Day 4

Greetings from the land of Tupelo honey, BBQ, and the King (insert involuntary hip swivel).

Yes, I am writing from Olive Branch, Mississippi (I cannot bring myself to write the state's abbreviation...I learned how to spell Mississippi in Mrs. Parman's 2nd grade class and its just way too much fun to spell out...)

Ok...little recap of last night because I couldn't find the internet access code when I sat down to write last night...

SO...we arrived in Olive Branch around 9 PM Central time after our longest day of driving yet. The drive was fine...drove through a beautiful stretch of TN (one of the cast remarked that it felt like we were driving through Narnia). Very mountainous, very snowy and HUGE icicles hanging beside the craggy cut out of the highway. I listened to my iPod almost the whole way and just took in the scenery. I generally find the "cool" music about 6 months later than everyone else, so Lady Gaga is my current obsession. I think I listened to her song, "Bad Romance", about 6 times...in a row.

Once we checked in to our hotel the ladies decided we needed to walk over to the Applebee's in the hotel parking lot for a nightcap. It was quite a scene at the local Applebee's on a Tuesday night... We promptly made friends with "Billy", a local celebrity of sorts (we imagined). He had superbly coiffed, and dyed blond hair, a tight t-shirt that said "I am not a Dr. but I'll take a look" (?), and was drinking an electric blue concoction. He tried to convince us to come party with him in Memphis, but we quickly blurted out how tired we all were... It was a lovely little taste of the local flavor...I loved it. :)

After a little while we decided we had had enough local flava, and ran back to the hotel to enjoy the hot tub. It. Was. GLORIOUS. Talk about relaxing...sheesh! I only stayed in for about 30 minutes, and then took my googly limbs to luxuriate in my (surprisingly) very comfy bed.

OK...now finally onto Day 4!

After a really hard, really wonderful night's sleep I jumped out of bed when my roommate whispered that everyone was heading to Graceland! I quickly showered and 9 of us headed out in the van to the King's house. It was a chilly, but sunshiny day and the drive was quick. We got a very discounted rate because one of my cast mates new how to work the system...so we got our tickets and headed into the music lined gates. The house was much smaller than I had thought it would be. If I had been driving by I bet I wouldn't have even noticed it, other than maybe thinking that it had a tacky front gate...

BUT the inside was awesome. I had an audio guided tour taking me through each room on the first floor and through the famous Jungle Room, as well as the basement T.V. room and my favorite, the Pool Room. It was strange walking through his home, where he relaxed and entertained. Part of me felt like I was intruding...it was his haven and now thousands of people traipse through it, snapping pictures (I sure was!). I don't know much about Elvis, and I was amazed to see how many charities and individuals he gave to. He would anonymously pay for random people's medical bills, or house payments, even giving away cars to total strangers. He truly seemed like a good ol boy, just trying to do right by his parents and community. It makes me sad to think he was surrounded by so many people and no one helped him try and get away from his addiction that eventually led to such an early death.

OK, enough melancholy blabber! They had a whole section dedicated to his suits, which were amazing! Seeing the evolution of him through his clothes was pretty cool. The first one was his gold lame suit, including gold shoes, then we finally got to his famous white, studded jumpsuits. He was quite a character. Our last stop was aboard his private plane the "Lisa Marie". It was nicer than my apartment (well, in 1970's standards). Fully loaded with 24 carat gold seat belt buckles to boot.

A full afternoon of taking in the King's life gives a girl an appetite! Luckily, everyone else was starving too, so we loaded back up in the van and drove to the Mexican place by our hotel to enjoy a late lunch. I quickly devoured a chalupa, chicken quesadilla and some rice and beans before you could say "thank you, thank you very much". I then tried to justify this meal by walking to the nearby CVS to pick up some make-up items. I chatted with my older seester about my day and then decided it was time to write it all down...well type it all down...

I am thinking a little time in the hotel gym, then maybe some more hot tub action? We shall see what the evening brings!

Off to Texas tomorrow...never been.

I will leave you with some wisdom from my friend for the day:

"I ain't no saint, but I've tried never to do anything that would hurt my family or offend God...I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world."
Elvis P.

XO.