We are on vacation. Our Strong Son has a week off between semesters. The daughter of some dear friends is getting married. We’re traveling around together for a week, and then will go to the wedding before our kids start back to school. SS picked the rest of us up at the Nashville airport, and we drove to Memphis.

Someone in the family should have remembered that this week is the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death – but none of us did. We arrived in Memphis to find that there is a citywide event honoring Elvis. I was worried that Graceland would be so crowded that we couldn’t see everything.

But I guess true Elvis fans who come back to Memphis for Elvis Week have already visited Graceland. Our tour was wonderful. The gravesite was inundated with flowers. I’m not sure whether it is always like that, or whether this is something special for Elvis Week. There are big crowds at an outdoor pavilion where Elvis impersonators (now called Elvis tribute artists) are giving an ongoing free concert.

Finding BTD compliant food on vacation is always a challenge. We finished our tour about lunchtime. Of the available restaurants in the Graceland area, the Chrome Grill seemed to have the most potential. I was inclined to have Memphis Barbeque. SS advised against it. He said that while barbeque in Texas means brisket, barbeque in the East usually means pulled pork. I asked, and sure enough, they were serving pulled pork.

There was a sign on the menu that said meatloaf was one of Elvis Presley’s favorite meals. The trouble with ordering meatloaf in a restaurant is that you don’t know how much wheat and what kinds of additives are in it. I passed on the meatloaf and chose a grilled chicken breast.

It came with three side orders. I chose baked beans, green beans, and sweet potatoes. SS told me that Eastern barbeque sauce is sweeter than the sauce on Texas barbeque. Indeed the beans were in a sweet sauce that was tasty. I’ll admit that I dipped my chicken in the sauce, pretending that it was barbequed chicken. The green beans were cooked southern style, which probably meant with salt pork, but they were delicious. The sweet potatoes were covered with a cinnamon sauce.

You could say that my basic meal was beneficials and neutrals, but the seasonings and sauces contained small levels of avoids. Knowing that did not keep me from enjoying my lunch.

Our hotel has a nice fitness room, including some free weights. DD, SS and I all worked out before having a totally beneficial picnic dinner in our room.