Papa's Birthday

Lily helped Papa celebrate his birthday this year - she even helped him blow out his candles! I think Lily gets just as excited about other peoples birthdays as she does her own!

Memphis Ducks

We took a duck tour while we were in Memphis, which was nice because you got to see Memphis from the land & water. We learned all sorts of interesting things about Memphis. Did you know that the MGM lion (the lion that roars at the beginning of all MGM films) lived at the Memphis Zoo for the majority of his life? We saw the Lorraine Hotel (now the National Civil Rights Museum) where Martin Luther King was assassinated, Sun Studios, the Gibson Guitar Museum - where all Gibson Guitars are made, the first house Elvis bought, the building that was in the movie 'Ghostbusters' & AutoZone park, home of the Memphis Redbirds. We also took a short ride on the Mississippi River & saw the M bridge & Mud Island. They gave out these lovely "quackers" at the beginning of the tour, which Lily thought was great. They were fun on the tour, but now we have 4 of them at my house (because Grammy & Uncle Doug were "nice" enough to let us take theirs home), and I can't begin to tell you how nice it is to have Lily & her friends quacking through the house when they come over to play...

The Princess & the King

Our trip to Memphis wouldn't be complete without a trip to Graceland. From Elvis Presley Boulevard to Sun Studios to the Rock & Soul Museum & everywhere in between, you can't go a mile in Memphis without a reminder of "the King".

GRACELAND

Our tour through Graceland was a self-guided audio tour. We all got a set of headphones (Lily included, of course) & we could control the tour ourselves. We heard stories told by Lisa Marie & Elvis himself! They also played a lot of music by Elvis that we could enjoy while walking from room to room, which Lily rocked out to the entire time. Whenever a song would end & they would start talking, telling us about the room we were in, Lily would say "Hey! I want the music back on!"

The gates to Graceland

Living room

Dining room

Game room
(I don't know if you can tell in the picture, but the walls & ceiling are covered with pleated material - the room is not wallpapered! I can't imagine how much time something like that would take & even though the colors are a little wild, it has an amazing effect.)

TV room

He always had these 3 TV's tuned to ABC, CBS & NBC

Family room in racquetball building.

It is said this is where Elvis spent the last night of his life - playing the piano.

Elvis costumes

The thing that amazed me the most at Graceland was the trophy rooms. To see how many awards & gold & platinum records one person won is fascinating. He won awards from all over the world. The rooms seemed to go on forever & every time you thought you were finished you would walk into another room full!

"Hall of Gold"

This is where all his gold records are.

One of Elvis' private planes

He named this plane the 'Lisa Marie' after his daughter.

Lily, Uncle Doug, Mommy & Uncle Doug's friend Ricky with the 'Lisa Marie'. Elvis had this "TCB" symbol painted on the tail of the plane - it his personal "Takin Care of Business" logo.

This is the meditation garden at Graceland where Elvis is buried along with his parents, his grandmother and his stillborn twin.

Elvis' grave

Elvis Presley Automobile Museum

Famous 1955 pink Cadillac

Rolls Royce

This pink Jeep was used in a movie & was also used personally by Elvis

Lily "driving" Mommy

Sun Studios

Elvis recorded his first record here at Sun Studios, a recording studio. Both Elvis & Sun Studios owner Sam Phillips were soon rocketed into mega-stardom. Sun Studios is still a working recording studio & for $50 an hour you can still go there & record your own music.

picture of Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley & Carl Perkins' (the 'Million Dollar quartet') famous "jam session" at Sun Studios

Elvis actually used this microphone at some point while recording at Sun Studios

Memphis Zoo

The Memphis Zoo is an amazing zoo. They have lots of exhibits & animals that not a lot of zoos have. Lily LOVES seeing all the animals. This was one of the best zoos we have ever been to.

Lily with one of the panda bears.

Lily & Mommy watching the elephants (Lily's favorite) do tricks & get their morning snacks.

Lily & the giraffesJust "monkeying" around...
Lily "hatching"
This carousel had all different kinds of zoo animals to ride instead of horses. Lily wanted to ride every animal, but she finally decided on the tiger.

Lily acting goofy at the zoo

Peabody Ducks

The Peabody Hotel in Memphis is home to some pretty lucky ducks! These ducks live on the top floor of the hotel. Every morning after breakfast, a red carpet is rolled out for these ducks, who ride down to the lobby in the elevator where they walk the red carpet from the elevator right into the lobby fountain! They swim there all day & then at dinnertime they walk back to the elevator on their red carpet & ride up to their home on the top floor. It is quite a sight & a very popular attraction, as you can see all the people waiting.

Lily waiting for the 'Peabody Ducks' to make their daily grand entrance.

The ducks swimming in the lobby fountain

Memphis Queen

We rode down the Mississippi River on the Memphis Queen Riverboat. We got to see some Memphis landmarks & learn some Memphis history. Lily got a little bored since it was a long ride, but we tried to keep her entertained. It was such a nice day & we were so used to the cold Massachusetts weather it was nice to sit out on the deck & get some sun.

Lily & Mommy sunning on the deck

The "M" bridge which connects West Memphis, Arkansas & Memphis, Tennessee

The Pyramid Arena is home to basketball games & concerts. It is one of the most unique structures in the world & it is taller than the Statue of Liberty & the Taj Mahal. If you look to the right of the picture, you can see the M bridge in the background as well.