Ebook238 pages248 hours
Elvis Presley Boulevard: From Sea to Shining Sea, Almost
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this ebook
A memoir of a cross-country road trip, the tourist experience, and the cultural touchstones that bring Americans together: “A great story” (Publishers Weekly).
As a boy in Ohio, Mark Winegardner spent the formative summers of his wonder years touring the States with his family in a succession of recreational vehicles. Much later, only months before his wedding, he undertakes another transcontinental odyssey—this time without benefit of license-plate games with his sister or parental warnings to get his feet out of the car window.
He arms himself with only the bare essentials: a Styrofoam cooler; a Hawaiian shirt; enough cash for gas, blue plate specials, and the occasional knickknack; a buddy; and the buddy’s ailing ’68 Chevy Impala. Determined to extract full value from every scenic overlook, these two set out to discover America. They visit Xanadu, Foam House of Tomorrow, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee; and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, the only community named after a game show. They play the Easter Island Hole at Magic Carpet Golf in Tucson. They marvel at the fourteen peacocks strolling Graceland’s lawn and at the vastness of the prairie states, “where no one speaks French or pays to park.” They collect 3-D glasses. They eat Devil Dogs. They take the amazing Miracle Photo. They discover themselves.
Most amazing of all, they discover an unbroken chain of Elvis tapestries, Elvis ashtrays, Elvis T-shirt wearers, and Elvis imitators that unites this land as surely as Route 66 divides it.
As a boy in Ohio, Mark Winegardner spent the formative summers of his wonder years touring the States with his family in a succession of recreational vehicles. Much later, only months before his wedding, he undertakes another transcontinental odyssey—this time without benefit of license-plate games with his sister or parental warnings to get his feet out of the car window.
He arms himself with only the bare essentials: a Styrofoam cooler; a Hawaiian shirt; enough cash for gas, blue plate specials, and the occasional knickknack; a buddy; and the buddy’s ailing ’68 Chevy Impala. Determined to extract full value from every scenic overlook, these two set out to discover America. They visit Xanadu, Foam House of Tomorrow, in Gatlinburg, Tennessee; and Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, the only community named after a game show. They play the Easter Island Hole at Magic Carpet Golf in Tucson. They marvel at the fourteen peacocks strolling Graceland’s lawn and at the vastness of the prairie states, “where no one speaks French or pays to park.” They collect 3-D glasses. They eat Devil Dogs. They take the amazing Miracle Photo. They discover themselves.
Most amazing of all, they discover an unbroken chain of Elvis tapestries, Elvis ashtrays, Elvis T-shirt wearers, and Elvis imitators that unites this land as surely as Route 66 divides it.
Author
Mark Winegardner
Mark Winegardner is the author of the novel The Veracruz Blues and three books of nonfiction. A regular contributor to GQ, he has also published work in the New York Times Magazine, Playboy, Esquire, Ploughshares, TriQuarterly, Doubletake, and other magazines. He is a professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program at Florida State University in Tallahassee, where he lives with his wife and daughter.
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Reviews for Elvis Presley Boulevard
Rating: 3.4545454545454546 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
11 ratings1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Not a bad road trip adventure, though rather dated by now. The author's sidekick, Bob, seemed clearly the more interesting of the pair; I'm left more curious about his life turned out than Mark's.
Book preview
Elvis Presley Boulevard - Mark Winegardner
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