TCB in a flash

Graceland. Memphis, Tennessee. The home of Elvis Aaron Presley, King of Rock and Roll. I have been looking forward to this particular portion of this trip for quite some time. I grew up on Elvis. More specifically, I grew up on young Elvis. Before the white jumpsuit, the prescription drugs, and the weight. My father lived on a street off Madison Avenue, which cuts through the downtown area, from age 4 - 8 (1949 - 1953). Elvis graduated from high school in 1953, and his music career really took off shortly thereafter; Dad likes to say that he might have walked past him any number of times. Besides sharing the same town for a few years, Dad is a fan. Not an expo-attending, jumpsuit-owning, Elvis-lives-with-aliens fan, but a fan nonetheless. So Graceland was a major part of our planned stop in Memphis.

When we arrived in Memphis late on Wednesday, August 13th, the first two hotels we checked out were booked. We thought this was odd, but relaxed after the third place was the charm. We woke up Thursday morning and walked across the street for breakfast. A table next to us was occupied by an older man, a guy about my age, and a younger girl. Normal except for the fact that the guy my age was an Elvis impersonator. While I was amused, I figured this is Memphis, and there must be hundreds of these guys roaming the streets at any given time. Back in the lobby of the hotel, I picked up a copy of "Downtowner" a Memphis magazine full of all the sights, sounds, and smells of the city. On the cover it said: Elvis Week. I turned to Dad and asked, "Is it possible that we're here during Elvis week?". The events of the past few hours began to make sense and our concierge then told us we better be ready to stand in line at Graceland because it was- indeed- Elvis Week.

So we set out for Graceland ready to battle lines of British tourists and Elvis aficionados only to have the parking lot attendant explain that we shouldn't have too much trouble today because, "everyone's downtown at the expo". The expo. Of course! We should have guessed. We got Platinum package tickets so we could see the cars and airplane in addition to the Graceland mansion and grounds. I have so much to talk about this trip, I am trying not to get carried away, but bear with me for a minute while I describe the scene:

Several groups of fanny-pack wearing Americans mixed up with a few French-speakers and several handfuls of Brits. Dad and I seem to be the only ones seeing any of the irony in this whole display. There are about 30 drawings of Elvis displayed in the lobby, made and signed by elementary-aged Memphis residents. I take a turn through the tacky-stuff laden gift shop and then see two 90 year old women in pink 50's style shirts with "Elvis" embroidered on the back, black shorts, white knee-highs, and saddle shoes. Sparkled pink Elvis tote bags to match. They were engaged in a serious conversation with a third person, or I would have asked for a picture.

Back to the tour. The house was a perfect example of mid-century kitsch, from the mostly-white living room to the mirrored staircase and my personal favorite, the yellow and navy blue TV room, with bar. Above the couch in the TV room was a lightning bolt with the letters TCB which stood for Taking Care of Business, an early Elvis trademark. To the left of the couch in the picture was the TV wall that had three TVs installed. Elvis had heard that President Johnson watched all three network news programs at once, and he wanted to be able to do the same. On our drive to Memphis, Dad warned me I'd be disappointed by the site because it was "a house a truck driver bought and decorated to impress his mom". (Elvis was a truck driver in Tupelo, Mississippi before the family moved to Memphis for a better opportunity). I was not disappointed. We slowly made our way around the house, through the kitchen where countless peanut butter and banana sandwiches were made and into the yard where he and his entourage drove golf carts and played touch football (once with a few of Dad's fraternity brothers around 1964). We went through the Trophy Room, which was full of memorabilia and his gold and platinum records.

Finally we came to the place where he is buried. The graves of Elvis, his mother, his father, grandmother and his twin brother Jesse who was stillborn, were covered in flowers and tributes in various languages. It was impressive to see the sheer devotion his fans have for him. He passed away in his bathroom in Graceland on August 16, 1977, which is why Elvis Week takes place at this time every year. People were filling buses wearing Elvis Week T-shirts as we were leaving and while I don't imagine I'll ever think of Graceland as a religious site, it was an experience.. That's Alright.