https://www.graceland.com/ Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

It’s a perennial challenge for holidaymakers… how to get far from Nomading crowd of tourist traps.

Because the wonders of the world aren’t wonders for nothing and we all want to see them, and all of us at the same time.

But here’s what we forget, we have it in our own hands, or legs, to veer slightly off the hubs to avoid the tourist premiums.

Now because we prefer others to do the heavy lifting for us we’ve left it up to app Getnomad.

Who have compiled a list of reviewers’ biggest tourist traps.

Off the beaten track

Many we’ve visited for ourselves but few that have stung me.

Because what God, or the merchants who think they are, takes with one hand he gives with another.

In the form of a world nearby where you can feed and water yourself for regular Earth Money before moving on to your tourist site.

What the Romans did for us

Find yourself as a backpacker looping around Rome at the end of a 100km Via Francigena walk and you’ll learn the best deals.

So rather than dining in the shadow of the Trevi Fountain which ranks high on the Nomad list.

You can pick up a pezzo slice at a trattoria take-away and sit on the Spanish Steps or Wedding Cake, the Victor Emmanuel II Monument.

Barca loner

And when it comes to Barcelona, second with Getnomad, then it’s not for nothing that Christopher Columbus points away from Las Ramblas.

To the Catalonian city’s districts and beachfronts for your tapas and Rioja.

Capital growth

Doggone it: With rellies away from Royal Mile

With 30 years of life experience around Edinburgh and Dublin I know my way around the Scottish and Irish capitals.

And that dining at The Witchery next to Edinburgh Castle comes at a price you won’t pay halfway down at Deacon Brodie’s.

Where you can learn about how he inspired Robert Louis Stevenson to write Dr Jekyll & Master Hyde.

Equally those who follow the tourist trail to Temple Bar will discover a packaged Oirish Dublin for foreigners for the price of an organ.

While almost anywhere on either side of the Liffey will open up real Dublin and Dubliners and not empty your pockets.

Check it out

Bulking out the top 5 in the Nomading crowd of tourist traps are Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco and Wall Drug, South Dakota in equal first.

With the Wharf marked down for being ‘dirty, run down and overcrowded,’ with its only redeeming feature its seals.

And the Wild West world of Wall Drug described as ‘very crammed and tacky.’

While the Cold War equivalent can be found at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, an experience you can savour elsewhere for nothing.

Getnomad helpfully flags up the most expensive tourist traps worldwide.

Now or never

And whisper it, their reviewers have only turned on Elvis Presley here with a graceless attack on Graceland.

For its $84 cover charge which zeroes in on perceived poor organisation and long queues.

And ignoring its cornucopia of prized Presley artefacts and his and his family’s grave all set against Elvis’s music.

And seeing that you’ll have made a conscious decision to go to Tennessee for its music.

We’d say don’t scrimp and save… it’s now or never.

You barter you bet

Similarly it’s probably more of a First World reaction to poopoo the $70 Petra charge.

And yes, there are stalls selling Indiana Jones bullwhips.

But spending a day at one of the Wonders of the World for the price of a lunch for two is a small price to pay.

Those of us with more Western sensibilities do, of course, need to adapt to the bartering culture of the Middle East and North Africa.

And in truth all our travel experience are relative.

So full disclosure here, Jordan’s souks and Turkey’s Grand Bazaar in Istanbul good.

But I still shiver at the memory of being fleeced in Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakech in Morocco.

So, of course, my fellow Bandanini and Bandanettes this is just our take on what is happening far from Nomading crowd of tourist traps.

Share with us your views and…

MEET YOU ON THE ROAD

America, Countries, Flying, UK

Fly me for a reason let that diversion be Scotland

21st March 202521st March 2025 funtime65

There are randomly some winners from the Heathrow shutdown, with a precious few saying fly me for a reason let that diversion be Scotland.

We learned from the many interviews with travellers of parties from New Orleans who had intended on coming up north from London.

And that this had saved them a journey.

