Graceland

It was a superb feeling for me to make my mothers dream come true. She only became an Elvis Presley fan three or four years back and now owns all 31 movies and loads of other merchandice.
When we arrived in Memphis and found our way around, we visited Graceland. The home of the KING of Rock and Roll.
Managed the full tour including Elvis's two private planes the Lisa Marie and the Hound Dog.
Stayed at The HeartBreak Hotel in the Jungle themed suite.
As the bookings were full for most of our stay we only managed one night but next door is the Days Inn with the guitar shaped swimming pool so we had a couple of nights there and across the road and down a few blocks we booked into The Scottish Inns for the remainder of our stay.
This is an exceptional experience for all true Elvis fans.

Photo's will be posted soon.

Best Price Flights

When I was searching the internet to book flights, hotel and car hire, I looked at loads of so called best price vacation deals.
I did not rush in and book through the first website with what seemed the best offer as I was getting better prices almost every day.
I waited to 10 days before my leaving date to make my booking.
From Glasgow to Las Vegas, Hotel for one week and a car ( large enough to take two cases and a wheelchair in the trunk.) for one week.
Returning from Memphis to Glasgow. I just waited untill I was in Las Vegas to book my flights to Memphis.
If you can be flexible with your departure date and returning date you can get a much better deal.
I searched leaving on a Monday and returning on a Sunday for my two weeks.
The actual deal that I booked departed on a Sunday and returned on a Monday giving me a full two weeks away. It took over a day to get there and the same on the way home.
By taking the extra day each way for travelling I managed to save £153 per person.
That is approximately $600 for starters.
By booking the hotel online I saved another £180 = $360.
Ny hired car was another very good deal as it cost one third of what I paid for a similar car at Memphas Airport.
The main reason I did not book a car for my second week was I may have stayed on for a few days extra.

BEST PRICE VACATIONS

I phoned the Airport for flight information and prices from Las Vegas to Memphis and managed to save another $400 = £200 by actually driving to the airport to book. If I had just taken the price and flights quoted on the phone I would have been ripped off again.
The exact same vacation, taken at the exact time on the same flights, with the same car hir and hotel could have cost me almost $2,000 more.
It pays to search.

Memphis

After the Las Vegas week it was on to Memphis.
We landed at 11:00pm local time and by the time we got out of the airport and I had a cigarette, I noticed the shuttle bus service to the hire cars. All but one company had small busses with steps so I decided to go with the hire company with the larger bus to allow the wheelchair to be wheeled on.
Got ripped off BIG TIME, my hire car, same size and pre paid fuel, CDW, etc. cost me three times what I paid in Las Vegas. It was after midnight and I could not be bothered to cause my Mother further distress so I signed the dotted line and took the deal.
Leaving the airport and driving Downtown, all eating places were closed? As we had not had a decient meal for ages we drove around and eventually found a gas station with a police car parked outside. So I venture inside to ask directions to the nearest eating joint that is open. The officer checking his watch, sent me to a Denny's just off Beal Street, parked in a nearby multi-story car park and walked the two or three blocks to Denny's with my Mother in her wheelchair. Never been so afraid in my life, this place was scary, beggers aiming at us from every direction holding out their tins and rubbing their bellies gesturing for money to buy food.
Quick meal, back to the car and drive was the main action, I was shocked to find such poverty at every corner and afraid to stop and ask directions to any Hotels.
I couldn't even stop to read the map as there were many very thin men hanging round every corner.
Eventually found a road sign for Uptown and found the Wyndham Garden Hotel. Booked in for two nights as I knew we would NOT be staying in that area for too long as it was still very close to the Downtown area.

Click Thums to enlarge.


View of the Memphis Pyrimid from the fifth floor.
Never found out exactly what it contained or the purpose.
The one and only reason that Memphis gets tourists is the music and history of the place with the number one attraction being everything to do with Elvis Presley.
We found the bronze statue of Elvis at the top of Beale Street.

My Mother even managed to take one photo of me on Beale Street without cutting off my head.


For the deep south eating experience, the place that was frequented by the King himself was The Blues City Cafe.

Las Vegas 2007

I found Las Vegas to be a wonderful place to visit.
We stayed at the Sarah Hotel and Casino.
The time difference from Scotland is eight hours behind and it took me a good three days to adjust. I was sitting around at midnight wondering why I was so tired and realized it was 8:00am back home.
When I came to, I tried to get onto the internet in my hotel room as it had a cordless keypad and internet TV. Boy was that a mistake, it took me just under one hour to access my email and when I went to deleate some that I had read... it deleated the lot.
So, my sincere appologies to all my friends that I had arranged to meet up with, I simply saved your details on my email and thought that I could just log on and retrieve your details.
I also missed out on an internet marketing seminar conducted by some of the biggest internet marketers around, which was a major bummer as I had travelled half way accross the world with this event as the main attraction.
However, my mother enjoyed the extra time spent with me shopping and sightseeing.
The images below show the walkway from The Sarah Hotel and Casino to the monorail with the Stratosphere in the background and the other side with the Hilton Hotel in the background.
( sorry they are a bit dark.) You can even see me at the Sarah pool area, I managed a couple of hours sunbathing.
I found that I really needed my hire car as Las Vegas is not really wheelchair friendly, sure there are elevators to gain access to the monorail and walkways but main places the likes of Ceasars Palace and the shopping center were difficult to get to and as for the cobbles.

Biggest dissapointments were The David Copperfield show in the MGM Grand.
Performed one big illusion and just done enough to call it a show.
( Hay! I've been to Disney Land in Florida at least 5 or 6 times.)
I expected much more.
AND
The winner of ABC TV's The Next Big Thing, Trent Carlini.
As my Mother is an Elvis fan, she has all 31 movies, every concert ever recorded, numerous interviews by all who knew him, a concert with his voice and the original band members playing live 25 years after his death, unreleased footage of Lisa Marie performing a duet with her father on a large screen behind her, a gizillion books, pins, a clock, commerative plaque, plates and I am afraid to open the refridgator all the way as it coud tip over with the weight of all the ELVIS fridge magnets.
So, I'm sorry Trent but you just did not make the mark for my mother and myself.

Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam

For my 2007 vacation to Las Vegas and Memphis.
If you are ever lucky enough to visit Las Vegas, you are a short trip away from the Grand Canyon and the Hoover Dam.
I managed to talk my mother into going on a Helecopter tour. She is 72 years old and needs to use a wheelchair to get around with my help. So I did not consider using the bus tours as this would have been unsuitable for her.
I looked at the various options and choose Maverick Helecopters for my own visit.
Maverick uses the state of the art ECO-STAR EC-130 Helecopters. One of the safest helecopters ever produced with excellent vision from each of the seven seats for the passengers.
The company offer a range of tours from actually landing in the Grand Canyon Valley to Sunset tours and Maverick Weddings also prove popular.
I choose the Silver Cloud Tour.
Described as being perfect for the time conscious traveller, this air only tour takes you through the Grand Canyon without the landing time.
Highlights start from leaving Las Vegas right down The Strip and over Fortification Hill which is an extinct volcano, over Lake Mead and The Hoover Dam before going on to the Grand Canyon.
On returning you fly over Downtown Las Vegas and the other side of the Las Vegas Strip.
My overall rating for this one is a 10
Well worth every penny.
The actuall flight time is approximately 45 minets
and the cost at the time ( September 2007 ) was $358 per person.

Maverick also offer complimentery round trip transportation from hotels within 5 miles of the Las Vegas Strip.