There's so much to write about the trip to Memphis but I'd probably bore you a lot more than I usually do - so let's just do a quick overview and mention some of the most surreal experiences (and there were lots of those!)
Looking back to when I booked the trip I was thinking about doing this for Carol - as it was something we were definitely going to do in our future. It was the 35th anniversary this year, so a big event in the Elvis calendar anyway - and it also marked 5 years since my failed attempt to get Carol over to Elvis Week for the 30th way back in 2007.
I was nervous about the trip because I was unsure about how I'd deal with the emotions of the event, my recollections of being in Memphis with Carol in 2005 and just the general feeling of being "there" again - in a place that meant so much to Carol through her love of Elvis.
Tom came on the trip with me - for moral support but also as a fellow Elvis / music fan I thought he'd appreciate and enjoy the experience (and I was right about that!)
We spent the first couple of days in Tupelo - Elvis' birthplace - and this is a key year for them. A lot of work has been done at the birthplace and we were present at the ceremony to open the new visitors centre, as well as later that evening as they unveiled a new statue commemorating Elvis' Homecoming Concerts in 1955/6. There were numerous speeches by the Mayor and other local dignitaries, and our group were mentioned on each occasion (Arena Travel have been doing Elvis trips since 1972 so are well known over there). Being escorted around town by police outriders and cars was one of those things that couldn't help but make you smile.
The birthplace is very well done and we had plenty of time to wander around - including our walk back to Johnnie's Drive-In for a drink that turned into burgers and desserts as well (85 cents for an ice cream cone!!).
Surreal in Tupelo - walking down Main Street (it's just 10 minutes they said!!) back to town......seeing Marty Stuart live on stage for free during the evening event......walking into Tupelo Hardware (where Gladys bought Elvis his first guitar) and seeing it's still a living breathing hardware store......then sitting on a coach outside Tupelo Hardware watching Blue Hawaii on DVD with Elvis singing "Can't Help Falling In Love With You"......definite shake your head and smile moments.
Then onto Memphis for the big week - Doubletree on Union Avenue was our base so we were right in Midtown, with a Denny's right across the road for breakfast.....pancakes.....some of the highlights, in no particular order, went like this.....
There was a very enjoyable tour of Memphis, taking in all the Elvis sights and including the Sun Studio tour, then the rest of the week was free to plan for ourselves.
It was very strange standing in that studio again - where Carol had posed with that microphone. Even though I was surrounded by lots of other people, for a few seconds I was completely alone - it was one of those moments that can't be explained without sounding like I've lost the plot (and there were lots of those on this trip).
We went on a couple of the planned events - the Sunday morning gospel show was good and the Elvis Insiders conference was interesting. I enjoyed listening to most of the guests - DJ Fontana, June Juanico, Wanda Jackson and a great section from Jerry Schilling and Bud Krogh, recalling the infamous Elvis / Nixon meeting in 1970 - a very funny story really well told.
We queued up for autographs after this, I'd purposely taken Jerry's book ("Me And A Guy Named Elvis") over there hoping to get it signed.
Carol was always wary about Elvis books but this one she had loved reading - it turned out to be the last book Carol ever read and I was able to chat briefly with Jerry about that. He was clearly touched by what I'd said and signed the book for me "In memory of Carol with love, sincerely Jerry Schilling". I've got to be honest that was a lump in the throat moment that I wasn't expecting.
I think everyone needs to take what they want from the whole "Graceland" journey and, in spite of the circus across the road, the mansion tour is a genuine individual "experience". This was the part I was most nervous about - Carol walking around there in tears is as vivid a memory for me today as on the actual day we did it back in October 2005.
Now anyone will tell you I'm not one for all this "spirit" talk - but during the 3 hours we spent up at the house I felt Carol so strongly that there's no way I could ever explain to anyone what was actually happening.
