Graceland: Home of Elvis Presley

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Since we were in Memphis we knew we had to visit Elvis's home.  Again, neither one of us knew much about Elvis, but thought how can you pass up Graceland.

To begin the morning we visited the Peabody hotel.  We had heard lots about the March of the Ducks so we arrived with hundreds of others as these "famous" ducks were to walk out of the elevator to the fountain.  We waited for several minutes for a 10 second show.  These ducks just ran off the elevator to the fountain. I'm not sure how much training and talent it takes or what I was expecting, but we needed to make the moment memorable so we took a picture with the Duck Master.

Duck Fountain

One Proud Duck Master

We drove over to Graceland to find the best option was a $35 ticket to tour the mansion, planes, fashion exhibits, and automobile showroom.    We started with the mansion and took a guided walking tour through the basement and first level of Elvis's house.  Then we headed out back to the horse pasture, racketball room, trophy room, and grave site.  It was very informational, especially since I didn't know much about Elvis.  The airplanes were amazing.  It appeared that the Lisa Marie was a house in itself.  It had 3 sections including a conference room table, bedroom, and lounge area.  Look below for some great highlights.

Front of Mansion

Piano and Main Living Room

Dining Room

Kitchen  Check out the Carpet

Pool Table:  This room was covered from walls to ceiling with fabric

Back of the House

Grammy's

Racketball room turned into award display

Grave site

Pink Cadillac

Plane he named after his daughter

Elvis' bed in the Lisa Marie

After the tour we headed back downtown passing Sun Studio's on the way.  Here is where Elvis and many others like Johnny Cash recorded their records.  We decided to eat lunch on Mud Island (on the Mississippi River).  We walked over to the monorail to take us there, but found there were on places to eat on the island. We walked back downtown to eat to return a few hours later.  By the time we arrived it was closing so we couldn't visit the island, but a very nice couple gave us Trolley passes.  They had a daily pass and hadn't gotten to use it yet.  This was the best gift!

Bridge from Arkansas to Tennessee

On the Trolley

Lauren and I jumped on the trolley and I started asking 100 questions.  Where did this trolley take us?  When did it stop running?  How many times can you use the pass?  We took the trolley on the entire route to get our game plan.  We found several places to visit that were much more our speed than Beale street.  We got off at our hotel and rested a few minutes before heading over to the Flying Saucer to watch the beginning of the MU/OU game.  Once we got hungry we made our way back to the trolley to an Italian place we found on the route.  It was wonderful and so much fun. There was a man making balloon art that Lauren took a picture with.  As always, there were so many stories that I can't even begin to explain because they wouldn't be funny to anyone else but Lauren.  Sorry you guys missed out!

After dinner we waited at the trolley stop so we could visit a place called Blue Monkey.  It was a karaoke bar that we just didn't find entertaining so we walked around the corner to the Green Beetle.  It was a great evening with a live singer.  Of course the entire night we laughed and joked about everything.  It's always great to hang out with Lauren, especially since we never get to see each other!  Lauren is great to travel with.  She is laid back and always looking to have a great time! 

Sunday we woke up and drove by the Pink Palace.  We saw this attraction on several websites as we were googling what to do on the way to Memphis.  We just saw the outside, but the websites mentioned if you started here, Memphis would make sense.  We ended our trip here so maybe that's why Memphis didn't make sense to us.  We sure had a blast and are already talking about where to go next.  Ummm...we are open!

Pink Palace

Memphis, Tennessee: Home of the Blues

Friday, September 23, 2011

Here was a common question the entire weekend, "Why did we pick Memphis?"  Lauren and I decided there are several major cities that aren't too far away from St. Louis that we would visit.  Memphis happened to be the first stop.  Honestly, neither one of us knew anything about Memphis or even where it was located.  At one point Lauren said, "I thought it was an hour away--it took 4 hours!"  I thought it was in the middle of the state so had no clue why we were driving through Arkansas.  Good thing cars have GPS now!

This trip was something we have talked about for months, but really weren't concerned about the details of the weekend.  We were going to wing everything.  At one point weeks ago we discussed getting a hotel, but never got around to booking it.  Wednesday I had a few minutes to look on my travel web at work and pulled up hotels.  Of course, there were several activities happening in Memphis that particular weekend and all the hotels were sold out.  I finally found a Marriott hotel who asked if I was a member and luckily I am and they found us a room.  It was the last room at the hotel and handicapped, but we were in business.

We pulled into Memphis around 9 PM and headed for dinner on Beale Street.  We stayed in downtown Memphis so a few walking blocks later we arrived at Blue's City Cafe. The cafe has been recognized by many shows including, "A Taste of America and "Bobby Flay Show" for the atmosphere and BBQ.  I enjoyed salad, bread, and fries in the famous Cadillac room.

Cadillac Room

After dinner we strolled down Beale Street and enjoyed watching all the different types of individuals.  You'll see it all in this 2 block stretch of restaurants and bars.   Several people mentioned we had to stop at Silky O'Sullivan's to visit the goat.  In previous years, you could pay to buy the goat beer, but now that is not allowed.  They still have the goat though.  After several hours of watching people dance, get arrested, and wear the tightest clothes we decided to call it a night.  Below are a few additional pictures of ways to get around Memphis.  The funny part of the horse carriage is every single one had a dog.  I think it was a requirement to have a horse.

