Day 20 - Elvis Presley's Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee

Ira & Beverly Miller - Adventure 20


Today is Wednesday, October 12th, the 20th day of our 31 day trip on the Great River Road Adventure. We woke up this morning to cloudy skies as we were preparing to take our tour of Elvis’s Graceland.  Luckily for our gang Elvis’s Graceland is across the street from our Memphis Graceland RV Park where we are staying.







Where do we begin with Elvis?  You either liked him or you didn’t.  Elvis was born on January 8, 1935 to Gladys Love Smith Presley and Vernon Elvis Presley in a two room house in Tupelo, Mississippi.  He was the second of twin boys.  The first, Jessie Garon, was stillborn.


The Presley’s and their relatives were a close-knit family who attended the First Assembly of God Church where Elvis loved to sing gospel.  At 10 years old, Elvis received his first guitar, an inexpensive model purchased by his mother at the Tupelo Hardware Store for $2.48.  In late 1948, the Presley’s packed up all their belongings into a trunk and strapped it onto the top of their car, and moved north to Memphis, Tennessee where they hoped opportunities would be greater.


Two days after his twenty-first birthday, Elvis had his first recording session with RCA on January 10, 1956 and that is Heartbreak Hotel was cut, and released on January 27th.  On April 3, 1956, Elvis made his first two appearances on the Milton Berle Show. On September 9, 1956, Elvis had one of his first three appearances on the Ed Sullivan show which attracted 54 million viewers, the largest in television audiences ever.  All three appearances cost $50,000.00.

Elvis actually purchased Graceland in March, 1957, at the age of 22.  Elvis met Priscilla Ann Beaulieu in late 1959 during the time he was in West Germany with the U.S. army.  Elvis and Priscilla married on May 1, 1967 in a private suite at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas.  On February 1, 1968, Priscilla gave birth to their daughter, Lisa Marie.


It is estimated that Elvis Presley has sold over one billion record units worldwide, more than anyone in record industry history.  In America alone, Elvis has had 140 different albums and singles that have been certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.


Elvis Presley’s trophy room at Graceland is filled with gold and platinum records and awards of all kinds from around the world.  Some countries represented are Norway, Yugoslavia, Japan, Australia, South Africa, England, Sweden, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Elvis starred in 31 feature films as an actor.  His two most critically acclaimed films; Jailhouse rock (1957) and King Creole (1958) have become classics of their era.  Eleven of his soundtrack albums went to the top ten and of those, four went to number one.  G.I. Blues (1960) was number one for 10 weeks and remained on the charts for 111 weeks. The album from Blue Hawaii was number one for 20 weeks and was on the chart for 79 weeks.


During his concert years from 1969 to 1977, Elvis gave nearly 1,100 concert performances.


Elvis was named one of the ten outstanding young men of the nation in 1970 in a ceremony on January 16, 1971.  Elvis was famous for giving away cars, cash and jewelry often on the spur of the moment.


Graceland was opened to the public for tours on June 7, 1982.  Graceland was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 and has long been recognized as the most famous home in America after the White House.  Lisa Marie Presley retains 100% sole personal ownership of Graceland Mansion and it’s over 13 acre original grounds and her father’s personal effects. 

Elvis' Livingroom 

Front entrance of Graceland

From his earliest days of his success in show business, one of Elvis’s regular indulgences was buying cars and motorcycles.  The Elvis Presley automobile museum opened in Graceland in June, 1989.

Elvis' famous Pink Cadillac

Elvis also had two custom jets, the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog II.  In 1975 the customization of the Lisa Marie was complete and Elvis took his first flight on it.  Elvis’s father sold both planes in 1978 and the new owners brought the planes to Graceland in 1984 as an added attraction to Graceland visitors.  The Lisa Marie was a media event with the aircraft towed down Elvis Presley Boulevard in a parade with a marching band.

The Lisa Marie

Elvis passed away on August 16, 1977 in which his grave is at Graceland.  He is also joined by this mom and dad and his paternal grandmother.  There is also a small marker for Elvis’s twin brother.

In touring the gift shop, Ira happened upon a replica guitar that Elvis used in the 50’s. It is an Elvis commemorative edition with a hand tooled leather cover and it is an exact replica of Elvis’s Martin D-28M guitar. It is numbered Limited Edition-175 and is selling for $11,499. I told him I didn’t think so, and that he should stick with his basses.
Evening ended with a 5 o’clock travel briefing and what was to be a LEO (Lets Eat Out) at the Interstate Barbecue.  However, the weather was very rainy by the end of the day so the LEO consisted of Ira and me, Dave Crowder, Madi Schaaf and Ken & Carole Adams.  We were also joined by another couple who took a caravan trip with Adventure Caravans last year.