by PinkNic

Created on: July 31, 2008

Known as the Home of the Blues, birthplace of Rock n Roll, Memphis certainly lives up to its reputation. Other cities show off their skylines; this one shows off its sounds.

As an avid Elvis fan, it has always been a dream of mine to visit the King's home, the one and only Graceland. This was the main (okay, I admit, the only) reason I decided to go to Memphis, but once I was there I fell in love with the whole city.

Visiting Graceland is an experience unlike any other (surreal, I remember calling it) and thousands of people make the pilgrimage there every year. If you've ever, even for a second, entertained the idea of visiting - do it. Feel the magic of Elvis for yourself. I promise you won't be disappointed.

I paid for the Elvis Entourage VIP Tour so as well as all-day entry to the second most famous house in America (beaten by the White House), I was able to enjoy the benefit of jumping the queues and an enhanced tour including the grounds, Elvis's two aeroplanes Lisa Marie and Hound Dog II and three museums: Elvis After Dark, Sincerely Elvis and Elvis's Automobile Museum, home to 33 vehicles owned by the King including his pink Cadillac and the red MG from the 1961 film Blue Hawaii.

As well as all that, I was given a backstage pass' to wear so I could be identified as a VIP and to take home at the end of the day as a keepsake.

Shopping at Graceland is extremely easy due to the large volume of Elvis-themed stores. Good Rockin' Tonight, Elvis Threads and Gallery Elvis are a few of the best but with such a wide variety of merchandise to choose from you may end up needing to buy an extra suitcase to carry it all home!

After Graceland, the next place on my checklist was - naturally - Sam Phillips' Sun Studio at 706 Union Avenue. It's a small, plain building and would be largely unnoticeable if it wasn't for the bright orange and yellow SUN' sign on the outside wall.

They say "The tour gives you goosebumps"; now I don't know who they' are but, well, they're definitely not wrong! Standing on the very spot where Elvis recorded his earliest songs (an X is marked on the floor), listening to outtakes of recordings from the likes of The Million Dollar Quartet - Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash together - and seeing priceless memorabilia from the fifties is, quite frankly, breathtaking and not an experience you'll forget in a hurry.

You are allowed to touch the exact microphone that Elvis used it's still in the studio and the guide recommends having

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