Memphis, like other big cities everywhere in the US, has spots of urban decay. Although from Graceland to city center you'll pass through a number of "distressed" areas (beware a neighborhood with a strip mall anchor advertising "Instant Cash - Pawn Shop"), the center of the city is undergoing a "renaissance" of sorts.
Beale Street, Sun Studio, Mud Island, the Pyramid (a 22,500 seat sports and entertainment facility in the shape of a 320 foot pyramid), Audubon Park and the waterfront are the major attractions. I've only time for a couple of the sights though - Graceland, Sun Studio and Beale Street - about all I can manage in one day at my age.
Graceland is first since it's right out my back door! The "Platinum" tour is $23 and takes about three hours more or less. You get on a shuttle to Graceland Mansion and have a semi-guided tour. You're given a small box that looks like a cell phone with a headset attached. Put on the headset, key "start" on the keypad and the tour begins. You can pause and start the narrative at your own pace and it leads you through the mansion and the grounds (the Mansion is still in the Presley family - Lisa is the current owner).
Elvis bought the mansion and the 13 acres it sits on in 1957 for $100,000. He completely redecorated the property adding a trophy room, a swimming pool, a complete racquetball court, the Meditation Garden (where Elvis, his Father, Mother and Grandmother are buried) and the stone fence on what is now "Elvis Presley Blvd" (US 51).
Graceland -- So how do you get a picture of Graceland without the tourist presence? Easy - come early, finish the tour before anyone else in your group, and step outside before the next tour shuttle arrives.
How did I know how to do that? I didn't - I got lucky. Three minutes after I made this picture, the drive was swarming with tourists!
One of the gaudiest outfits.
All my inside pictures were taken hand-held, no flash.
The living room and piano room at the front of the house. Note the period TV beyond the piano.
Here's a shot of the original Pink Cadillac!!
You also get to tour Elvis' private jets - a 707 named the "Lisa Marie" and a smaller private jet called the "Hounddog II." Elvis was the first entertainer to ever own his own private jet. The interior features sumptuous leather furnishings, two bedrooms, two baths, a meeting room with a mahogany table, and a bar or two - my kind of travel!