Hangin’ Out at Elvis’s House: A Visit To Graceland by Winnie Bachman

By: Winnie Bachman

Today’s post is by travel-enthusiast and music-lover Winnie Bachman who recently took a trip to Tennessee. There, she visited one of the most famous homes in the United States: Graceland. Below she recounts her experience, sharing photos, tips, and her favorite moments from her day hanging out at Elvis’s house. If you’ve ever been to Graceland, it’s on your travel bucket list, or you have a question for the guest poster, leave a comment below!

This September, I took a spur-of-the-moment, three day road trip to Tennessee. Visiting Graceland was at the top of my list of places to explore on the trip. I’ve loved older music my entire life and was influenced by Elvis’s music and movies since I was a little girl. So, I was elated to finally be able to visit his humble abode.

I had very little time to plan the trip. But I made sure to read up on the rules and tips on the Graceland website prior to visiting. My experience may have been vastly different than others. But I’ve put together a few of my own suggestions and expectations for first time visitors.

Graceland’s location

Because Graceland was my number one destination to visit in Memphis, I set aside an entire day to spend at the estate. We were staying in Nashville for the duration of our trip. So, we drove the three hours to Memphis and arrived at Graceland around 10:00 AM to purchase our tickets.

One of the things that surprised me most when we arrived was that the mansion is actually across the street from the parking lot, ticket office, and museum. In the movies, they always make it seem like people can just waltz through the gate and go straight up to the mansion. But in reality, the estate is tightly secured from non-ticket holding visitors.

About the Graceland mansion tours

Mansion tours begin at around 9:15 AM and conclude at 4:45 PM daily. Tickets can be purchased via will-call, online in advance, or in person at the Graceland ticket office. For those who decide to purchase tickets in person like we did however, I would suggest trying to arrive at one of the earlier tours in order to beat the mad dash of visitors.

By the time we reached the ticket office, Graceland was already swarming with people. The earliest tour we could get was at 11:15 AM. Luckily, with the specific tour we chose, we were able to explore some of the museum exhibits to pass the time before the mansion tour began. There are also multiple gift shops near the ticket office and in the museum to peruse. Two restaurants, Vernon’s Smokehouse and Gladys’ Diner, are also located on the premises.

Graceland tour options and prices

All of the tours that Graceland offers can take anywhere between 2-4 hours to explore the mansion and museum exhibits. Make sure museum access is included on your tour. Currently, the Graceland website advertises four different tour options to choose from ranging from $41 and $174 per person.

For hardcore Elvis fans, Graceland offers the “2019 Ultimate VIP Tour” which includes:

• an exclusive guided tour of the mansion
• access to all museum exhibits
• a meal voucher to one of the restaurants on the premises

For those people who really just want to tour the mansion, the “2019 Graceland Mansion Only Tour” would probably the best choice. It is the cheapest tour option, and visitors can take their time to admire every unique detail of the mansion.

We ended up choosing the “2019 Elvis Experience Tour.”  It’s the mid-priced tour option. It also seemed to be the best bang for our buck. It included:

• a self-guided tour of the mansion
• access to all of the museum exhibits

The “2019 Elvis Entourage VIP Tour” is the other VIP tour option. It basically has all of the same inclusions as the “2019 Elvis Experience Tour.” But, it allows visitors to skip the lines and board a VIP shuttle to the mansion.

Basically, the main reason why we chose the “2019 Elvis Experience Tour” was that the price was only about $60 per person. This is compared to the “2019 Elvis Entourage VIP Tour” which was closer to $100 per person. Ultimately, I would suggest scoping out the tour options on the Graceland website prior to visiting. Read up on the specific details of each tour, and determine which option would best suit you for that particular day.

Waiting for a shuttle

Honestly, the only negative comment I had with the “2019 Elvis Experience Tour” was the hour-and-a-half wait time to catch a shuttle bus up to the mansion. This can be especially grueling in the summer months. Although it was mid-September and we were under a canopy out of direct sunlight, the temperature in Memphis at 11:30AM was 90-plus degrees.

Even after just a half-an-hour of waiting outside with about one hundred other people in the dry, breezeless air, everybody in line was bickering about the heat. People on the VIP tours were able to skip the lines completely and board the next empty shuttle to the mansion.

For physically disabled individuals or people visiting Graceland with a disabled person, however, I would definitely suggest paying up for one of the VIP tours. Then, you can skip the shuttle bus lines to the mansion.  Unfortunately, the only way to enter the Graceland mansion on any of the four tours is by shuttle bus. This is despite the fact that you could walk across the street to the estate in about two minutes.

A virtual tour

Although we were all irritated from the long wait in line and the heat, we boarded a shuttle with about twenty other visitors and zoomed across the street to the mansion. We initially thought that our tour would be self-guided (as indicated on the website). Instead, employees passed out digital tablets and headphones to everybody on our shuttle. These served as our virtual tour guide narrated by none other than Full House star, John Stamos.

