Beverly’s Travel Journal – Page 2

The Guest House at Graceland

Posted onNovember 22, 2016January 3, 2022

One day last year as I was driving and listening to Elvis Radio on Sirius XM Radio, I heard about plans for a new hotel that would be built and the opening day would be in October of 2016. I did some research and thought what fun that would be to be able to tour Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley and stay at a brand new hotel. I kept my eye on the date that they would be taking reservations. In April of this year I called and made a reservation for the grand opening. I was excited about getting to tour Graceland, but I think I was just as excited about staying in a brand new hotel. When I called to confirm our reservation a couple of weeks before the arrival date, I found out it was “Elvis Fan Appreciation Weekend “ and several events were planned. Double excited!!!

The day came for us to make our 14-hour drive from West Texas. We decided to drive because we had plans to drive on up to Branson, Missouri when we left Memphis.

As we drove up to The Guest House at Graceland, I was amazed at the beauty of the hotel. It was much larger than I pictured and very grand looking. It was designed to resemble Graceland. As we got out of our car we could hear the music of Elvis playing over the speakers which carried on into the lobby. The décor was gorgeous! All of the staff were very friendly and helpful. As we made our way to our room on the 5^th floor I was taken by the décor. I hope my pictures show just how beautiful it all was. After we got settled in our room, we went exploring around the hotel. I obviously looked like an excited tourist as I was taking pictures of everything from the carpet to the art work throughout the hotel. You won’t find pictures of Elvis at the hotel, but you will see really great pieces of art that feature certain pieces of his clothing he wore while performing.

If you are ever in Memphis, you will want to stay at The Guest House. At least walk through it and see how beautiful it is. My dream is to stay in a suite someday. The decor looks even more amazing and fun!

I will let the pictures speak for themselves, which you must see it in person…so much better than my pictures!

One more thing….I have to say how sweet my husband was. I oohed and awed at everything and had to investigate every area of the hotel and he was very patient with me. Even when I squealed at the hot pink wallpaper and the glitter in the darker wall coverings and had to take pictures, he would just smile. I’m very grateful for that!

ON OUR WAY TO OUR ROOM:

Each lobby on every floor of the hotel had a different picture similar to this one.

I loved the carpet and wall coverings. The walls had a little bit of sparkle. The hot pink wallpaper was so much fun!

Yes, I had to take a picture of the wallpaper.

OUR ROOM:

The gold room number with the hot pink background and the lightening bolt symbol is such a fun touch!

Each door had a light fixture with the initials E. P. Isn’t that so much fun?!

The bed was very comfortable and oh so stylish! Don’t you love the art on the wall? Ignore my suitcase; I forgot to move it.

The desk area with television that you could watch various documentaries of Graceland and other things going on. It was playing Elvis music when we walked in, how perfect is that?

The bathroom was very nice. The huge walk-in shower had something called a rain shower? Oh, and your shampoo, conditioner and lotion had the Elvis signature on it.

This is the artwork that was in the bathroom.

EXPLORING THE HOTEL:

Two dining choices; Delta’s, which is fine dining and E.P.’s, which is a grill. We tried both and the food was delicious at each one. We also watched an Elvis movie in the theater!

The fire pit with heart shaped fire ring.

The pool is very nice and also very big!

The business center caught my eye! I loved the artwork.

The Shake Rattle and Go is where you can get coffee, breakfast foods and snacks.

The hotel has a staircase and chandelier that resembles the one at Graceland. I pretended I was Priscilla walking down the stairs. Not really, well… maybe I really did.

This is a collage of all the art pieces on each floor with the floor number.

This is one of the sofas in the lobby! I think I would like one for my house as well! I love it when I feel little!

I loved seeing the hotel at night with all the lights.

Click here to read more about The Guest House at Graceland and to make your reservations! I have a feeling you need to plan and book your room early, they may stay pretty full most of the time. Especially when they have the events on Elvis’ birthday and the anniversary of his death. Oh, and in November they have the tree lighting ceremony. Maybe, someday I will get to visit during each of those events.

