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Memphis, Elvis is obviously a big thing. I couldn't care less. But when I heard about the big pile of crazy in Holly Springs, Mississippi who turned his entire house into an Elvis Museum. I had to check it out. This my friends is...
Graceland Too.
Meet Paul Macleod and his son Elvis Aaron Prestley Macleod (yes, his father named him that). They live at 200 Gholson Ave. in Holly Springs, Mississippi. They run a 24-hour museum of sorts in their own home.
If you fear crazy people or mass amounts of dust, you may want to steer clear of Graceland Too. Paul has deemed himself the “Universe, galaxy, world’s biggest Elvis fan." He has even named his pseudo museum, "The Taj Mahal of Elvisology." He calls it a museum but it is more of an obsessed fan shrine. If I had to make a comparison, I would tell you to find a 12-year-old Justin Timberlake fan and look at her walls. The Macleod's have every poster, record sleeve, trading card, and cut-out of Elvis ever made and they are all posted on the walls of a dilapidated house. One room is completely covered in Elvis records. There is also a gold Elvis suit that Paul swears is worth over a million dollars for but he will never part with the suit. Paul made his son promise him that he will be buried in that suit.
Paul also resembles an insanely over the hill Elvis impersonator with the mutton chops and everything. His hair is gray now, but his favorite saying is, "It only takes 5 minutes to die your hair." His teeth are a completely different story altogether.
He has no teeth, well real teeth that is. He wears dentures and this wouldn't be so obvious if he chipped off some gold from that million dollar suit of his and bought some Dentucream (or whatever the stuff is called that makes your dentures stick to your gums). He talks a mile a minute while his dentures are clapping in his mouth. It is kind of mesmerizing so I would advise you not to look directly at his mouth.
Paul spouts off dozens of famous people's names that have been to Graceland Too but he doesn't actually own a picture of them in Graceland Too. For example: he swears that George W. Bush has been there but his only proof is a blown up picture from Newsweek mounted on a wall. How does that prove the president has been there? I don't know. I was hoping one of you could tell me. This isn't even the scariest part.
One room he calls his "Media room." This room has 4 TV's that are on 24 hours a day with VCRs hooked up to them. Why you ask? He watches this much TV to catch any and every reference being made about Elvis Prestley. He then types these up and puts them in a binder to be locked in a chest and filed away with all the other pointless shit that Paul keeps to pay Homage to the king. Paul even has copies of every website that mentions Graceland Too. Also in the Media room is a record that Macleod says is worth millions but instead of it being locked up with his priceless binders, it's dusty, uncovered and in a display case along with, you guessed it, a bunch of worthless junk.
The real treat is when you get to the kitchen. But I don't know if you can really call it a kitchen. There is no sign of a kitchen appliance except what could be a refrigerator but you don't really know b/c it is covered in colored pieces of typing paper with museum goers all over the country who have been to Graceland Too. Girls, this where you may want to run and hide. He sings and dances. But only for the ladies. He belts Heartbreak Hotel in a plastic child's microphone and does the hip swivel just like Elvis used to do.
You all are probably wondering how Macleod keeps his "priceless" belongings safe at all hours of the night. He keeps a gun in the microwave. Where the microwave is, I have no idea.
After the kitchen is the "Member Room." If you have been to Graceland Too 3 times, you become a lifetime member and you get your picture taken and stapled to a large piece of cardboard and put in this closed off hallway. From what I understand, most of these people are diehard Elvis fans or drunk kids from Ole Miss or Mississippi State.
Scattered about the house are random objects like a stone frog, a stuffed gorilla and various posters of Clint Eastwood. What do these things have to do with Elvis? Ask Paul. He says that you can bring him any object imaginable and he can tell you how it relates to Elvis. Sort of like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon but creepier.
Some of you may feel sorry for this man. He seems somewhat lonely and delusional. He showed us pictures of what he said was Elvis' dead body. He firmly believes that he was the last person to see Elvis' body and he says that he was actually in the mausoleum with Elvis before he was buried. The pictures are blurred visions of something that is impossible to make out.
I would advise everyone to not go alone. He's not that scary but you really need to have someone to confirm the insanity that you saw at Graceland Too. It is worth the drive and the $5.00 to take the tour. It is something that won't be easy to forget. And if anyone does decide to go on this magic carpet ride full of delusions and old house smell, keep a look out for any sighting of fat Elvis pictures. Those seem to be missing from this shrine. Hmmmm????