One Last Trip To Graceland Plaza and A Preview Of Our New Campground

This morning I pleaded with Mama to take me to Graceland Plaza again.  How did I do that?  Well, I walked her to the gate and whined. She told me the gates were locked until 7 a.m., but promised she would take me then.  As soon as breakfast was over, I reminded her of her promise and off we went.  We left "Wussy Girl" behind.  A girl at our last campground actually named Scout that.  She saw us walking without Scout and asked me if my sister was being a wuss again.  BOL   Mama and I had a grand time walking in the plaza and meeting people.  One lady asked my name and Mama told her Joey. She said that was her dead husband's name and then showed us her tattoo with his name that is on her chest.  She offered to take a picture and me and Mama at the Graceland gates and Mama told her no because Mama hates having her picture taken, but now she wishes she would have. We had a wonderful time walking around and talking to people.  We loved hearing Elvis' music as we walked.  It is such a festive place. It is definitely not for everyone, but we enjoyed it.

Mama wishes I would cooperate more when she is taking my photo, but has decided she will embrace the bloopers that I provide her.

Hey, this one is not bad.  I am standing by the fence outside of Graceland.

Pictures by the gates didn't go as well.

The main problem is that I don't stand still.  Mama says I was on sensory overload here.  I loved it though!

"Come on Mama! I think we can sneak in and see the house."

Uncle Lee, she is stopping traffic again!  Uncle Lee is not fond of the tourists because they cause traffic problems.

"Why can't we go inside the store?"

That is it folks.  We have left Memphis. Dad says it is unlikely that we will be back since the only Marriott hotel in Memphis will be no more as of next week.  Mama is sad as she had a lot of fun just walking around meeting people.  Mama admits that maybe it was time to leave as last night she had a dream and "In The Ghetto" was playing in her dream.  It is an Elvis song that she has never really liked, but there it was in her dream.  Elvis music played at the pool at our park and also at the pool at Heartbreak Hotel. Music played in the plaza as well as the gift shops. It was fun walking around hearing the music.

We moved to our new campground this morning.  We haven't taken many photos yet, but we have a few taken from inside our motor home.

A barge passed by us.  The first of many.

We have a great view!

Dad is at work, so we are watching Elvis in concert on TV.  BOL!  

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Has Left Memphis -- Thank You, Thank You Very Much!  BOL!

More Images From Graceland Plaza

Yesterday and today, Mama has walked to Graceland Plaza.  She enjoys the energy she feels there from the other tourists

 

The gates at Graceland.

A tour bus headed straight for Mama.

Mama and another lady stood in the street to get this shot.

Shop at Graceland Plaza.

Soda stand.

Restaurant

 

 

Mama bought this magnet. We are staying on Elvis Presley Blvd. so it suits us.

Mama also used one of those machines to turn a penny into a flatten penny with Graceland on it.  We have a few of those flatten pennies from our travels.  The plan is to turn them into magnets, but it hasn't happened yet.

Mama heard a dog barking as she was walking through the parking lot for Graceland yesterday.  She found the dog locked in his crate in a car.  She is not sure of the temperature, but it was 3 p.m.  At 6 p.m., the news said the feel like temperature was 95, so it probably was not any cooler at 3 p.m.  The windows were cracked and the car was in the shade, but you know it was hot.  Mama flagged down security.  He said he had received other complaints, but couldn't do anything.  The police showed up right then and the guard told them about the dog.  Mama thanked them and left. We watched the activity from our motor home.  The police tried to get the doors open for a while.  They were with the dog for at least 2 hours and we then saw the dog outside the car. The police left.  We thought the owners had come back. Mama decided to see what was going on and she saw that the police had gotten the dog out and tied him to the car door which was now open.  It was right then that the owners walked up.  Mama turned and walked away because even though the owner should be told not to leave her dog in a hot car, she was ticked to put it nicely that her car was "broken into".  We are really surprised that the police chose to handle the situation this way.  They left the dog outside with the door to the car wide open. The dog could have been stolen. The car could have had things stolen. We saw the lady walk up to the police cars that were parked at the end of the parking lot, but they were out on bike patrol. The lady came into our campground and sat at one of the picnic tables for about an hour.  We thought she had called the police to report what had happened but when we came back from our walk, she was gone.

