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Flat Stanley Visits “Graceland”

(New Years with Pilot Jim and Janine)

Did you know that Flat Stanley was a big music fan ? Well, he is, and over the New Years Holiday, Stanley took a trip with Jim and Janine to Memphis, Tennessee, a town famous because one of the biggest Music Stars of all time, live there.

Stanley visited the home of Elvis Presley, which is called “Graceland”. Elvis was very famous and very handsome music star. (Did I mention Janine was writing this ?)

Elvis was born in a small town in Mississippi and moved to Tennessee as a young man with his parents.

People noticed Elvis’s great singing talent when he was just a young boy. In fact, the first song he ever recorded was a Birthday present for his mother. Not long after that, he started recording his music for a company called Sun Records.

Well, one of the very first things Elvis did with the money he earned from singing, was build a huge house (“Graceland”) where he lived with his family and daughter Priscilla.

Today, many people visit this beautiful home.

In fact, “Graceland” is the second most visited

Home in the United States.

Do you know what the MOST visited house is?

Well, if you guessed the “White House” in Washington D.C. you’d be right!

Flat Stanley and his friends got to take a tour of

“Graceland” and had a very fun time. Lots of

people were there, and we waited patiently in

line for our turn to go inside for a visit.

Did you know that Memphis is in the south?

There are lots of opportunities for BBQ there.

We tried lots and boy was it good!

“Graceland” sure was pretty at night. In this picture, you can see that it was decorated for the holiday season and that it is quite big!

Sun Studio, where Elvis recorded that very first record, is also in Memphis. We thought it would be fun to see it as well. The folks at Sun were very nice and Stanley was able to touch the same microphone that Elvis used … in fact, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and many of today’s favorite singers used it too.

Something very sad happened in Memphis on April 4, 1968. Do you know what it was?

Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated at a place called the Lorraine Motel. Each year in January, we have a special day to remember Dr. King. He worked very hard for equal rights and he showed people that everyone is equal, no matter what the color of their skin.

Though many of you don’t remember this place, your parents sure do. A picture like this was seen in every newspaper and magazine in the world.

Hi Kids –

Scott here, it sure looks like Flat Stanley had a wonderful trip to Memphis over the holiday with Jim and Janine. It sure was nice of them to include Stanley in their holiday plans!

I got a note from Stanley asking if he could stay with them just a little bit longer, it sounds like they have plans for another adventure, so I said yes! Stay Tuned!