Day 5 of 9 "Spoons & Tunes": Nashville, Memphis & New Orleans

Today was our only full day in Memphis, so we had a busy day. It started with an included breakfast in Delta's kitchen at The Guest House at Graceland. I was hoping to get to the Graceland gates before they opened (so I could get a photo of them closed), but I was too late. So instead I took advantage of being there to write on the brick wall at the gates. The second photo is to give you perspective as to where I wrote this - on the righthand side, near the top of where the gates open.

We then all boarded our coach and headed to downtown Memphis to the Visitor's Centre to pick up our tour guide Kathryn.

She was very knowledgeable about the history of Memphis and she even brought here guitar along and sang a bunch of great tunes - most of which we knew, but here's a video of one you probably don't know:

Some sights along the way:

Including Sun Records:

And the location where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated (note the red and white wreath on the balcony):

After our tour was done, we headed back in the direction of our hotel for my favorite part of the day: A tour of Graceland!

Here's the view from the front of the house to the wall out front:

Here are some inside shots. I took so many, but I'll only post a few of them here.

Then we walked to another building (originally the carport) but it was converted into Vernon's (Elvis' Dad) office:

Some shots of the outside pasture behind the house:

Then we went into the area where they have artifacts from his life:

Here is the area adjacent to the racquetball court. This piano was the last piano Elvis ever played. He played 2 songs on it on August 15, 1977 before going to bed and he passed away early on the 16th.

A few tears were shed in the Meditation Garden.

And then we left the Graceland property...

...and across the street we saw his car museum and other buildings with different outfits and artifacts on display.

All these photos of Elvis' cars are for my friend Dave... and of course for anyone else that is interested!

And last, but not least, the last car he ever drove:

Lastly we went to tour through his two airplanes.

Finally I said good bye to Graceland... the home of the King.

This was a very emotional time for me and I spent hours there today. I could have stayed longer but they were going to close.
I headed back to the hotel to grab a bite to eat and to have a relaxing evening with our group as tomorrow we say goodbye to Memphis and start a long 6 hour journey to New Orleans. Goodnight...