Road Trip!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving!  We had a few family members in town and had a delicious meal, complete with Grandma Presley's homemade apple and pumpkin pies-yum!  A couple weeks before this fantastic holiday, My wonderful husband surprised me with a trip to Memphis, so I thought I would share a few photos from our excursion.  We are rapidly becoming experts at road trips!  Despite our common last name, we did not get a discount into Graceland, but we (literally) packed everything you could do in Memphis in one day.  Was it tacky?  Of course, but so worth it!  And we even made it in town early enough the day before to catch the Cardinals win the World Series (which is a BIG deal in our household).

We started our day with Graceland

 Elvis' dining room

 The backyard

 An entire hallway of gold records and awards

The Meditation Garden and resting place

of Elvis and his family

 Stuart channels Elvis-ha!

The Pink Cadillac!! (His Mom's favorite)

We then made our way to a serious gem of Memphis...

amazing work and story behind the museum

 Ribbons at the Metal Museum

    Who could pass up famous Memphis Barbeque?  Not us.

 After we were stuffed from Rendezvous, we took a stroll down Beale Street to hear some jazz, which is played constantly in this area.  We did hit the Gibson Guitar Factory Tour too, but weren't allowed to take photos, but it was super cool to see how they hand make each guitar to order- especially for B.B. King, who made it famous.

 We completed our day at Sun Studio.  This place is a-mazing.  Filled with old treasures and still a working recording studio today, it is where Elvis recorded his first song, as well as a place where some of the greats have sung (Johnny Cash anyone?).  The tour is really a great way to learn more about the history and get a glimpse into what it was like back in the heyday of rock and roll.

 Enjoy a milkshake at the concession stand before your tour

And finally...touch the microphone Elvis sang his first recording with!

Yep.  We did all this in one day, so if you have a few hours to spare and a thirst for jazz history, make a weekend trip to Memphis.  It's swell.  

Coming soon: A DIY post on hand made Christmas Cards- stay tuned!