Elvis has left the building!

April 24, 2024

The cats are doing great. They have exceeded expectations of ideal cat travel behaviour.  Autumn is still a PITA, (pain in the ?) most days acting like a toddler, forever needing your attention, but otherwise all good.  Damned if I just might need to change the name of my blog??

You know what else exceeded my expectations?  Graceland, Memphis Tennessee and Harvest Host. 

If I had a bucket list, and I don’t, but if I did, Graceland would be on it. I have wanted to go for as long as I can remember. We planned our route to Banff Alberta with a few key stops and Graceland was the first one. 

I don’t want to reveal too much about Graceland for risk of spoiling it for someone else. But here is the summary. Graceland is everything Elvis but it is also wonderfully nostalgic for those that lived in the 70’s. It exudes warmth, family values and is beautiful.

Graceland is also the burial place of Elvis, his parents and grandmother, and most recently Lisa Marie, who is there alongside her son who died tragically in 2020 . And although very sad, it is also a fitting and respectful place for them to be.

If you have the opportunity, go to Graceland. You don’t need to be a crazy Elvis fan to love it. 

Me outside the front of the mansion. We also toured his planes and of course the gift shops!

I read and write reviews, mostly on Google and Tripadvisor. I depend on reviews especially for places to stay in the coach. Therefore I try hard to also write reviews in order to pay it forward. 

So, as is my habit, I am reading reviews about Memphis and let me tell you, they are not great! And by not great I mean, bad, dangerous, stay away. And here we are going to Graceland, which is only a short drive from downtown Memphis. We wanted to experience the famous Beale Street, home of BB King and so many great Blues musicians. (Memphis is Blues, Nashville is Country, just so you know.) Throwing caution to the wind and our good Canadian sense aside, we ignore the warnings and go. The drive there was interesting….. 

Beale Street is dirty, old, sketchy (even at 2pm on a suunny afternoon) but boy was it a good time. We had the best ribs we have ever eaten in our lives, John even took a picture of them, unfortunately he didn’t get the recipe. We listened to great live music, met some very interesting and friendly people, both fellow tourists and locals, and enjoyed it all. We definitely wanted to stay for the evening, when the street lights up and the vibe no doubt gets even more "interesting", but, we choose to be responsible and drive the half hour back out of town to check on our coach and of course, the CATS! Both were absolutely fine.

Instead of staying in Memphis, which I would not recommend, we stayed at a Harvest Host location. Harvest Host is an online platform connecting folks travelling in RV’s and some dry camping, to businesses, churches and various property owners with room to spare and a desire to “host” us travellers.  It is a concept much more appealing than the Walmart parking lot.  There are thousands of host locations across the country and a small annual membership fee allows you to access them. This was only the second time we have done a Harvest Host stay. The Tunica Golf and Tennis club is 25 miles outside of downtown Memphis, and very much in the middle of nowhere. However, it offers a nice level parking area that can accommodate up to 5 large RV’s. It is safe and quiet and was our home for 2 nights, a peaceful place to camp out with lovely sunset views. Our first night we had only one other RV arrive, (not too friendly) along with two fellas on adventure motorcycles. John absolutely enjoyed chatting with them.  The second night we were totally alone but knowing we were far enough from anywhere, I slept like a baby. 

Shot from night one, we are on the left, no so friendly folks to the right.

Elvis may have left the building a long time ago, but his spirit definitely lives on at Graceland. Memphis is not for the faint of heart or families with small children, but if you get a chance, use common sense and go enjoy Beale Street. 5 Star reviews all round. 

Until I write again, 

Refuelling stop on the way to Memphis. Out of the taxi for a stretch and look see.