Attraction
Out of respect to the King of Rock n’ Roll, any list of Memphis attractions must begin with Graceland.
Elvis Presley bought the house and the surrounding farm in 1957, promptly moving his entire family and some of his Memphis Mafia entourage into the home. The house went through a lot of changes over the years, as its tours explain. Of course, following his death in 1977, Elvis was entombed at Graceland alongside his mother, father, grandmother and brother.
More than 750,000 people visit the home every year. To join then, make the pilgrimage from the I-55 to exit 5B (Elvis Presley Blvd.). It’s a quick mile south to Graceland and its connected at-tractions.
According to Graceland’s own information, just outside the ticket office is a shuttle to take guests across Elvis Presley Boulevard to enter Elvis' 14-acre estate. With the new digital audio guide featuring the voices of Lisa Marie and Elvis, guests enjoy a specially produced audio tour presentation and even more information on specific exhibits and items of interest.
The mansion tour consists of the living room, music room, Elvis' parents' bedroom, the dining room, kitchen, TV room, pool room, and “jungle” den in the main house, and, behind the house, Elvis’ racquetball building and his original business office.
What was once Elvis’s racquetball court has been transformed into showroom with an extensive collection of his stage costumes.
The highlight of the mansion tour is Elvis’ trophy building, which houses his enormous collec-tion of gold records and awards, along with an extensive display of career mementos, stage cos-tumes, jewelry, photographs, etc. The 90 minute tour ends at the Meditation Garden, where El-vis is laid to rest. Shuttles return guests to the plaza.
At the plaza, Elvis fans can also visit the Elvis Automobile Museum. There fans can see his fa-mous 1955 pink Cadillac, 1956 purple Cadillac convertible, 1973 Stutz Blackhawk, the red MG Elvis drove in the movie Blue Hawaii, his Harley Davidson motorcycles, three-wheeled supercy-cles and more. Outside the museum, Elvis private tour jet, the Lisa Marie is on display.
Any visitor of the city should check the availability of rooms at the historic Peabody Hotel. A national landmark, the beautifully appointed luxury hotel is home to Lansky’s -- the hip clothier that kept Elvis in style. the King’s original fast-talking tailor is still on-site. The Peabody is also home to the famous Peabody Ducks. According to the hotel’s own published legend:
THE LEGEND OF THE DUCKS. HOW DID THE DUCKS IN THE PEABODY FOUNTAIN BEGIN? BACK IN THE 1930'S FRANK SHUTT, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE PEA-BODY, AND A FRIEND, CHIP BARWICK, RETURNED FROM A WEEKEND HUNTING TRIP TO ARKANSAS.
THE MEN HAD A LITTLE TOO MUCH TENNESSEE SIPPIN' WHISKEY, AND THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY TO PLACE SOME OF THEIR LIVE DUCK DECOYS (IT WAS LE-GAL THEN FOR HUNTERS TO USE LIVE DECOYS) IN THE BEAUTIFUL PEABODY FOUNTAIN. THREE SMALL ENGLISH CALL DUCKS WERE SELECTED AS "GUINEA PIGS", AND THE REACTION WAS NOTHING SHORT OF ENTHUSIASTIC. THUS BE-GAN A PEABODY TRADITION WHICH WAS TO BECOME INTERNATIONALLY FA-MOUS.
THE ORIGINAL DUCKS HAVE LONG SINCE GONE, BUT AFTER MORE THAN 60 YEARS, THE MARBLE FOUNTAIN IN THE HOTEL LOBBY IS STILL GRACED WITH DUCKS. TODAY, THE MALLARDS ARE RAISED BY A LOCAL FARMER AND FRIEND OF THE HOTEL. THE DUCKS LIVE IN THE FOUNTAIN UNTIL THEY ARE FULL GROWN AND, ON RETIREMENT FROM THEIR PEABODY DUTIES, ARE RETURNED TO THE WILD. THE PEABODY DUCKS MARCH AT 11:00 AM AND 5:00 PM DAILY.