My 30th Birthday was all about...

Yes, Elvis! Joe and I went to Memphis for the weekend - alone! My parents graciously took the kiddies and off we went to the birthplace of rock 'n roll! We have always thought
it would be cool to go there, and it just worked out!

We upgraded our rental car to a new MUSTANG! Vroom vroom! It was fun to drive!

Graceland... ahhhh, Graceland. We both LOVED IT! We thought it was so cool to be in the King's house, or "bling-dom" as the billboards say. Lots of mirrors and over-the-top decoration, but very homey and comfortable. We were only disappointed that we couldn't see his
bedroom, darn!

The whole tour took us about 3 hours. The house itself was neat, and then there are several buildings on the property that you go through that hold his miles and miles of gold records. Seriously, we had no idea how HUGE Elvis was. Hundreds of number one hits and over 30 movies. And what struck me the most was that he just seemed like a fun guy, super friendly, very generous with his earnings, really talented, and smokin' hot - yes, I must admit, I felt like I was crushin' on him a little! And when we came to the part where you go by his grave, I had to sit down for a bit, so I didn't get too teary! You really feel like you are getting to know the guy.

It was cool.

We also enjoyed some Memphis barbeque.

Joe tried on some rock star clothes for me!

And we walked up and down the famous Beale Street - in the rain. There was a big music fest going on that weekend too, so lots of people were walking around there.

We also went to the "Memphis Recording Service" studio, which was later called Sun Studios. This is were Elvis recorded is first hit in 1950... something -I'm bad with the dates. The song was "That's alright" and it is a way cool song. Here I am in the studio - the "x" marks the spot where Elvis stood to record the song. They say Bob Dylan got down and kissed it when he came there! We learned a ton about the early rock 'n roll pioneers. It was cool.

Here is Joe singing into the same microphone that Elvis did - it's the one in the picture behind him!

We had a great time and apparently or kids did too! Mina literally howled and cried when she saw us - she did not want to leave Grandma and Grandpa! Calvin wasn't too happy to see us either. Oh well, now we know we don't have to feel bad for leaving them!