Of course, not to make light of the hundreds of thousands of travellers who have been inconvenienced by the disruption caused by the fire at the airport.

But we’re reminded of visitors to this isle being rerouted to Scotland an age ago and causing a mighty stir.

Crazy Horses of the air

Exit doors,here,here and here: The Osmonds

The Osmonds were at Beatlemania height when they visited Britain in 1972.

And teeny heart-throb Donny recalled: ‘After our first flight into Heathrow, we were banned from further landings there.

‘When part of a balcony collapsed beneath the amount of fans who had shown up.

‘Gatwick wouldn’t take us either, so we had to fly to Scotland and take a train down to London.’

While Donny was big there was and never has been anyone as big as Elvis Presley who was also rerouted to Scotland.

Return to sender

When on March 3, 1960 The King‘s plane touched down in Prestwick, south of Glasgow for refuelling.

On his way back from American military camp in West Germany he was met by 200 screaming fans.

They’d heard on the grapevine of a VIP arriving in their backyard.

And took a punt that it might be Sgt Presley.

It’s now or never

Lieutenant Colonel Ed Miller recalled: ‘I remember it well. I got the job as Sgt. Presley’s escort.

‘Probably because I was a professional musician before the war.

‘He was an extremely pleasant, sincere young man who took the time and trouble to speak to everyone he met’.

Now, those weary travellers who have found themselves unwittingly redirected from Heathrow to Scotland are right to feel sorry for themselves.

But at least they can say that they have followed in the footsteps of The Osmonds and Elvis Presley.

And maybe others might want to say… fly me for a reason let that diversion be Scotland.

America, Countries, Music

Let’s all go peanuts for Elvis’s 90th birthday

8th January 20258th January 2025 funtime65

On a velvet cloud The King will be sitting down for his favourite snack today so let’s all go peanuts for Elvis’s 90th birthday.

Elvis being a good ol’ Southern Country Boy loved his soul food.

And anyone walking in his footsteps in Memphis will naturally want to drop in on his favourite diner Downtown at The Arcade Diner.

Where you can sink your teeth into Elvis’s famed ‘Fried Peanut Butter N’Banana’ with an extra of bacon just to pile on the carbs.

As is the way with Elvis folklore there are competing stories as to its provenance.

The birth of the Elvis sandwich

Some accounts have it that Elvis and his bodyguards refuelled as was their way after a gig in 1976, a year before his death.

And they hit the now-closed Colorado Mine Company restaurant for a bite to eat.

There, he is said to have ordered a Fool’s Gold Loaf.

A sandwich made with a loaf of sourdough bread, a pound of bacon, a jar of peanut butter, weighing in at a not unsubstantial 8,000 calories.

If though you prefer the more elaborate tale more in keeping with Elvis excess then how’s about this one for curing the munchies.

With Elvis returning to Graceland and getting hangry and jumping on his private jet with a couple of friends to fly to Denver.

Where the owners of the restaurant met him at the hangar .

With a pile of the enormous sandwiches (some say they brought 22, others say 30).

And he never left the hangar, washing the scran down with Perrier and Champagne and heading back to Memphis.

Elvis’s people

The more prosaic explanation is that the Zepatos family who knew Elvis well would give him his own favourite food.

At his own booth when he’d park his golf buggy up.

And just chew the fat with him and ask him about dad Vernon and mum Gladys.

Now the Arcade Diner, Memphis, Tennessee‘s oldest, is still in the hands of the Zepatoses, the fourth generation.

Because for all the spotlight Elvis brings Memphis they like to keep things in the family.

And as they’ve always been around here.

The Graceland business

The King and I: Elvis, Priscilla and Lisa Marie

Graceland, of course, is still a family business under the tutelage of the formidable Priscilla.

With the family still rolling in and embracing the greater family, the fans.

This week is poignant of course with the passing of Lisa Marie.

And the tributes and performances and retrospection on Elvis.

Nine decades on from his birth in Tupelo, Mississippi.