From the minute we walked through the front door Carol was right there with me. I don't want to analyse it because it was a wonderful "experience" for me - from being terrified that I'd never make it round I actually spent the entire visit with a very contented smile on my face. Even the sight of the black leather suit from '68 (Carol's favourite!) couldn't dampen my mood (well, not too much).
By the time we reached the graveside I had such a strong sense of Carol being around that I just sat there......both aware of and oblivious to everything going on around me.
It was so peaceful, so real, that I really can't explain it - but I stayed there for a long time.
The candlelight vigil on 15th August is something else that will stay with me. Elvis Presley Boulevard closed to traffic, fans camped out for the night, shrines set up all along the road with pictures, candles and toys laid out on the ground. We joined the queue at 8.15pm and, 3 burned down candles later, reached the graveside at 1.40am.
You may ask, why do people do that? Well before this trip I couldn't have told you - but I understand it now. Yes, I was there doing something that Carol unfortunately never got the chance to do - but I needed to do it too - you see it was for Carol but it also became a very personal thing for me - and I'm really glad I did it.
We'd not expected a relaxing holiday and around all of this we'd also been back to Sun Studio, visited the STAX museum (60's soul music - fantastic), took a trip down the Mississippi on a riverboat, rode the Main Street Trolley, watched a Memphis Redbirds baseball game and eaten some excellent food - much too much of it of course. Tom had even jammed with a local kid on guitar in the Gibson shop!
But the other real highlight of the trip was our visit to the Civil Rights Museum - at the Lorraine Motel. I really do struggle for the words here - this is the motel where Martin Luther King JR was assassinated on April 4th 1968. Just standing there was incredible - and looking from the window behind the balcony, up to the building where the shot was fired from - I was speechless.
Standing in a place where such a huge historical event occurred - there's something in the air at those places - the only thing I could compare it to was how I felt when I stood at Ground Zero - it's something that defies words.
The museum is so important in the history of America, and the wider world. The events in that history are at times quite unbelievable in the modern day - but they did actually happen, and in times not that long ago. We spent 4 hours looking round and could have easily spent 4 more.
I went back to Graceland on 16th August, not to go in but just to be there. It was the first time on the trip that I'd been alone - Tom stayed back at the hotel pool - and it was the first time really that the enormity of the trip hit me. This place, and the man who made it all possible, was so special to Carol and I always understood that - but I was standing right there......without Carol.
Later that evening we attended the Elvis 35th Anniversary Concert at the Fedex Arena. I was expecting the same show I'd seen before in the UK but they put on something very special indeed. Taking us from the first TV appearances in '56, through the movies and into the '68 Special, Elvis' love of gospel music and onto the Vegas and Hawaii years - it was quite spectacular (not a word I use lightly) and was a perfect way to close the holiday.
Surreal in Memphis - Beale Street on any night......Having breakfast in Denny's with James Burton sat 2 tables away, then later that evening watching him perform at the Fedex......men of all shapes / sizes / ages / colours wearing their hair in 70's Vegas style (dyed black with huge sideburns) and the women who stood to have their photo's taken with any of them......the ETA's (Elvis Tribute Artists), some of the most plastic faces I've ever seen......the stage in the tent at Graceland crossing, all you needed to do was get up and sing an Elvis song and everybody loved you......Kooky Canuck, you just have to eat there......Memphis, so much of it is just derelict......those fans setting up for the all nighter on 15th......I could go on.
And suddenly there it was gone - with so much crammed into just ten days - and despite the great weather we'd only managed one afternoon lazing around the pool.
I'm proud of myself for going, and making that trip for Carol. I got a lot out of it personally - I feel I understand the Elvis "thing" a lot more and there are many experiences I'll carry with me forever.
Carol's right there you know - right there at Graceland.
It's as strong a feeling as I've ever had - and I can at least smile about that.
The rose we planted in the front garden has bloomed already. It's one of those "Loving Memory" roses, like we planted on Annie's grave. I managed to get a photo before the weather blew away all the petals - it was a beautiful red - Carol would approve.
