Graceland Part two

Well, the most noteworthy stuff actually happened while we were waiting in line for the shuttle. I didn’t really find the house to be all that impressive. I had expected everything to be much bigger.
The first thing I noticed was the house’s low ceilings. I understand, Elvis. My house was built in the 1930’s, too, before builders figured out you could make a room look twice as big by giving it a high ceiling.

The decor was very shlocky, a lot of fur, mirrors, a jungle room(!). The kitchen had dark cabinets like mine, (and you should all know how I feel about my kitchen, by now), and was a decent size (bigger than mine, that’s for sure) but not enormous like many of today’s kitchens are. (That’s his kitchen on the cover of the recipe booklet shown in the picture). His appliances were harvest gold, which was the standard in the ’70’s.

He had a lot of rooms, but they were all fairly modest sized rooms. Not what I was expecting at all. Even his pool was quite small, about the size of my pool, only with a diving board. Lisa Marie played on a swing set not unlike the ones you and I played on. Nothing fancy.

The walls were lined with all of his platinum records, scores of them; and there was a room with clothing displays from his wedding, and concerts. You know, judging from the size of those jumpsuits, even in Elvis’ later years, he never really got that fat. He probably just looked kind of bloated when the outfits got a little tight, but they weren’t very large jumpsuits. (Again, not as big as I thought!)

Elvis built his Meditation Garden in the mid sixties as a place for quiet contemplation. The bodies of Elvis and his mother were moved here in Oct. ’77, after security threats at his original resting place of Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis. Also buried there are his father, and Minnie Mae, his grandmother. There is also a marker for Elvis’ stillborn baby brother. There were displays of flowers and stuffed animals at each grave; I’m not sure how they decided which ones to display from the scores of memorial gifts that have been sent to the King over the years.

Elvis was described by all as a very humble, thoughtful, and courteous man.

How many people make it to that level of stardom, and can still be described that way?

I came away from the visit with a new appreciation and fondness for the man… and oh… a few cheesy souvenirs, too.