A host of events are taking place through Graceland.

Nigella’s nutty sandwich

For us, of course, we will watch his films, listen to his music and perhaps even dress up too.

And here with the help of one of our most celebrated chefs Nigella Lawson.

We give you the recipe for his peanut butter and banana sandwich.

From the cookbook Love Me Hunger…

So let’s all go peanuts for Elvis’s 90th birthday and make our own King’s sandwich.

America, Countries, Music

Where Y’all Country roads lead

30th September 202430th September 2024 funtime65

And as the world remembers the Kolossal Kris Kristofferson today we take the opportunity to revisit where Y’all Country roads lead.

Tennessee and Mississippi, the centres of the music world, billing themselves as the birthplace of Country, as well as Blues and rock’n’roll.

You can follow in the footsteps of those titans of their genre, as we did, along the Mississippi Blues trail.

And converge at the crossroads where Robert Johnson sold his soul to the devil in exchange for playing the guitar.

And pay pilgrimage at Sun Studio and Graceland to the King of Rock’n’roll in Memphis, Tennessee.

A night at the Opry

Y’all Country roads, we know, end up leading to The Grand Ole Opry which celebrates its 100th centenary next year.

The world’s longest-running radio programme will have more shows on their calendar than ever before in 2025.

All of which give visitors more opportunities to see a performance live and in person all year long.

And all year long too you can live Country music at the Country Music Hall of Fame® and Museum in downtown Nashville.

The world’s largest music museum, it boasts more than 350,000sqft of galleries and displays.

The collection includes Carl Perkins’ blue suede shoes, Elvis’ Cadillac and gold piano and Hank Williams’ Western-cut suit with musical note appliqués.

The current exhibition is Luke Combs: The Man I am.

Get Carters

Dynamic duo: Johnny Cash and June Carter

For those who wish to take the journey on at the Smithsonian The Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, Tennessee.

And hear the story of the 1927 Bristol Sessions and the Carter family and Jimmie Rodgers shaped Country music.

Through multiple theatre experiences, interactive displays, texts and artifact.

Pathways to success

For a state with only 7 million natives, Tennessee sure punches above its musical weight.

And you can learn more if you take the Tennessee Music Pathways which tells the story of the state’s musical heritage and its influences around the world and its live music scene.

The lives and careers of Mississippi’s trailblazing country music artists, from the “Father of Country Music,” Jimmie Rodgers, to the “First Lady of Country Music,” Tammy Wynette, are immortalized on the state’s Country Music Trail.

Historic markers have been placed throughout Mississippi to mark important country music sites.

And commemorate Mississippians who have contributed to the music genre.

With, of course, Elvis’s birthplace Tupelo, Jimmie Rodgers’ grave in Meridian and Charley Pride’s hometown of Sledge.

New on the scene

And introducing Mississippi’s newest country music attraction Marty Stuart’s Congress of Country Music in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

The five-time Grammy winner is developing a 50,000sqft campus featuring a performing arts centre.

And, coming soon, a world-class country music museum stocked with items from his personal collection.

America, Countries, Deals, Music

Don’t forget your Cruise Suede Shoes for Elvis

17th August 2024 funtime65

And for the day that’s in it and for something to look forward to… don’t forget your Cruise Suede Shoes for Elvis.

Today, of course, we remember The King leaving us too early 45 years ago.

And there have been commemorations in Graceland and around the world.

Now every day is Elvis Day for fans and there is a party and an Elvis for every occasion.

Elvis Pres-sea

Land or sea with Elvis Cruise who will be sailing fans from Los Angeles to Hawaii… aloha!h

With 16 days of Elvis overload from October 16-31 on board The Grand Princess.

Billed PRINCESS AND THE KING Custom Vacations and Cruise Planners and will treat you to:

Entertainment and Activities Welcome cocktail party.

An Elvis dress-up costume party (with prizes).

Elvis-themed entertainment shows, artist meet and greets and Q&A.

