Designing Women S3 E3 - Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Roaaaaaaaaaaad trip! That’s right, the ladies leave Atlanta and head to Memphis overnight after Charlene wins VIP tickets to Graceland.

We make a pitstop to talk about the world’s largest convenience store: Buc-ee’s.

Stick around for this week’s “Extra Sugar” where we dig into this massive Southern reference from the episode: Graceland, and the King himself: Mr. Elvis Presley.

Some reads as promised:

• Wanderlog’s list of stops to make on your drive from Atlanta to Memphis

• A little more on autels, including one in Missouri!

• Peabody Ducks | Memphis Travel and more here, too

• 9 Rockin' Facts About Elvis Presley's Graceland

• Forbes: Highest Paid Dead Celebrities of 2020

• Elvis' Generosity | Elvis Articles

• Ten Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Elvis Memorabilia

• Someone Paid $72,500 For The Weirdest Piece Of Elvis Memorabilia Ever | HuffPost Entertainment

• Elvis Presley's Favorite Peanut Butter Sandwich Recipe

Come on, let’s get into it!

Or listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts.

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Transcript

Hey, Nikki.

Who winner?

Hello everyone.

Hey, y'all and welcome to sweet tea and TV.

Impostor.

Anyways.

All right.

So season three, episode 3, Let's do a couple of questions here.

Let's get ready.

Are you ready?

I don't know.

The juice is loose.

Why?

Why?

Because the juice was loose in the 70's.

I think that's true.

OK.

So, um what sound or noise do you love?

So I'm gonna start by saying the thing I hate and because the flip is that I love it.

Well, that's the second question.

So go ahead and do it too.

So what I was going to say is I hate the sound of people chewing.

I cannot handle it.

Uh Misophonia or whatever I cannot, I can't, I love the sound of my Children chewing.

It's so cute.

I can't explain it.

That sounds, it's adorable.

I think it must be and there will be an age.

I will not find it cute anymore.

But at this age right now my kids can make sounds with their mouths that like if any other human being on earth did it, I would throw up.

But when they did it, I'm like, oh my God, you're eating.

Look how cute you are just growing.

You're a mother.

Yeah.

Well, there you go.

So that's my answer.

Ok.

Well, first I feel like I need to back up just a tad and remind folks that we're doing James Lipton questions.

Just wants to know what I love to hear.

Tell me about your noises.

Um, I mean, don't tell me about your noise.

Um, so sounds that I love, I would actually have to go with like water.

Peaceful.

Oh, just kidding.

Sorry.

I couldn't even take myself seriously.

I know I heard it.

I gross myself out.

I looked at your face before it registered what you said and then I was like, so like a babbling brook.

Yeah.

Um, or river water.

Like I will just sit there and just listen to it and just watch it and like I feel a complete peace in the world.

That is definitely one of my tippy top, top three happy places.

Ocean waves.

It's all good.

But honestly, if I was gonna say what my favorite body of water is, it really is rivers streams, babbling brooks over ocean, which I know is an unpopular opinion, but it's my opinion.

I'm with you.

The tinkling is nicer than the.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, I'll take either though and I would take it right now if anybody wants to whisk me away for most people.

Us included, either one means vacation because we have to go somewhere to hear that you have to.

We're not, we don't have babbling books in our backyard.

Right.

And that, and maybe that's the other reason why you keep it.

Yeah.

Or it's like a girl scout cookie.

Does anyone really find a tag along that delicious or is it delicious because it's available one time a year?

I've had that thought quite often, another great marketing scheme, I mean, plan.

Um, and then the sound I hate, I have a lot of sounds I hate and there's just like particular times where it's worse for me than other times.

Uh You know, I'm nervous.

Well, no, normally is the sound of me sweating.

Oh Can you imagine?

Oh God.

Um It's like anything that's in this vein of fingernails on a chalkboard.

So like that drills anything like that.

And then also, um let's just say uh once a month these senses get heightened.

I thought you were gonna say the sound of a crinkling pad or, or something.

I don't love that.

Um It, it's the P the M the s and at that time it's like, it's like I'm a superhero but unhelpful and I don't actually do anything for anyone angry.

