Christmas With Elvis at Graceland - Memphis, TN
Fun fact about me...I was a HUGE Elvis fan when I was
younger. I even had an entire shelf in my bedroom
dedicated to Elvis including 8 tracks, LPs, magazines, books, and
other Elvis memorabilia. I definitely had a hunka-hunka burning
love for Elvis that had me allll shook up so one of the things that had always been on
my bucket list was to visit Graceland, Elvis’ home in Memphis, TN
and in December of 2018, just a week before Christmas, this dream became a reality.
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A Little History
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Elvis purchased Graceland in 1957 (when he was only 22 years old)
for a little over $100,000 and remained there until his
death (which occurred on the property) on August 16th, 1977 when
he was only 42 years old. After her 25th birthday, Lisa Marie
Presley, Elvis’ daughter, received the estate in full and decided
to open the home to the public after establishing the Elvis Presley
Trust. Peak season for Graceland runs during the summer, however
I have always heard about the magic that is Christmas at
Graceland (this was Elvis' favorite holiday) so when I took a
trip to the south I knew I wasn’t going to miss an
opportunity to see it in person.
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After being dropped off by the shuttle I walked inside the
house and into the foyer where the Presley’s would receive
special guests and from here saw the living room, dining room, and his mother’s bedroom.
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Look at all those poinsettias!
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The living room
Look at the white piano in the background! <3
Overall I really like how this room was decorated for Christmas because it is decorated in the same colors I decorate, white, silver, and red!
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Elvis’ mom’s bedroom
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The dining room
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After the foyer I continued on through the house and into the kitchen.
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After the kitchen I went down a very tight staircase (seriously if you are tall...good luck lol) to see the TV room and pool room.
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TV Room...I wonder why they gave it that name. lol Would be a great place for March Madness with the multiple TVs.
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Blue and yellow was definitely a bold decorating choice lol
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The pool room
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This room was decorated in 1974 and features over 300 years of pleated fabric, yes fabric, on the walls and ceiling of the room.
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After viewing both of these rooms I headed back up the
staircase and into my favorite room of the house, The Jungle Room.
Green shag carpets and fur...what more could you want in a room? Lol The jungle room was a family favorite of the Presley’s with Elvis in particular liking it because it reminded him a lot of Hawaii which was one of his favorite places to vacation, film movies, and perform.
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The Jungle Room was the last stop on the mansion tour so I
headed out back to see Vernon Presley’s (Elvis’ dad) office.
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Back of the Graceland mansion
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Vernon’s office. Vernon was in charge of all of Elvis’ personal business including his finances and the management and staffing of Graceland.
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After Vernon’s office I went into the trophy building which
houses various Elvis mementos and then to the mediation
garden where Elvis and some of his family members
have been laid to rest.
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After paying my respects to the king of rock n roll, I rode the
shuttle back to the ticketing building and took a stroll through
Elvis’ car collection. Below are pictures of some of my favorites.
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Presley Motors Automobile Museum
1955 Cadillac Fleetwood Often referred to as “Gladys’ car” because it was Elvis’ mom’s favorite, this famous pink caddy of Elvis’ was one of the few that he kept throughout his lifetime.
1960 Rolls-Royce This was the first Rolls-Royce Elvis owned.
1966 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud
1960 MG This car was used by Elvis in his film
Blue Hawaii
1969 Mercedes-Benz 600 Limousine
Black Dune Buggy
1974 International Scout
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There was also another small museum attached to the car
collection building that featured even more Elvis momentos and
I HAD to snap a pic of this football helmet. Y’all Elvis was a Packers fan.
Man had good taste! Lol
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Know Before You Go
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Graceland located at 3717 Elvis
Presley Blvd, Memphis, TN 38116
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You will have to ride a shuttle from the ticket
building out to the mansion.
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Graceland is open daily May-December 9am-4pm
excluding Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Thanksgiving.
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There are a LOT of different ticket options you can choose
from when you visit which can honestly be a little overwhelming
in the moment so I recommend looking at all their packages online
and ordering your tickets in advance. When I visited I opted
for the “Elvis Experience Tour” package which was $70/person.
(I didn’t get to tour his custom jets when I went, but otherwise
everything included in that package is currently
the same as what I was offered.)
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If you are doing a self-guided tour I highly recommend you
make sure to get the audio guide that goes along with it. Walking
through the mansion and ground is cool and all, but being able
to hear the history definitely made it an amazing tour.
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There is parking on site however you will have to pay a
fee to park in the lot. Currently it is $10 for standard sized
vehicles and $15 for over-sized ones. You can pay this in advance as well.
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You can find more tips and FAQs here.
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Visiting Graceland for the first time at Christmas, Elvis’ favorite
time of year, was such a memorable experience and one I would
return to do again in a heartbeat. It was worth every penny
and the magic and beauty of the estate while it is decorated
for the Christmas season is simply breathtaking.
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