A DJ dance party, speaker events and sock hop 50s/60s live band dance party lounge event.

A ‘So You Think You Can Sing Like Elvis’ karaoke party.

And a farewell mix and mingle party.

Accommodations stretch from affordable interior staterooms to luxurious suites.

And come with ‘Dine My Way’ multi-course rotational dining in a variety of restaurants and eateries.

With activities and daily entertainment.

The King and LA

Like the real thing: With Elvis in Vegas

Now Elvis Cruise clearly have no desire for you to Return to Sender.

And so recommend the best hotels to stay before you hop on board.

And that’ll be a Marriott obviously…

With the Los Angeles Airport Marriott just a mile and a half from LAX and your Aer Lingus with pre-clearance flight.

From $169 per night and additional nights from $69.

Jive in 2025

Now as The Son and Heir never tires of saying that ship has sailed for this year, on July 1.

But keep your eyes peeled for next year’s Elvis extravaganza.

You’ll need a $400pp initial deposit is due at the time of submitting your reservation registration.

And a monthly payment plan is available if you prefer to spread your payments out.

Their balcony staterooms are from $3,299.

So, do your prep and forget your Cruise Suede Shoes for Elvis.

MEET YOU ON THE SEAS

America, Countries, Music

King for the day in Memphis

14th August 2023 funtime65

For Dutchie it was his first paying gig and few better places than BB’s Blues Club, he was what he‘d always wanted to be… King for the day in Memphis.

You don’t, of course, have to possess the guitar-playing abilities of Dutchie to fulfil your musical dreams in Memphis.

Or be asked by Muriel to do a little number at ‘the Hollywood’ to be rockin’ in Memphis.

You just ideally need the services of insiders who know the town.

Like, say our friends at Irish travel providers Cassidy.

Anyone for Tennessee

Memphis, and Tennessee as a whole, has indeed been richly blessed for music.

Maybe that’s down to the gospel choirs or their antithesis, the devil’s drinking dens that spawned the likes of Robert Johnson.

Who famously sold his soul to the Devil so he could play perfect Blues guitar.

But Memphis, adopted home of WC Handy, BB, Elvis Presley, Isaac Hayes and actual birthplace of JT, Justin Timberlake, is the gift that keeps on giving.

I got rhythm

As are Cassidy’s, who again bring us another package ‘Rhythms of the South, which is music to our ears, a four-nighter from €1,529 with flights from Dublin.

You’ll travel out on December 2 and get to stay four nights at the 3* Holiday Inn Nashville.

And three nights at the 4* Doubletree Hotel Memphis.

A night at the Opry

Now in a state so richly blessed for music as Tennessee there’s naturally a friendly rivalry.

As to which is considered the most musical city.

Of course, you can always settle that debate by just claiming it, as has Nashville.

By putting it in your marketing… Nashville Music City.

Because Nashville, home of the Grand Ole Opry and country music has become more, much more than that.

Nashville boasts 150 live venues, many of them Honky Tonk bars.

Where you can hear the best With more country, rock’n’roll, jazz, bluegrass, folk, and Americana.

Tale of two Southern cities

Ten feet off of Beale: Walkin’ in Memphis

Now should you be curious to know the difference between Memphis and Nashville and that’s the journalist in me.

Then my old friend Tennessean Heather, from our unforgettable Tennessee and Mississippi trip to trace Martin Luther King’s last days, helpfully explained.

If you want to meet someone in music in Memphis you just go up and introduce yourself.

In Tennessee you get your people to talk to their people and then you’re up and running.

Heather, is, of course a Memphian, and the best representative a city could want.

I was lucky enough to be introduced to their people, the Nashville delegation.

When they visited Dublin and partied with us.

And yes, they offered to introduce me to their people and come out to their city.

Which doggone I couldn’t at that time because I was jet setting off somewhere else.

Of course good ole Southern folk never forget y’all so we will get over.

