We did it! The final checkbox on our itinerary is checked complete. We’ve done Graceland and Elvis in an all-day extravaganca using our VIP Tickets.

So, what can I tell you about Elvis? Not much from personal experience. I was alive and aware of popular music during the 1950s, 60s and 70s but somehow Elvis never penetrated by consciousness. The only Elvis song I knew for sure was “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog,” which I learned in some detail. Brother Doug had the croup or something at age 7 or so (Hound Dog was released in 1956). The poor boy was suffering and so to relieve his pain Mom borrowed a 45 record from a neighbor and we played it constantly for days on end.

That was a supreme act of love by Mom and Dad; they normally refused to listen to classical music composed after 1899 (Ravel? Fergitit. Debussy? Maybe). Then again, all the pictures of Elvis with his fans that we saw today had young, goo-goo eyed girls sitting in the front rows so maybe my neredishness Elvis-wise, can be excused.

Every fact you’d want to know about Elvis is on display here. Everything from his mansion, Graceland, of course, plus his TCB ring (Taking Care of Business), his stage costumes, his gold records, his movie trailers on up to his two jet airplanes are here to be viewed or, if you’re a fan, to be gushed over. The memorial garden where he and several relatives are buried (next to the swimming pool) is quite touching.

Everything is done quite tastefully, with no sensationalism or exaggeration. But there’s no hint of controversy, either. For instance, his lifelong manager Colonel Tom Parker is nowhere to be found and, according to our tour guide, never will. There’s bad blood between Parker and Lisa Marie Presley, who still has controlling interest in Graceland. Parker took over Elvis from the famous Sun Record studio in 1954, selling Elvis’s contract to RCA and signing a management contract with Elvis that gave Parker 50% of Elvis’s gross. He dictated what gigs Elvis could do. Concerts outside the U.S. and any serious movie rolls were prohibited.

Elvis’s death is another point raised in a reverent tone by our guide, but that didn’t jive with my memory. According to the guide, Elvis was to go on tour August 16, 1977. The night before, he couldn’t sleep so he called his girlfriend (he was divorced from Pricilla), a friend and the friend’s girlfriend to come to Graceland in the middle of the night. They played racquetball in Elvis’s new private court, Elvis played the piano and sang a couple of tunes (we saw the actual piano in the actual racquetball room) and went to the house to prepare for bed. When he didn’t show up, his girlfriend found him in his bathroom, dead. Cause of death: cardiac arrythmia. So sad.

And indeed, it was sad for an iconic entertainer to die so young. But what the guide didn’t tell us is that Elvis was suffering from chronic addiction to prescription medications, that he had recently been hospitalized for pneumonia and other ailments and that he was overweight. The speculation is that those factors contributed to the arrythmia. Not the pretty picture Elvis fans need to hear. His official autopsy report is sealed by the family until 2027, 50 years after his death.

What does Graceland, the mansion, tell us about Elvis? It’s extravagant, almost gaudy, but totally what one would expect a 21-year-old millionaire, one who grew up in a house without electricity or indoor plumbing, to create. I’ll let the pictures speak but Elvis knew what he liked and had the money to fulfill his every whim.

Across the street from Graceland is a large facility with many exhibits of various aspects of Elvis’s life, from his humble beginnings in Tupelo, MS to his recording and movie career. Taken together, we were in action from 9 AM to 4 PM, including, Adephagia (Greek goddess of glutoney) help us, a four-meat luncheon. Wipe that frown of disapproval off your face. It was included in the VIP ticket; we were only getting our money’s worth.

So that’s it. Carolyn and Steve have a 4 AM taxi, Judy and I are catching the 6 AM shuttle bus and Sharon? She’s lollygagging around the hotel until 11 AM before she leaves.

It’s been a great trip. We’ve been blessed with great weather, lots of fun and interesting things to do and great eats. But best of all, we’ve been blessed with seven pretty great and super compatible traveling companions, including Ro and Dave who left yesterday. Can’t wait to do it again!

Thanks for traveling with us.