If you missed my post on the story of, My Elvis Crush, click here to read.

Tomorrow I will write my last post on this trip. I will cover the Graceland Tour and the Sun Records Tour. I want to share some thoughts about a couple of things that I couldn’t stop thinking about as we left Graceland.

Until then, let me know if you have been to Graceland before and if you plan to go back. I would love to hear!

California Cruisin’

Posted onJuly 8, 2016January 3, 2022

What fun we had with our friends as we cruised on the Celebrity Cruise Line in May. A cruise is so much fun and even more fun when you can travel with great friends. If you want to see the West Coast, this is a perfect way to see some beautiful places.

Day 1: San Diego, California

View of San Diego as we were waiting to cast off.

Day 2: Santa Barbara, California

Some nice shopping in Santa Barbara! Must go back!

Had lunch with these two celebrities. (Son and his girlfriend of our traveling friends.)

Day 3: Monterey, California

Day 4-5: San Francisco, California

The guys golfed at a beautiful course in SF!

Day 6: At Sea!

Day 7: Astoria, Oregon

15 minutes of fun on this ride….that’s all you need, trust me. We laughed through most of this episode!

Day 8: At Sea!

Day 9: Seattle, Washington

Day 10: Nanaimo, B.C.

Day 11: Victoria, B.C.

Day 12: Vancouver, Canada and then HOME SWEET HOME!

Flying home on a beautiful moonlit night! Thankful for the opportunity and for safe travels!

My pictures aren’t the greatest, I know. I took these pictures with my phone as I didn’t want to carry my camera. I hope you get a chance to go on this cruise someday if you haven’t already. It was relaxing, beautiful and fun!

A Day In The Life!

Posted onSeptember 29, 2015January 3, 2022

Blog Challenge with Brave Love Blog #28 –A day in the life. Take us through it with you.

When I’m home, I pretty much have a routine that I keep up with each day. Today, I get to share with you a day away from the regular routine.

Today was a fun day as we enjoyed our “Fall Get-Away Trip.”

Woke up in the beautiful Ozarks in the Branson, Missouri area.

Had an early lunch at the restaurant that is at The Keeter Center at College of the Ozarks! If you have never stayed at the Keeter Center….you must go to the site and look around. It is beautiful. The people are so nice and everything is first class! We like the loft rooms. They look like little log cabins! Very nice log cabins!

After lunch we went for a drive through the mountains and stopped at a scenic overlook of the Branson area.

I then had to make a stop at my favorite shops. Queen Elizabeth is little shop that sometimes has cute jackets and tops. Then we head to the Grand Village Shops! Grand Glitz is always a fun place. Lot’s of cute jewelry, clothes and shoes. What makes it even more fun is the friendliness of the ladies that work there. Then a hop, skip and a jump across from Grand Glitz is, Mulberry Mill. It’s a very cute store, lot’s of pretties! Jim likes looking at the wood carving shop and the leather store while I’m looking around. We then had a snack at a cute little sandwich shop called, The Sugar Leaf. I love that place!

My shopping has to include the cutest store ever, The Secret Garden! If I could buy one of everything….I would in that store for sure!

By the time we closed the stores down, it was time to meet some sweet friends for dinner at, Landry’s Seafood! As usual, it was delicious!

Then we headed to a show at The Andy Williams Moon River Theater. An illusionist was there, Rick Thomas! Oh my….was it good! I’m still trying to figure out how he did all those tricks. People floating in the air…..huge dogs popping out of little boxes…….a motorcycle appearing out of thin air……ladies cut in half…..I could go on and on. What made it even more fun was…he was hilarious! We laughed at his stories and with the people that he called up on stage. Jim and I always look the other way when they start looking for someone to call up on stage. Jim has been called up a couple of times at various shows and even though it was hilarious to me….he didn’t enjoy it too much!

When you stay at the Keeter Center, you get a turn down service with chocolates on your pillow. If that isn’t enough, they bring you fresh baked cookies and fresh milk from the dairy! A girl can get really spoiled here!

Thankful for such a fun and beautiful day!