Let me just say once again that Memphis is hot and humid at this time of year. It's just disconcerting to not be able to cool off by sweating. This plays a small part in visiting Graceland because you keep popping in and out of doors. Graceland is in the middle of Memphis, probably the outskirts of Memphis when Elvis lived there, but now it's just another suburb. There are two sections, the Graceland mansion and sorrounding property (Graceland was named by the original owner, after his wife's mother), and across the street is parking and three small museums and shops, eateries, and the ticket counter.

Parking is $2 and the Platinum Tour (which is tickets to all four attractions) is $22 for adults. We got there just before 14:00 and it was rather crowded with people. The ticket building was packed with people, probably because it's air conditioned and a better place to wait for the next Graceland tour than waiting outside.

When you buy a ticket they book you for the next available tour of Graceland, which for us was 35 minutes away. Even then that just means you can go to the end of the line -- it'll take another 10-15 minutes to work your way to the head of the line, after getting your picture taken (and you can buy the photo for a low price) and getting a tape recorder and headphones for the self-guided tour. Then it's into a tour bus which holds about 30 people and off you go across the street.

The bus dumps you off at the entrance where you get a few words from the attendant (don't touch things, no flash cameras, no video cameras). Then you go in and start the tour. Each tour almost starts off one after the other so if you don't hurry the next tour overruns you. The recorded tour is professionally made, and the pace is adequate although I wasn't listening too closely as I took as many pictures as I could. You are led through the first floor and basement and a couple of the outside buildings, going through the trophy building with lots of music awards and pictures and costumes worn by Elvis, ending up at the Meditation Pool where Elvis and his parents are apparently buried. All in all this tour is quite nice.

After being bussed back we went to the Sincerely Elvis museum, which is not that great. About half a dozen displays showing various paraphernalia and then you're dumped out into the gift shop. Note that all three museums dump you out into a gift shop, which is clever and just a little too commercial for my tastes.

The Automobile Museum was next. About 20 of Elvis' vehicles, including three motorcycles, a racing car, and various (of what are now) classic cars. Little plaques describe each vehicle, although once again I was too busy taking pictures to stop and read. There is also a 10-minute video playing, which I guess is about various driving scenes in Elvis' movies.

The last thing we did was look at Elvis' two custom jets. There is a small Lockheed Jetstar, the Hound Dog II, which you can step into the entrance and take pictures of the cockpit and interior. Plastic panes prevent you from stepping any further into the plane, but it's really small anyway so you would not want to. The other jet is a Convair 880, which was a passenger plane capable of holding 96 passengers. This one you can walk through, though there is plastic covers on all the furniture (a sensible precaution). Audio recordings describe each of the 3-4 areas of the airplane.

We skipped the "Walk a Mile in My Shoes" 22 minute film as I was just getting tired by then. We'd only been there about 2-1/2 hours but I was done with the place and wanted to go back to the hotel. By then there were a lot less people, and practically no line for the Graceland tour, even though it was another hour and a half to closing time.

As long as you're in Memphis, Graceland is an interesting experience. But unless you are a serious Elvis fan, I don't see the point of coming here to spend a few hours looking through the museums and the mansion. One comment from my brother which I agree with: "Graceland is smaller than I thought it'd be."