Made of New Orleans

So whether you want to be King for the day in Memphis or Cash in in Nashville then just put yourself forward (Dutchie did) and let Cassidy do the rest.

And if you’ve the time complete your Southern musical odyssey down in ole New Orleans, home of jazz.

Cassidy offers aUSA Food Tour of Nashville, Memphis & New Orleans

Tastes and Sounds of the South is a ten-days/ five cities/nine nights/nine breakfasts/four dinners bonanza.

They promise jazz, soul food, country music, and a whole lot of rock’n’roll.

Showcasing the rich culture of Memphis, Nashville, Natchez, and New Orleans, plus a trip to Graceland.

From €3,000pps, flights not included.

And when you do get to New Orleans say hi to me to jazz great Kermit Ruffles.

And remind him of how we rocked the San Antonio River Walk.

America, Countries, Cruising

To Miss With Love From Lulu

18th January 202318th January 2023 funtime65

A twist on the old favourite To Sir With Love… To Miss With Love From Lulu.

This Miss is Mississippi and the good news is that Sixties icon Lulu will be rolling, rolling, rolling down the river.

On a cruise along the river and through the American heartland.

Imagine Holidays bills its 12-night package thus: ‘From its rich complex history to its multitude of dialects, bubbling mix of cuisine to its colourful neighbourhoods and passion for music…

‘The bold and beautiful Deep South is a region that dances to its own unique rhythm.’

For anyone who has witnessed the journey of Marie Lawrie (her real name) from wee Glasgow lass to transcontinental superstar will know.

That she has a multitude of dialects as she showed in one return for the 1990 New Year’s Day celebrations in George Square in Glasgow.

Of course, I couldn’t talk… no, literally, I was too far gone to. And when I did find my voice I was speaking in tongues.

Rolling down the river

Lulu, of course, is the consummate professional and she will of course nail it.

The Mississippi is very much on the radar of my own little songbird here at home.

And I have promised to take her out there to Memphis which of course is a hotbed of music.

And that is embedded in the very river itself where one of the bridges is named the Dolly Parton bridge (you work it out yourself).

Memphis magic

Welcome to the Jungle: Elvis’s Jungle Room

You’ll get three nights in Memphis before the off staying in a swanky hotel.

Arriving during the vivid and thrilling Carnival Season, you’ll be immersed in Memphis’s colourful streets, with bunting and festival decor.

Naturally you’ll visit Elvis’s Graceland and learn about the birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll during a visit to the Smithsonian Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum.

From here, you’ll embark American Queen, the largest steamboat ever built, for a journey along the Mississippi.

The Big Easy

Take in the antebellum mansions, the historical port of Vicksburg, the oldest city on the Mississippi.

St. Francisville boasts a lifestyle of a bygone era, and Nottoway, an exclusive stop where you’ll visit the largest standing antebellum mansion in the south.

Your cruise ends in the unique New Orleans and enjoy two nights in the Big Easy.

Exploring the French Quarter and the charming neighbourhoods of the Garden District and Treme.

Learn about city culture and history as you venture along Frenchmen Street and Esplanade Avenue, and marvel at magnificent sites including St. Louis Cathedral, Cabildo, The Presbytere.

Queen of ships

The American Queen certainly lives up to its name judging by the specs.

We’re encouraged to dine on delectable flavours in the elegant J.M White Dining Room.

Soak up the sun from the top deck and enjoy live music performances including the lovely Lulu.

And expertly crafted cocktails in the Engine Room Bar.

While there’s also award-winning, Broadway-calibre entertainment in the Grand Saloon.

So why not take up the offer To Miss With Love From Lulu. Prices from £3499pp, depart February 16 2024.

America, Countries, Flying

Aer Lingus oh-high-oh to Cleveland

29th September 202228th September 2022 funtime65

An old ‘un but a good ‘un, what’s hi in the middle and the same on either side, a riddle that came to mind as Ireland’s national airline announced Aer Lingus oh-high-oh to Cleveland.

