Graceland

Happy Thanksgiving! Want to take a holiday road trip with me?

What an unexpected treat to take our road trip to Graceland during my girl's weekend away this month! I grew up like many of you with a mother who adored Elvis, I listened to the records (yes, records) and watched the movies. We still have Elvis Christmas songs in our regular holiday rotation.

I never realized just how handsome and successful Elvis was until I visited Graceland! That man was beautiful and I have lots of blurry photos of me pretending to kiss life-sized posters of him while there. Shhhhh...

His clothes were stunning! His home was crazy! Let me show you some of my favorite rooms...

Here we are in front of the mansion. We were both surprised at the size - it isn't what is considered a "mansion" by today's standards. It really isn't much bigger than an ordinary middle class home.



Here it is from the back - pretty ordinary looking!



Surrounding the home are horse pastures and barns. Lovely white fences and rolling hills were the view Elvis saw every day.



The first room you saw as you entered the home was the white living room. Photos of his parents and a large mirrored wall were opposite this large white couch. Crazy peacock stained glass matched the blue drapes that are changed out to bright red during the the Christmas season:



The dining room sparkled with the mirrored table and crystal chandelier. This is where Elvis' staff would usually erect a Christmas tree:



With all the crazy decor in Graceland, I was surprised to see the ordinary looking kitchen. Nothing special, just like mom's, right?



This is the TV room with a HUGE sectional sofa and three televisions mounted into the wall. This crazy blue and gold room had sparkly throw pillows, a whole house stereo system, a pull down movie screen and a wet bar off to one side.



Finally, the famous Jungle Room is outfitted like a crazy tiki room, carved furniture, waterfall walls, green shag carpeting on the floor and ceiling. Crazy! Elvis actually used this room as a recording studio at the end of his life and released a record from this room.



There was so much more, a billiards room upholstered on all four walls and ceiling with pleated fabric and stairwells covered completely in green shag carpeting or mirrors for a dizzying fun house effect. Elvis' decor was totally unexpected and so fun to experience.

Sadly, the second floor was off limits to visitors today as it was back then. Apparently Elvis never allowed guests upstairs where his bedroom was and the tour upheld that tradition. Not even the employees are allowed in this off limits zone! I did manage to find a website claiming to have authentic photos of this secret area. If you are interested in peeking, click HERE. If only the walls could talk!