I just sit in the corner, I'm angry.

I eat chocolate and noises really bother me.

I get that.

So I'm a monster.

We all are.

And with that you want to get on to uh episode three.

Yes.

Episode three.

I was trying to think of a transition.

Uh The episode title is E P Phone Home eta play on E T most definitely a play on E T.

Not a monster but an alien.

So not a, not at all the sweetest cuddliest, lovable little.

I love E T everybody loves E T but we're not talking about E T right now.

I'm just trying to transition.

I'm sorry.

The name of this episode is E P phone home, however, we are going to call it.

Are you lonesome tonight?

Imdb says Charlene wins tickets to a VIP tour of Graceland in Memphis.

The women encounter an assortment of Elvis Presley fans, a newspaper reporter working on an article designed to make them look foolish and a truck driver who shares his emotional story about Elvis and his dying son privately with Julia.

It aired November 28th, 1988 was written by LBT and directed by David Trainor.

General reaction, stray observations.

You want to kick us off?

Sure.

Um I loved it.

I thought that this one was really sweet and I thought it was a good balance of funny and touching and I also think it's one of the more well constructed episodes we've seen.

So that was my very first general reaction.

I'm thinking by the way you looked at me, that is not your reaction.

I, I I don't know why I'm surprised that you loved this episode.

I don't know why that surprises me.

I would say I really liked it.

Um It did feel like a random, it felt random to me.

Um But I think the moral that I sort of ultimately put together is just because something doesn't feel right for you Julia.

We can argue Julia did not think this road trip to Memphis to learn about Elvis was for her.

There could be a reason you find yourself there.

In this instance, it was to bond with a man who desperately needed to share his story with someone who might understand it.

Yeah, it takes all kinds.

We all need each other and I think that really flows into my next general reaction if you don't mind.

OK.

Which is that I think L BT has a way of humanizing people that others might overlook.

So for instance, in this episode, someone who is quote unquote an Elvis fanatic or someone like Vern who's a truck driver, um who drives trucks for a living.

Not that I feel any certain way about people who drive trucks for a living.

What I mean is we don't get their back story a lot in entertainment, you know, that's not something we really see.

And so I, I think that's really special, you know, that's nice.

Does this make you think anything about celebrity fan bases?

Did you have any reaction?

Like so spoiler alert, um the extra sugar this week will be about Elvis who has I think arguably one of the most rabid fan bases even many, many years after his death.

There is just this weird complex around celebrities that I am simultaneously fascinated and repulsed by this idea that this person brings about something in your mind in your spirit.

There's something that resonates with people.

It is also simultaneously terrifying to me when I was a teenager.

I used to think I was one of the biggest Hansen fans in the world.

I love Hansen.

I do could not tell you the names of the women they're married to off the top of my head.

I could not tell you how many Children they have except a lot.

I don't know, like basic facts about them that rabid fans could tell you because it feels weird to me.

It feels intrusive, it feels like I know more than I should.

It is a really interesting, it, it, it's an interesting concept.

I think, you know, we get these stories in the episode about why these individuals feel connected to Elvis.

And it does feel like either it's like with Vern, you know, it was the love that he and his son shared together for Elvis and like, and that experience that they had in the hospital, you know, and, and the fact that his son is no longer there and all of these things.

So like a really emotional time.

So I almost feel like you would bond to something around a trauma.

Then you have the lady who, um, I guess she had AAA baby when she was really young and for like, that sort of like, seized on this idea of also, like, kind of loving Elvis at the same time or feeling recognized probably by him at a time, which he probably didn't feel recognized or really seen by anyone.

So I think that sort of plays into it.

If Elvis had been the personality of Manson, we may have a whole different problem on our hands today.

Um because there was something about him in particular that like, I, I don't know, I've seen people react to anyone the way Beatles.

Uh Yeah, but not with the staying power, really staying power.

Ok?

Not in this way.

