Bobo, Elvis, and Taking Care of Business at Graceland

When 1969's daughter was graduating from Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, Bobo and I drove to Memphis for the event.  Since Bobo has always loved Elvis, we decided to take him to Graceland to surprise him!  He was surprised, alright...He loved Elvis and we knew that he had been and looked at Graceland from the gate.  The Two Soul Sisters were now taking him into Elvis' house.  We were so excited.  He drug us to two Elvis concerts back in the 70s, and we were now going to surprise him by taking him to see Elvis' red telephone on the wall.  Also, we took 1969's mother-in-love, Ma C.  Well Ma C wasn't an Elvis fan, but who the heck would not want to go to the King of Rock and Roll's mansion?  Uh, well maybe Ma C.

The Two Soul Sisters purchased the tickets for $47 each.  I bought two and she bought two.  What a deal!  $188.00 to see all the Elvis stuff!  Click HERE for the Graceland website!  We both knew that we could have bought a nice pair of Birkenstocks for this price, but Bobo's happiness was worth a pair of Birkis Click HERE for Birkenstocks!!  

We get to the nice rental house that 1969's hubs reserved for the weekend, and hunkered down in Memphis on Thursday night.  Friday, we inform Bobo and Ma C that we have a mystery trip planned.  1969 and myself are so excited!  We are looking at each other and smiling.  Our hearts are bursting with that fun, sneaky happiness that you only get when you are surprising someone with their number 1 item on their Christmas list.  

We muddle around Memphis in the morning and took pictures of the graduate at Rhodes.  We decided to head to Beale Street for lunch at Blues City Cafe.  It was yummy!  After lunch, we grabbed Bobo and Ma C and headed to Graceland!

When we get on the way, Bobo figures it out.  And.  Drumroll, please....He was like, I have already been to Graceland and been inside with your mama....Oh boy.  He was not filled with happiness and glee.  

Look below at the Bobo, the unhappy tourist.

This picture captures it all:

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When you walk into Graceland, this picture of Elvis is hanging on your left.  I guess this was back before the dying his hair black.  Also, he made Priscilla dye her hair black.  I read somewhere he wanted them to look alike.

Pretty Boy in his George Washington Shirt

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This is a very white room.  I guess they did not allow all of Elvis' pets in this room.  Elvis had lots of dogs.  He had a Pomeranian, Great Danes, a Poodle, a Great Pyrenees, and a Chow.  Also, he had a chimp, some peacocks, and many horses!

white room

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Wonder if the chimp 🐒 named Scatter ever swung from this chandelier?

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Harold has been in this room...with his purple crayon!

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This kitchen is so 1970.  I could just smell the fried chicken cooking when I was standing there.

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Elvis had both green and red telephones throughout Graceland, green for multi-line system and red for an intercom system.

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Check out the 1970s cannister set and the cast iron skillet.  All southerners back in the day had a skillet like this.  1969 and myself still have these skillets.  Mine is the one my grandmother had.  

Do you know how to care for this skillet?  Well, if not, let me fill you in.  

You cook your food.

You wash your skillet in sink with water.

Clean it off really good.

Then, heat the oven burner or "stove eye" back up.

Put the cast iron skillet on the oven eye and grease the entire cast iron skillet with olive oil or vegetable oil.

Let heat up for maybe a minute.

Then, turn off the oven eye.

Place inside oven.

Next time you need use it, you are ready to go!

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Here's the jungle room.  No Tarzan or Jane, though.

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Here is a sweet teddy bear.  I liked it.  I just thought it was sitting there missing Lisa Marie.  Wonder if "Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear" was named after this cute little bear?

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Great rug to cover up stains from an Elvis party!

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These days we call this bar RETRO.  Retro is cool.  

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The room below had 14 Televisions.  Did you ever hear that Elvis shot televisions?  I did.  I heard he shot at a tv when Robert Goulet was on it.  I read he liked Robert Goulet.  Wonder what he would have done to the tv if he didn't like Robert Goulet.  

