I actually was very surprised at Graceland. It wasn't nearly as wild as I had expected. Opulent, certainly, but only three rooms that would qualify for "You have more money than taste." From the front, the house looks grand, but not wild.
Ok, so maybe the stained glass peacocks are a bit much, but the formal rooms when you first enter the house aren't too crazy.
And the color theme continues into the dining room across the hall.
It's when you get downstairs, into the more relaxed spaces, that the "Whoa" factor comes out.
Add mirrors on the ceiling to reflect all the shiny. It's wild, but considering it's the '70s and Elvis, it doesn't seem too crazy.
Then you walk across the hall into the pool room, and you think, yeah, this is odd...
The pleated-fabric motif starts from the center of the ceiling and continues on.
After the house itself, we entered the Trophy Building. Yes, building.
Halls were lined with Grammy awards and gold and platinum records. And I know this isn't all of them, because we saw some in the Rock & Roll and Country Music halls of fame. It's just amazing.
The next building was Elvis' racquetball building. The walls of what used to be the court are now lined with posthumous gold and platinum records. It's just as filled as the trophy building.
After Graceland, we headed back on the road. The kids were asking why we needed to go north on I-55 when Texas was south of us. I reminded them of a little puddle in the middle of the country -- you know, the Mississippi River -- that we needed to find a bridge to cross. Ohhhh!
We had to travel through Arkansas. I've never seen so much nothing. It's not even pretty. It's just scrubby weeds for miles.
It was really hard to drive through, and I had to take a break from driving because my eyes hurt from the glare (even with sunglasses). We had to laugh when we saw this sign outside where we stopped.
Maybe it was a Soul Food place?
Once we got to Little Rock, there was finally something to see.
Politics aside, I've never been to a presidential library, so I'm curious what it would be like.
On the other side of Little Rock, we went through the miles and miles of trees. Not particularly exciting, but it was nice to have the shade. We got a chuckle over this state park -
We finally got to Texarkana...
And knew Texas was right behind!
Drive friendly? Y'all, it's like driving the autobahn.
We'll stay in the "slow" lane -- I was going 75, and the left lane was zooming by like we were turtles! Yeep!
This is a big state for friends -- in Longview, I got to meet a friend who lives in my computer. Kristy and I have known each other for years through Kids with Food Allergies, but never met in person. It was wonderful to finally meet her in person. Next up, we are heading to Dallas to see Jude's penpal Phoebe. I'm just as excited as he is -- I get to met her mom in person, too - and we've been KFA friends for 10 years.
©2012- 2015 Adventures with Jude. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://adventureswithjude.com
No comments:
Post a Comment