Like, and, but here's why because except for John Lennon who had kind of like who was murdered, but like with Elvis, there's sort of these mysterious circumstances and this legend that has, and I, and I think out of that, like people seeing him in bacon and eggs on a plate or thinking they saw him out and he's alive and like that kind of stuff, like the kind of stuff that endures around like Tupac.

I mean, Michael Jackson a little bit.

I think there are some people who still hold mythology around what happened to him.

Yeah.

But, and then, and that's kind of the thing too, like if you talk about this mythology of people, like, I, you know, Hercules isn't real, but like, obviously like, there's like our achilles and these people that like it, it's just, it is still like one person though, right?

And something that somebody can um become focused on or just they want to learn everything about it.

I think also these people kind of turn into products and it's like, almost like the way that like, if I was to talk to my dad, my dad could tell you everything from how coffee beans were hard harvested to the best beans to the roasting that you need to do uh to the different types of ro he's an enthusiast, right?

And I think people take that enthusiasm that you have for a product and they almost like project it onto people sometimes.

That's when it gets weird.

I think these are actual people, these are people just like you and me.

I think it would be really good for everyone to keep that in mind.

Right.

Especially the way that people like.

And that's something I've wanted to try and be cautious about.

Even in the course of this podcast, we're recording our voices we're taking then taking our thoughts and we're projecting them out onto the internet.

You know, we're projecting it out where people can go and find them and someone could stumble across them.

And the last thing I ever want to do is hurt someone, right?

If they happen to hear some random, some Rando in the suburbs of Atlanta said something crappy about them one day.

Like, I like to think about how I would feel if someone did that to me.

And, like, if I'm like, oh, you know, I would feel terrible about that.

Um, so, uh, it is a very unique phenomenon and I do wonder if it changes culture culturally.

Like, if, uh, you know, if, if there is that same thing that happens everywhere all over the world.

I don't know.

I don't know the answer.

Um So my last general reaction is that I actually cried a lot in this one, cried.

I did.

Um It was such an emotional story from Vern Elvis coming to visit his son in the hospital when he was sick, like the son was sick, then eventually losing his son and then trying to take his own life afterwards.

I mean, we are in a sitcom.

So I, I think it just threw me.

Um and then when um are you launch some Tonight plays at the end, I was just like a ball of emotions on my couch.

I don't know what it did, but like, and that song always gets me.

Um It always has.

I think it's because I watched Elvis and me when I was little when you watch Elvis Elvis and Me, which is like Priscilla's autobiography of the two of them together gets turned into a movie.

And I, I don't know, I think there's some, there's some sort of emotional memory or something about it.

It's like watching it as a kid, like runs over into like my life when I hear it out in the wild.

Um But that was the last thing for me.

Do you have any strays?

So we get a call back to stranded in season two where Anthony and Suzanne are forced to stay in a motel room together because Suzanne doesn't think it would look right for them to be driving all night with Anthony.

So we're back to that.

My whole comment there was shut up, Suzanne.

You guys are best friends and you need to remember it.

Pick a new line, right?

And then the other thing that I had that was just pretty random is that Mary Jo is me when I'm traveling.

So she's like, I'm all hype and then the next thing I know two days have passed and I haven't slept or showered.

That's me.

Do you identify with her bottomless pit eating on the road?

What do you think?

I think the answer is.

Yes.

Yeah.

I think the only so I think it is totally an excuse to like, stop at a gas station and just fill our car with like all kinds of things we don't need.

I think the only caveat there is we, I, I guess like in my mind is no longer the same because of the pandemic, but I can't remember the last time that we really did like a big, we don't do as many road trips as we used to do.

I think so.

Like, it doesn't happen as often, but I will take any excuse for food that I can.

What's your favorite road trip food?

Favorite road trip food?

I will tell you the one that we always wind up getting and I don't know why.

Peanut M and MS, this is gonna sound so stupid.

Is it like we always wind up stopping by chick-fil-a?

Oh, so sorry.

It's not from the store.

If, if I'm going to the store sometimes I'll try.

It's like the wills come off because at first I'm like, I'll just get some peanuts because that's like a nice protein.

I'll be healthy.

And then the next thing I know I'm like elbow deep in a world at race track.