Yes Cleveland on Lake Erie, and another word jumble here…

Rearrange the letters and you’ll get Eire.

It was meant to be then that Ireland and Cleveland should come together.

And Aer Lingus make the port its 13th direct American route and 15th North American stop.

So if you judge a city by its most famous citizens then Cleveland (population 383,331) punches way above its weight.

Cleveland roll call

Try this for a roll call of just some of its luminaries…

Paul Newman, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, LeBron James, Joel Grey (the MC in Cabaret), Margaret Hamilton (the Wicked Witch of the West), Debra Winger and Boz Scaggs among others.

Very rock’n’roll which is not surprising when you consider that Cleveland DJ Alan Freed popularised rock’n’roll in the early 50s which is why Ohio claims to be its birthplace.

And, of course, you can’t visit without checking out their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame which is 40 years old next year.

And you know that that’s when life begins…

So it will too for those that are added to the 351 inductees from A-Z (Abba to ZZ Top). The Killers anyone?

Hall of Fame

Cleveland was chosen as the permanent home for the Hall of Fame three years later.

Leaving that great music city of the South Memphis smarting.

Although as home to the King they soon got over it.

Generally, the number of inductees each year ranges from about a half-dozen to a dozen.

Aer guitars

Berry good: Initial inductee Chuck Berry

The first inductees were:

Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and the Everly Brothers.

While you’ll need to leave time too.

For the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Orchestra and Playhouse Square.

Of course doubling back on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame again.

It’s informative to see that Joan Jett and Jefferson Airplane are both in it.

Aer Lingus oh-high-oh to Cleveland… they’re right at home.

America, Countries, Music

Caught in a trap in Elvis’s wardrobe

3rd July 2022 funtime65

Can you just help me leaving… I’m caught in a trap in Elvis’s wardrobe?

Anybody who has been to Graceland (and you should) will know that you can get lost.

In the warehouses that stock his jumpsuits and his planes, bikes and cars.

Or was that just me? And I must admit I had a suspicious mind about my party leaving me there on my own to get lost.

Movie masterpiece

We get glimpses of Graceland in the epic Baz Luhrmann biopic of Elvis which we sang all the way through at the cinema.

But what you can’t appreciate until you actually get there is just how homely and remarkably unremarkable it is.

Sure, we’ve heard of the Jungle Room, but it’s really just a man cave with some Seventies wildlife furnishings.

While the dining room is a presentable front room where a family and their friends would feel comfortable.

It is here that Lisa Marie would say that Elvis would hold court in his hearty Deep South droll and they would all eat soul food.

The upstairs are roped off as that’s Priscilla, Lisa Marie’s and their family’s quarters.

Lisa Marie’s memories

But Elvis’s only child leaves us with a lasting image of the King in an audio reveal in the house.

When she explains that they would hear Elvis before they saw him come down the stairs.

On account of his clinking jewellery.

Butterfly collector: Elvis on stage

Elvis the icon, the superstar, of those jumpsuits and cars and planes, and guitars, pianos and platinum discs we already know.

But only in visiting Graceland and Memphis will you get an insight into Elvis’s home life and downtime.

Elvis’s Memphis

I’ll have what Elvis is having: Memphis diner

In the diner where he would come to eat his banana and peanut butter sandwiches.

And where he would leave his golf buggy outside.

There is still staff there who will say they met him and that they would exchange good wishes to each others’ families.

You can visit to landmarks in Elvis’s life… Sun Studio where he cut That’s Alright Mamma, and Lansky Bros on Beale Street.

And they proudly proclaim they are Clothier to the King.

All of which you’ll see in its glory in the jumpsuit warehouse I’m happy to be stuck in.

Elvis’s legacy

Elvis Presley continues to bring colour to our lives 45 years after he died, aged only 42.

And you get stuck in a trap in Elvis’s wardrobe.

I’ll take that, particularly if his music is on a reel, and I’m in great Graceland in magical Memphis.