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Here is a fake monkey at Graceland.  It was kinda creepy, if you ask me.

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This is probably the busiest room that I have ever seen in my life.  The interior designer must have had a lot of extra stuff and decided to stick it all in this room.

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I do not know how you could focus on pool with all this pattern.  An "ADD" person would never be able to function here!

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Dang if we didn't see Lisa Marie's swing set.  I bet Elvis pushed her with one hand and held a peanut butter and banana sandwich in the other.

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Vernon Presley and this meanie britches sign.  I do not think he would have liked millennials.

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Of course, folks sent Elvis art.

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Elvis loved his guns and loved to shoot them.  At least he didn't always use the tv sets for target practice.

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Here is one cute little girl and a good looking man with some big sideburns.

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Sweet family right here.  They had no idea that some bad stuff was coming.

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I think this is Gladys' (Elvis' mom that he was obsessed with) wallet.  She probably pulled money out of it to buy Elvis a guitar for his birthday.  He wanted a bike.  He got a guitar.  Sometimes, we don't know what we need.  Sometimes a LOT of times.

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Elvis gets done with his formal schooling and has a diploma to prove it.  

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Of course, an art teacher is going to take a picture of Elvis' crayon box.  I have lots of thoughts about this.  Why was this box in such good condition?  Did Elvis not like to color?  Why in the devil would Gladys hold on to this crayon box for so long?  Do y'all think this is really his box from first grade?  I wish I could have opened up this box.  I would like to see the crayons.  I wonder if Elvis was a crayon breaker.  I color hard and I am a crayon breaker.  Art teachers can tell you every crayon breaker in every class.  We skilled in this way with this special knowledge.

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Here is the Presley Family Bible.  You can tell a lot about a person by looking at their Bible.  This Bible looks really used.  That's good to me.  They looked up important stuff like The Ten Commandments or some good Bible verses.  

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Elvis did not have all ones on his report card.  A "1" indicates excellent. A "2" indicates good.  At least he didn't have "3" or a "4" on there!

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I don't remember folks having golf carts like we do today.  We had go carts.  Lisa Marie was pretty lucky to have a golf cart!  She was way ahead of her time!  

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My grandma had some red boots like this.  The Soul Sisters love red boots.

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Lisa Marie toy

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You know little Lisa had some Tiffany's.  Don't think she ever had breakfast at Tiffany's like Audrey Hepburn, though.  Do you remember what Audrey ate?  It was a croissant and coffee.  If you have never seen this movie, go give it a look.  Holly Golightly is a piece of work.

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Too bad Priscilla never got to "Say Yes to the Dress".  I feel certain that Elvis picked it out for her.

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Aladdin Casino Champagne for Elvis and Priscilla.  Their wedding cake only cost $400 and the total wedding was $11,000.  

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Nice tux, E!

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I loved the photo below.  Elvis in the hat is precious.  

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Graceland at Christmas!

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Hubba Hubba!

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Elvis loved guns.  

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Cool pool, but I bet it has been updated.

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My mama's initials were E.P.  Never thought about that before.  She played the piano.  Elvis played the piano.  I hope they are both playing the Steinway & Sons baby grand up in Heaven.  

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Here is the racquetball court.  Have y'all heard of Pickleball?  It is kind of like racquetball.  Looks fun to me.  Looks easier than tennis.  I think it would be good for old people like myself or young elementary aged kids.  Click HERE to learn about Pickleball

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Here is the grave of Elvis.  Of course, he has the TCB (Taking Care of Business) on it!

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So that is all, y'all.  I have provided you with the pictures that I found worth sharing from Graceland.  I think TCB says it all.  Folks, we all got to TCB.  You do have miles to go before you sleep, but miles become feet and feet become inches.  Funny thing, we do not know if we are in the miles, feet, or inch stage.  We will know eventually, though.  So, let's be nice and kind and calm it down a little.  

1965