is out of season, the place was packed with people. It is obviously a "tourist trap" but it has to be the best run attraction I have ever visited. There are assistants everywhere and they had the answer to any question that was asked. You could buy any kind of Elvis memorabilia you could want from refrigerator magnets, to bobble heads or $1500 replica leather outfits.
When I came here to see Graceland I wasn't expecting much. I came away impressed with the well oiled machine they have put together to showcase Elvis. I also have a new found respect the Elvis the singer and performer. I can not more highly recommend visiting Graceland and the surrounding area.
You can see more photos in the Photo Gallery.
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