Today is Dad's birthday.  The folks are going out to dinner tonight to celebrate.  Mama was going to make him peanut butter cookies, but he ate all the peanut butter last night.  Those peanut butter cookies would have been so good.   :::sigh:::  

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wonders Why People Think It Is Okay To Leave Dogs In Hot Cars

Greyhounds Are Cool And A Glimpse Of Graceland

People here think that greyhounds are cool.  We've been told that several times and yesterday, a man with a badge told us we were cool, so it must be true.  Who was the man with the badge?  We have 24 hour security here and they ride around in the golf carts and some ride bikes.  We are part of the "Graceland Complex", so we think that is why we have so much security or that is what Mama wants to believe. BOL!


Our campground is connected to the parking lot for Graceland, so it is a very easy walk to Graceland.  Mama decided to visit the gift shops on Monday.  As she was walking, she met a young man who started talking to her.  He was 28 and he shares the same birthday as Elvis.  He told her that he lives in Mississippi and travels to Nashville quite often on business and always stops here on the way.  He enjoys standing outside the gates of Graceland and talking with people.  He has toured Graceland five times.  Mama said speaking to him reminded her of an episode of Designing Women where the women visited Graceland and they met Elvis fans.  The man and Mama walked to Graceland together and Mama was happy to have his company instead of walking alone.  

This is the plaza that is across the street from Graceland.

Graceland is there. Can you see it?  Mama didn't have her regular camera with her.  She just had her phone.

You can see it a little better here.

Writing on the fence outside of Graceland. There is also writing on the sidewalk.

Mama asked the young man what he thought about the writing on the fence of Graceland.  He said he didn't care for it  He said they had power washed the sidewalk last week, but it was covered with writing again.    Mama doesn't care for the writing.

The young man quickly left Mama's side when he saw a teen dressed as Elvis.  BOL

There are several gift shops and three restaurants across from Graceland in the plaza.  There are specialized gift shops for his music, films, clothes, Hawaii and general items.  Mama didn't buy anything, but our time here is not over. Mama was hoping to find a "hound dog" item for us, but didn't see anything.  Pictures are allowed inside Graceland, but not in the gift shops.

Shops in the plaza.

The Lisa Marie, Elvis' plane.

Mama and Dad toured Graceland many years ago.  Mama really enjoyed it, but said she probably will not tour it again.  She has not been able to find a good coupon for it.  BOL  The lowest tour is $33 and she doesn't want to pay more than $20.  She said she would pay it if she hadn't toured it before. 

We are really amazed by the number of visitors to Graceland.  The parking lot is huge and it gets about half full each day.  Elvis weeks begins on August 9th.  It gets really crazy then, but we won't be here to see it.  We are moving to a state park on Sunday.  Mama would like to stay to people watch during Elvis Week, but our budget doesn't allow it.  :-(

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is A Very Cool Hound

What Is Located At The End Of Lonely Street?

Heartbreak Hotel, of course!  Our campground is located behind the Heartbreak Hotel.  We are located on the corner of Don't Be Cruel and Blue Suede.  Yep, we are in "Elvis Land".  BOL!   We are surprised that they didn't put us on Hound Dog Lane.   We think we have the nicest site here.  We are a corner site and we have a yard.

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The parking lot behind the sign is for Graceland. (This is our front view when a camper is not parked in front of us.)  Graceland is down the street.

Our site.  Definitely a nice yard to take a nap.

There is a huge dog walk area.  It would be perfect if it was fenced.

Dog walk area.

See, there is a lot of room.

 There is supposed to be a walking/bike trail that goes through the woods and a field. The trail ended, so we just walked around.  Unfortunately, one portion of the trail has a lot of broken glass, so we will not be walking in that area again.

The office.  Mama hasn't checked it out yet.

There are several restaurants right outside our campground and lots of Elvis shops.  Mama said she will go exploring tomorrow.

We passed by my old racetrack yesterday.  I refused to look.  I am retired, so no need to think about the past.  I do think I should receive disability since I broke my leg while working. 

Southland -This is where I spent most of my racing days.  I did a short stint in Florida.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Currently Living At The End Of Lonely Street.  BOL