Travel/Graceland: A home fit for a king

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Photo by: The News-Gazette

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By FRANK HOSEK

A 1955 pink Cadillac Fleetwood is hard to ignore. It's the difference between the buttoned-down collar, starched shirt, skinny tie and black fedora of Frank Sinatra and the up-turned collar, opened-neck shirt and unruly mop of hair of Elvis Presley. It makes a statement.

The new $45 million, 200,000-square-foot museum, shopping and dining complex entitled Elvis Presley's Memphis, located across from Presley's Graceland home, makes a statement also. The fresh entertainment center replaces an admittedly aged compound that reminded one of an ancient strip center that had been reincarnated into a roadside exhibit.

An impromptu trek to Memphis, Tenn., for barbecue and tunes coincided with the monthlong grand opening and propelled us to again explore the second-most-visited house in America. Only the White House receives more visitors. It's what you do; go to Memphis, go to Graceland.

It's been 40 years since Elvis left the building. In that time, the need and want of both the most rabid and simply curious of fans to visit the world of Elvis Presley has only grown. Since Graceland opened to the public in 1982, nearly 21 million visitors have passed through the iconic music-themed gates.

The Presley Motors Automobile Museum was our first stop into the new undertaking. Besides the aforementioned blushing Cadillac, which Elvis had bought for his mother who could neither drive nor owned a driver's license, there is a purple caddy, reportedly custom painted after he smashed a handful of grapes on the fender to determine the color.

Also, there is a 1973 black Stutz Blackhawk, the last car he drove on the day he died. These are amongst a myriad of automobiles, nearly two dozen, which would make anyone's dream list.

Directly adjacent is a gallery that could aptly be called a boy and his toys but is officially designated Presley Cycles. It is an eclectic collection of motorized playthings, from Harleys to ski-boats to the John Deere tractor he used on the 14-acre estate.

I found the Private Presley: Elvis in the Army exhibit as probably the most humanizing of the displays. It focuses on his two years spent serving the nation. With several of his army uniforms, foot locker and ephemera on display, you see just another man in uniform, albeit one with several gold records.

It was interesting to note that every night that he was home while in Germany, he would come out from 7:30 to 8 p.m. to sign autographs in front of his house.

Elvis the Entertainer Career Museum reminds everyone why, 40 years after his death, he is still one of the most influential and successful performers to date. Walls lined with hundreds of gold and platinum records, early memorabilia from the Sun Records era, areas devoted to his movies, the '68 TV special and Las Vegas concerts with video screens playing some of his greatest performances immerse the visitor into the world of Elvis on stage.

A wonderful, and slightly amusing, experience was viewing the large selection of colorful and extravagant jumpsuits that were Elvis' trademark in the latter years of his concert events.

The rest of the complex included exhibits that weren't yet open; one about Sun Records founder Sam Phillips and another about Elvis' childhood in Tupelo, Miss.

There was also an indoor fairgrounds, where you can pay to play carnival games. It was pointedly empty of fans and staffed by some very bored attendants.

Soundstage A, which screens Elvis movies, was the last stop. As we stumbled into the cavernous hall, Elvis was performing on the huge screen. I believe it was the documentary "Elvis on Tour." We found ourselves, with just a handful of others, watching the larger-than-life legend in full-throated excellence. It was hard to pull ourselves away.

As impressive as the new facilities are, there is still a decidedly commercial air about it. And, for most, it is secondary to the true reason for their pilgrimage — to visit the Graceland mansion and to pay tribute to Elvis.

Little has changed at the cathedral to the legend of the king of rock 'n' roll, except that many of the exhibits that had been crammed into the racquetball court have been removed to the museum and the court restored to its original design.

The throngs are exceedingly respectful as we all crowded into the noticeably mid-sized, two-story mansion with its distinctive interior styling. The stark whites and shimmering gold of the living room; the deep purple bedspread contrasting with the bright pick tiled bath in Elvis' parents' bedroom; the eclectic blues and yellows of the TV room; and the dark, brooding room of green shag carpeting, giant artificial waterfall, ceramic monkeys and simulated animal fur known as the jungle room. The rooms provoke whispers, furtive glances and occasional smirks.

But it is the Meditation Garden where the fervent, somber worshipfulness of an icon is in full display. Elvis is laid to rest here, along with his mother, father, grandmother and brother. Encircled by wrought iron, next to a flowing fountain and overseen by the marbled outstretched arms of Jesus, people pay their respects in silence.

As we watched, a woman who could not have been more than a child when Elvis died, with tears streaming down her cheeks, added a small stuffed teddy bear to the growing collection of flowers and gifts at the foot of his grave.

We had made our way to the mecca of a new sound that had shocked a button-down world to its core. We spent nearly seven hours exploring the new and the old. And just like hundreds of thousands of faithful and curious alike who flock to Graceland every year, we experienced the life, embraced the legend and paid our respects to the king of rock 'n' roll.

More information can be found at graceland.com/. Prices for adults start at $38.75; however, for the full experience (access to home, museum and airplanes), tickets are $62.50.

Frank Hosek of Bourbonnais is director of human resources at Carpet Weaver's Inc. in Champaign. His hobbies include travel, reading, writing and photography.