Going to Memphis during a pandemic

My family and I have been planning for this years family vacation since last year so when the pandemic hit, we were sure that taking a vacation was out of the questions. We wanted to keep ourselves safe as well as everyone else, but we were still disappointed. Thankfully, we were still able to take a trip after everything settled down a bit and I wanted to tell you guys all about it. I want to make sure to say right off the bat that we had been tested prior to traveling, we all live in the same household, we wore our masks when we were in public, and we made sure to practice social distancing. With that being said, let's get on with it. 

We left on a Friday morning and we drove about 11, maybe 12 hours to get there. I should also mention that we took our dogs with us, so it took us a little longer to get there because we had to make more stops then normal with them along for the ride. 

Our first night in Memphis we really didn't do anything, it had been a long drive and all we wanted to do was relax when we finally got there. Our first full day there was when the fun started. We started our day around nine in the morning and headed to the Arcade Restaurant that is said to have been frequented by Elvis Presley himself back in the day. This was our second time there; we'd been on one of our previous trips to Memphis a few years back. They were practicing social distancing so there was a bit of a wait time, but the food there is definitely worth it, my mom and I ordered the french toast plate and my dad got the eggs redneck plate and all loved what we ordered, so if you're ever in the area I 100% recommend stopping by for a bite to eat. From there we decided to walk around the area because it was close to the civil rights museum, and while we had been to Memphis twice before we had never really just walked around the city. 

I will start by saying I love Memphis and all the history that it has so I was excited to walk around and just sightsee, it's one of my favorite things to do when visiting different cities. We walked over to the Lorraine motel where Dr. Martin Luther King jr. was assassinated and took some pictures. Fun fact, the building where James Earl Ray shot Dr. King from is part of the Civil rights museum as well as the Lorraine motel. 

After walking around the area, we headed back to the car and to the Bass Pro shop. I know this sound a bit strange, and the first time my dad suggested we go I was a little skeptical, but it now it's not a trip to Memphis unless we make a stop here. While they do sale hunting and fishing equipment there it is also a hotel and they have a restaurant, observation deck, bowling alley and all sorts of things to do there. We usually walk around to check out the live fish and alligators they have and then make our way to the games and have some fun there for a while.


Then we headed back to our hotel to pick up our dogs to take them to the beale street landing so that they could stretch their legs and explore some of the city with us. I had never been there before but I'm so glad we went. This is a great place to walk along the Mississippi and just take in the scenery. 

Since we wanted to get an early start the next day, we decided to pick up some food from our all-time favorite Memphis restaurant, Uncle Lou's, and call it a day. Guys, I can NOT recommend this place enough, my family and I come to Memphis for 2 things, Graceland, and Uncle Lou's chicken!! I never remember to get a picture of the food because I just can't wait to dig in once I get my order, so if you are ever in the area and need somewhere to grab a bit to eat Uncle Lou's is the way to go, I promise you won't regret it!! 

Sunday was our last full day in Memphis and of course we reserved the whole day for Graceland. That is one things I will let you know right off the bat, if you ever decided to go to Memphis and you want to get the full Graceland experience then make sure you block out a whole day just for that. I'm a huge Elvis fan, I have been since my middle school day, but I didn't get to visit Graceland until 2014 and I will never forget my first time stepping off the bus that charters you over to the house and getting my first up close view of Elvis' home, so I was excited to visit this time because I hadn't been back since they built the new complex and I wanted to see what they had to offer. 

 

First things first, I have to give it up to the EPE company and the staff there at Graceland because they really are trying to do everything they can to keep visitors safe. There are signs as you're walking up to the welcome center reminding everyone to keep six feet apart and masks are mandatory for entry. As soon as you walk through the first set of door they have a station set up where a staff member is checking everyone temperature, and then while we got there at 10 am there weren't spots available to tour the house until 12:30pm because they are limiting the number of people per group that goes through the house to 10. We were perfectly fine waiting because there are shops for you to visit and of course they have different museums that you can start visiting while you wait for you tour time to come up. 

We bought the 2020 Elvis Experience Tour which included the tour of the mansion plus the exhibits at the complex which include a growing up Presley exhibit, Elvis' automobile exhibit, archives exhibit, his wardrobe exhibit, the entertainer career museum, plus a tour of his custom jets. There really is a whole lot to see before you ever make it to the house and what I really like is that you can visit the exhibits as many times as you want during their operating hours, so in our case we started going through the exhibits and then when it was almost time for our tour of the mansion we headed back to the main building to get in line for the shuttle to take us to the house, and then once the shuttle brought us back we picked up where we left off with the exhibits. 

I'm not going to tell you about each and every exhibit because this post is already longer than I thought it was going to be and honestly I probably can't do them justice, but I will tell you that my absolute favorite exhibit included the growing up Presley area which feature Lisa Marie Presley and has things from her childhood and quotes from her about her memories from when she lived at Graceland with 

Elvis and what it's like coming back to visit with her own kids, as well as tons of picture of her and her family throughout the years. I've always wanted to hear more about what life was like for Lisa Marie, I think one of the reasons is because I have a great relationship with my dad and I can't imagine what it was like for her to grow up with this larger than life man as her father only to have his taken from her at such a young age. I also think she has a lot of Elvis in her, so I like to hear her talk about her memories with him and that bond that they shared. This was one of my favorite exhibits because Lisa is really protective of those memories and how much of her father, not Elvis the entertainer, but Elvis her dad, she shares with the world and I felt like this was her way of doing that without feeling like she was oversharing those moments that are just for her. 

 

The other one I really enjoyed was the archive exhibit. It's a dream of mine to work in the archive department at Graceland, so to be able to pull out drawers and draws of Elvis' belongings was a dream come true for me. I could have spent all day in that exhibit because there is just so much to see and as an Elvis fan all I wanted to do was take in each and every piece that they've chosen to put in that exhibit. As a bookworm myself I loved that they had some of his book displayed and it made me wanted to try and figure out why he read those books and what they meant to him, I'm telling you, I'm a HUGE fan.

There was also an area that featured Elvis' time in the army and I've always felt like that isn't talked about enough, so I was really happy to see that on display. The area had his uniforms and telegrams that were sent to him during this time and one of the most special things to me was seeing the telegrams from when his mom was sick and passed away and just imagine what it was like to receive them. I think it's amazing that they still have those and are able to display them because it was such a significant time in his life. 

And now, what you've probably all been waiting for, the actual house. As I said before, my first time here was extremely special for me, I'm not a crier and I promises you I had to fight so hard to keep the tears from falling my first time there because you could really feel his spirit there. I love walking through the house because you really are taken back in time and I love that each room has its own look and feel to it and it's such a great representation of Elvis and all the different sides of him. 

 If you've never been and you're a fan you really are missing out because it's so special getting to walk through this place that was his home and his place to just be him and enjoy the simple things. One thing I did find this time around was that I didn't get that same feeling stepping off the shuttle this time around and I'm not sure why that was. I still loved getting to take everything in and see inside this world that he created for him and his loved ones, but I just didn't feel him there like I did on my previous visits. My dad suggested that it might have been because they've moved a lot of his things from the house to the complex, and maybe that was it, I'm not sure, but I still really enjoyed it and will most definitely be back again. 

 

I am going to end this post here, I know it was a bit of a long one, but I wanted to fit as much as I could into it and share my trip with all of you. I hope you enjoyed reading about my time in Memphis. Next week I'm hoping to post about the rest of our trip and share what we got up to in Branson. Let me know what you thought about this post and what you want to see next. Also, leave a comment about any trips you've taken and places I should visit next.