Home of the Goats

Trolley

Bedazzled to the Extreme

Oh No...Using this to Reflect

As mentioned in the previous post, I volunteer at the Food Kitchen on Thursdays and was rushing back to the office.  As I was pulling back into the parking garage I wanted to pull in close to the edge of the cement wall.  As you probably can guess, I accidentally bumped into the edge with my car.  I think I have grown up just a little.  In the past, I know I would of been more than angry.  I never lost control and everything is always fixable.  After looking at it over and over, it's not too bad.  It shouldn't be much to fix--after all it is just a car, but I hope that nothing else happens to it!

A Taste of St. Louis Jordan's Way

 WARNING:  View this only after you have eaten. 

The past week I have been very lucky to have my little sister Jordan visit St. Louis.  I love it when she comes over!  There are several restaurants that are her favorite, so we did as she planned.  Our week revolved around food, food, food, and more food.  Jordan loves to shop with my money, so my bank balance always goes down as my pounds go up.  For a week, it's a good trade off. 

Sunday our week started with Drunken Fish.  I'm not a sushi fan, but I did find veggie rolls rolled in cucumber that are delicious.

Monday:  Jordan picked me up for lunch and we went to IMO's pizza.  Jordan got a pizza special and I ordered salad and garlic bread.  We decided to shop for some trendy outfits at Nordstorm and found a hat that I couldn't pass up.  You'll see lots of the hat in future adventures.  For dinner we went to Bar Louie.  This is one of my favorite places as it has always been smoke free!  Look below for our dinner options.

Bar Louie

Jordy's Wings

Tuesday:  Here is one of the outfits.  Jordan did a great job!  We headed to Chipotle for lunch and then I took Jordan to my special place--Vegadeli. We shared hummus and each got a vegan cupcake!

Wednesday:  Jordan and I met for lunch at Noodles & Company for a quick lunch.  Jordan went by the grocery store and picked up items to make panzanella for my bible study group, Relate.  We were in for a surprise as Paul took us out on the lake for sunset.

Sunset on Lake St. Louis

Thursday:  I had to work downtown and volunteered at the Food Kitchen for lunch.  So, we passed on lunch to have a final dinner together at Cunetto's.  Thank you Jordan for coming to spend a week here with me.  We always have so much fun and I'm so lucky to see you!  I loved looking at all the pictures as I remembered all the great memories from the week!

A Little Message Left

We all have those things in life that we just don't like doing and at the thought it makes our blood pressure rise.  I unfortunately can list several things I just don't like to do around the house.  One of those things include cleaning.  I do what I have to do, but when I renewed my lease for my apartment I chose an option to have Maidpro come and deep clean my apartment.  What a perfect solution and something I looked forward to for awhile.  Good thing my sister Jordan was at my apartment to tell me the now funny story.

It all started with the alarm going off and not being able to turn off the alarm.  The maid looked at the bathroom and was relived that there wasn't a shower.  Jordan then mentioned there are 2 bathrooms and this instantly overwhelmed her.  She only had 2 hours max to clean and only arrived with a plastic bag of towels and a hand held vacuum.  Jordan asked, "Are you going to take out the trash?"  The response was, "We'll if I have time."  My apartment is not that big to even take 1 hour, but here was the sign she was here.  I think I'll be cleaning soon from Maidpro.

Family Weekend College Style

Friday after work I headed to Columbia, MO for family weekend.  The entire family met in Columbia to celebrate the weekend.  Here are the highlights of the weekend:

First stop:  To see Ty and Brady.  I came in during nap time so we negotiated to read books instead!

Second stop:  Dinner at Ruby Tuesday.  We all met up for a late dinner and a few celebrations.  Jordan is officially completed with her Masters from Kansas State so Rach and I had a present for her.  Also, I didn't get to see Beya on his 4th birthday and they had a special cupcake for such a sweet little boy.  He was so cute when they started singing because he was so embarrassed!

Mom and J

Rach and Beya

Congrats Jordan

So excited Beya

Every bite counts for Ty!

Jordan and I stayed with Zack at the Cottages.  It was a different experience, but yes I did get some much needed sleep.  The fraternity house is torn down so they can do a $12 million rebuild.  Most of the boys are staying in same apartment complex and Zack has 3 other roommates.  He did have his own room and bathroom, but approaching 30 is different in a frat house versus 20.  We woke up on Saturday to Missouri's fight song sung by the pledges, which is a game day ritual I hear.

Saturday we started the morning off with Starbucks and a walk around downtown.  This was followed by a movie and dinner.  Zack headed to the football game and we headed back to the hotel to put the boys to bed and games.  It was rainy and cold, so there were no complaints here about the game.  Sunday we went to church and lunch before having a great surprise....Jordan is coming to St. Louis for the week.

Mom and Rach

We didn't have much planned, but it was still great to see the family.  We always have fun, laugh, and create new memories.  It was great seeing everyone.  Love you all!