Tupelo, birthplace of Elvis Presley
If Memphis, Tennessee, remains the city that comes up the most when talking about Elvis Presley, it is in Tupelo, in the neighboring state of Mississippi, that it all started for the King, since it is there that he was born on January 8, 1835. He lived there with his parents until he was 13 years old.
The first years of his life were spent in a modest building that his father, Vernon, had built himself with less than $200. This place is also one of the places of pilgrimage for fans of the rock’n’roll icon: the ensemble, restored as it was when Elvis was still a child, is visited each year by more than 50,000 visitors, who also admire a statue representing Elvis at the age of 13, as well as the small wooden Pentecostal church frequented by Elvis’ family. Finally, a museum exhibits objects dating back to the beginnings of the King’s career.
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If you plan to go to Tupelo in June, you can attend the Tupelo Elvis Festival, which will celebrate its 25th edition from June 7 to 11, 2023.
Must-See Places to Visit in Memphis, Tennessee
The Presley family moved to Memphis in November 1948, first to a boarding house, then to public housing. Today, many places in this Tennessee city pay tribute to Elvis Presley, starting with the Sun Studio, where the King recorded his first songs at the age of 18, to offer them to his mother as a birthday present. . It was in 1953. A year later, the studio had him record That’s all right, the King’s first hit.
Nicknamed “The Birthplace of Rock and Roll” – “the birthplace of rock’n’roll” – the studio now organizes guided tours of its recording space, which looks almost exactly like that of the 1950s. time for a photo, you can even pose while holding a vintage microphone used by the King himself.
In Memphis, the highlight of the show is obviously Graceland, a colonial-style mansion that Elvis Presley bought for himself and his parents in 1957. Each year, more than 600,000 visitors come to explore the mansion during a free visit, at the discovered rooms decorated by the King in the 1970s. Stage costumes, gold records and other personal memorabilia from the era are on display in the various spaces. Also on the property is the Meditation Garden, where the King is buried.
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Other sights on site include Elvis Presley’s two personal planes, as well as the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum and a hotel.
If the visit has whetted your appetite, head to the Arcade Restaurant, still in Memphis, where the King had his little habits. The must to order in this diner open since 1919, and remained in its own juice? The peanut butter and banana sandwich, which the star loved.
Las Vegas, the city of all records for the King
It is not without reason that many “chapels” offering weddings celebrated by Elvis Presley look-alikes have taken up residence in Las Vegas, Nevada: indeed, it is in a suite of the Aladdin Hotel, in the “city of sin, that took place the wedding ceremony of the King, who married Priscilla Beaulieu in 1967.
But it wasn’t just for his wedding that Elvis Presley made the trip to Nevada! Before that, in 1963, the man who was also an actor shot the film “Viva Las Vegas” there, named after the famous song. Above all, for seven years, between 1969 and 1976, the King performed regularly in Las Vegas during a sort of “residence”. Concretely, Elvis Presley gave more than 800 consecutive sold-out concerts there over this period.
The island of Oahu, Hawaii, favorite haunt of Elvis Presley
After a first concert on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, in 1957, Elvis Presley kept coming back to the third largest island of the archipelago, whether for performances, film shoots or just a vacation.
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In 1973, a now cult concert, “Aloha from Hawaii”, took place in downtown Honolulu, more precisely at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center: now, you can admire a large bronze statue of the King, whom fans never tire of adorning with flower necklaces.
If you want to do everything like your icon, book a room at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, which is said to be the only one to have hosted Elvis on the island.
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