Our tour finally began at the front entrance of the mansion. An employee relayed a brief history of the home from the time it was built until Elvis’s final days on the property. She also discussed the rules of the tour. These were pretty self-explanatory, like do not touch any of the decor or enter any room past the roped barriers.

We were encouraged to take as many photos as we wanted, as long as we didn’t use a flash. Video recording was strictly prohibited. Most of the rooms inside of the house were very dimly lit though. So, unfortunately, many of the photos I took came out quite poorly.

Touring the mansion

Exploring the mansion was so surreal to me. It was one of those places that felt so familiar, even though it was my first time visiting. The mansion tour began in the white, front parlor, zigzagged through the first floor and basement of the mansion, flowed out into the backyard and horse stable, and concluded in two other smaller buildings on the property.

At the beginning of our tour, one of the employees explained to us that the upstairs of the mansion is strictly off limits to all visitors, including celebrities. Some have apparently tried to bribe employees with money to take a peek. Apparently, this was a rule created by Elvis when he lived in the mansion. The estate continues to respect his wishes.

Because our tour was self-guided, we were able to take our time walking through each room, snapping dozens of keepsake photos. I think the most special thing about the mansion is that every piece of décor is original and remodeled in 1970’s style by Elvis himself.

Favorite moments of the tour

As we wandered through the mansion listening to John Stamos’s narration about the history of each room, I kept hearing people snickering and making comments about the gaudiness of the decorations. Personally, I love vintage décor from the 50’s-70’s. So, I was starry-eyed examining the blue peacocks on the stain glass windows of the parlor and the green shag carpeted walls of basement staircase.

My favorite room in the entire mansion had to be “The Jungle Room.” This is basically just a dark den behind the kitchen. It has wood-paneled walls, wooden furniture with fur coverings, hanging plants, jungle animal statues, and a stuffed panda bear on a plump leather chair with one of Elvis’s guitars next to it.

Across from the horse stables, the tour continued into one building which consisted of Elvis’s studio and racquetball room. Then we were led into a mini-museum in another building. This museum showcased a collection of artifacts like Lisa Marie’s baby crib and Elvis and Priscilla’s wedding clothes. The tour solemnly concluded outside of the mansion around a beautiful fountain at the gravesites of Elvis’s grandmother, Minnie, his mother, Gladys, his father, Vernon, and Elvis himself.

The automobile museum and Presley cycles exhibits

After the mansion tour ended, guests lined up at the side of the mansion and boarded a shuttle bus back to the museum. Prior to our mansion tour, we were able to tour a little bit of the “Presley Motors Automobile Museum” and “Presley Cycles” exhibits. These exhibits showcased some of Elvis’s cars, motorcycles, tractors, and snowmobiles. Some he purchased himself. Others he drove on movie sets, like the pink dune buggy from Blue Hawaii.

Of course, one of the coolest cars in the museum was the iconic, pink Cadillac that Elvis bought for his mother, despite the fact that she didn’t drive.  After the mansion tour, we spent the next two hours exploring the rest of the museum. It included over a thousand items of Elvis’s memorabilia.

The “Archives Experience” exhibit displayed home décor items and more artifacts from the mansion, like statues, silverware, and a mysterious television set with a bullet hole through the screen.

One of the largest exhibits we walked through was the “Icons: the Influence of Elvis Presley Exhibit.” This exhibit showcased a variety of outfits and instruments from famous musical artists who were influenced by Elvis’s life and career. As someone who loves older music from the 50s-70s, I was in awe admiring items like:

• Elton John’s black jacket lined with cheetah fur
• Jimi Hendrix’s brown, suede jacket and guitar amplifier
• One of Johnny Cash’s all-black suits.

We ended our experience at Graceland in the “Elvis: The Entertainer Career Museum.” I pointed out our favorite Elvis songs on the huge wall of gold records. We wove through the collection of stage outfits worn by Elvis through the years, like his iconic ‘68 Comeback Special leather outfit. There were also a multitude of his white, caped leisure suits worn during his final tours.

Final thoughts about Graceland

We ended up exploring Graceland for about four hours. We absolutely could have spent another couple of hours admiring every little detail of the estate. The reset of the day was spent in downtown Memphis. It’s only about a 15 minute drive from Graceland. We walked down Beale Street, glimpsing the Mississippi River. And of course, we trekked up to the infamous Sun Studio where Elvis’s music career began.

Graceland is constantly changing and adding exhibits in the museum. It is definitely a place that people can travel to multiple times and always see something different. I absolutely plan on going back to Graceland in the near future. I would definitely consider booking a room at The Guest House at Graceland for a night or two. My experience visiting Graceland was nothing like I expected it to be. But it was definitely a sentimental and inspiring bucket-list destination.

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