Memphis, TN is known for a lot of things - two of the more touristy things being BBQ and Graceland. Seeing as we were only passing through Memphis for one night on our way to Kansas, we decided to be tourists for this leg of the trip.
We has scoured Chowhound (an on-line community food discussion board), travel magazines and other on-line sites for a good BBQ place. We settled on Central BBQ. The one thing that has become clear so far in trying BBQ joints on this trip is that our expectations are too high. Call us snobs.... whatever. None of the BBQ from the places we've visited compare to what we've tasted on the competitive BBQ circuit. Understandably so. We are used to eating freshly finished, off the smoker BBQ. Restaurants and BBQ joints don't have the luxury of knowing what or when people will order. Most of the meat is way overcooked - the soft, fall off the bone type BBQ. Knowing this, we finally lowered our expectations and focused more on taste than texture. Central BBQ was spot on with their BBQ sauce - a perfect balance of tomato base, spiciness, sweetness, and smoke. It was also served WARM from a dispenser. YUM!
We didn't have very high expectations for Graceland - the home of Elvis Presley from 1957 until his death in 1977, and since a museum. We expected a cheesy, rhinestone-laden, suck money from tourists kind of a place. We were both pleasantly surprised... at least from Graceland itself. The park actually consists of the Graceland Estate and across the road (a two lane highway named Elvis Presley Boulevard) is his collection of autos, planes, lesser memorabilia, and several gift shops (aka - rhinestone-laden cheese).
Aesthetically, the exterior of Graceland is pretty cool. The 13.8 acre estate boasts the white-columned main house, impressive grounds, and several other buildings (an office, racquetball court, etc). The recorded tour of the mansion comes over a provided headset that can be restarted, rewound, and forwarded at any point. The interior of the main house is exactly as it would have been when Elvis passed in 1977 at age 42. The decor was clearly high-end, but humorously outdated. His living room walls were heavily mirrored and the room included a 15 foot white sofa and matching love seat. The dining room was a cool Deco. SM - The kitchen reminded me of the home where I grew up - although Elvis was WAY larger. The appliances were that awful pea green and the kitchen floor was carpeted! The funniest room we came across was his addition on the back of the house - what would be considered the family room - and aptly named the "Jungle Room". It included a working waterfall, tons of heavy, teak Hawaiian-themed furniture, and the floor AND ceiling were covered in green shag carpet. Too funny. The tour of the main house does not include a tour of the upstairs. Elvis was a very private person and never showed guests the upstairs. Out of respect for him, the public is still kept from it.
From the main house, the tour continued through a few of the exterior buildings. Throughout the tour, Elvis' family history, music beginnings, singing career, accolades, and his life were revealed. It was done very respectfully and was very informative. We both have a whole new respect for Elvis. One building housed his estates entire collection of his gold and platinum records and memorabilia from all of his 32 (!!!!) movies. Right next to all of his music and movie awards is a large plaque given to him by the city of Memphis that describes all of his involvements with local charities. There is a small display nearby showing some other civic awards he had received. It is obvious he was a very generous man who was looking to give back to the city he felt was his home. We hadn't realized he had been so involved with his community beyond performing. Combining this with his public successes, we both understood why he is and always will be the King.
The tour of Graceland ended walking outside through the Meditation Gardens, where he, his parents, and grandmother are all buried, next to a memorial plaque for his twin brother who passed away quite young and is buried in their former hometown in Mississippi. A quiet and fitting end to a great tour.
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