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ll Elvis fans know that in Memphis, Tennessee you can visit the place where he ate, slept, and drank rock
‘n’ roll. We would consider ourselves moder- ate Elvis Presley fans, so going into our visit to Graceland we thought we knew what to expect.
We had no idea.
The property itself is huge. Across from the mansion and museums is the Guesthouse at Graceland where you can stay in an Elvis par- adise. Everything is luxurious, bold, and regal. There are multiple restaurants in the hotel, a bar, and coffee shop.
Everywhere you turn you’re met with a fact about or a photo of Elvis. The rooms them- selves are more simplistic than the rest of the hotel, but they still maintain the Elvis theme.
We visited Graceland at the same time as thousands of other people. Everywhere you turned there was another group decked out in
their Elvis gear. Suddenly we felt like our moderate love for Elvis wasn’t enough. These peo- ple were serious.
If you’re staying at the
Guesthouse you take a shuttle across the street to begin your tours. Once you’ve gotten your tickets, your first stop is a small theater where you’ll watch an introduc- tory video.
From there you’ll take anoth-
er shuttle to
the mansion. Here you’ll etiher have a self-guided tour (with an iPad) or a tour guide who walks you through the house. Rooms are roped off
to preserve the original furnish- ings and keep- sakes. We were overwhelmed by the chaos and opted for
a tour without a guide or an iPad. We just walked around