That probably is my favorite.

I get very excited about the toppings.

And then I'm like, so that's like the frozen yogurt bar.

Ok.

So like a fro yo bar and then like, if they have any kind of interesting coffees, I get really excited about that.

You know, the ones that are like, uh, like a 15,000 calorie coffee.

See, I don't enjoy those, but I am a Q T girl through and through.

I in high school would stop at Q T every morning and get one of the, um, when it was warmer, we'd get one of the frozen mocha drinks.

Uh, back when I used to drink sugar and just like a lot of it and then, um, hot coffee in the winter.

So I enjoy Q T, I don't, I don't understand race track very much.

My kids love it.

I mean, World, come on.

Well, now I know, uh, but it's gonna us into a segment.

Are you ready?

Oh, I'm ready.

This is a southern spotlight.

This is Bucky where the Beaver never sleeps.

It's a southern spot.

Like it's a southern spot.

Like it's a southern spot.

Like I've been waiting for this moment.

Oh, I'm wearing my shirt today.

I got a Bucky's t-shirt on.

It's very cute.

I am fully into this.

I didn't know how this moment was gonna come.

I didn't know when this moment was coming, but I knew I knew it was gonna come and indeed, we made it to season three and it came.

We're gonna celebrate designing women's road trip and pit stop making with a pit stop of our own.

We're gonna do this Southern spotlight on Bucky.

Have you ever been to a Bucky Salina?

I have not.

I've been to two and this is recent uh, last year I visited the one in Warner, Robins, Georgia on a trip back from Florida and we liked it so much.

We stopped on the way there and on the way back, um, then a few weeks back in preparation for this segment and I have treats for you.

We went to the one in Calhoun Georgia.

It's about a two hour drive for us.

You have a treats for you.

I'm grabbing them another bag.

We also need to get a picture of your Bucky shirt.

I know we should.

It's super cute.

This is for you.

I didn't wrap it in anything other than the Bucky's bag because that's kind of wrapping.

Now.

Does it need anything else?

But the buck.

So we made a special trip to Calhoun.

You want me to open it now?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Just for this segment, I wanted to have done my research.

So while Salina opens her gifts, I'm gonna give everybody just like a little bit of a context.

Bucky's is a chain of gas stations but to call it a chain of gas stations is such an underselling.

Um They have locations in Texas, Alabama, Georgia and Florida.

Um It's, it's, it's more of a um I I've heard it called.

She just opened her presence.

Why don't you tell the people?

Ok.

So the beaver, the beaver, Bucky, the beaver.

Uh I have a coffee mug shaped like Bucky.

Now, you too.

It is super cute.

We'll also get a picture of that.

We'll have to get a picture of your shirt, the coffee mug and then this spectacular thing.

Bucky's over bite.

It's a dark chocolate peanut butter, 1/4 of goodness.

And it's shaped also like Bucky's face.

And I'm gonna be honest, Bucky's about to get tore up later.

On Bucky is so cute.

Um, so I've heard Bucky's described as kind of like the Walmart of gas stations.

I mean, it's truly enormous.

We walked into the one in Calhoon.

They have like an entire fishing and hunting section.

Um, they have, so let me for a sense of scale.

I've got some statistics, I'll share, I'll just share those instead of live through the Calhoun um store.

So, uh, the Bucky location in New Brothels, Texas, I think that's how it's pronounced.

It's billed as the largest Bucky and indeed the largest gas station in the world.

According to the numbers, I found this location has 100 and 20 fueling positions.

100 and 20 cars can be getting gas at one time.

It has 1000 parking spaces.

Do you think they are a line?

Um, I can answer this so well, let me think back.

We did not experience the line at the first one, the second one, we didn't get gas.

Um, so I don't think they do, but, but they're very crowded, they're very crowded.

Um, so 1000 parking spaces, 64 ice freezers, 83 toilets, 31 cash registers, four Icy machines and 80 fountain dispensers.

The entire store is 66,335 square feet, which is more square feet than a football field.

And this is just that this is the biggest one, but I can tell you having been to two of them.

Um, I think several of them are this large.

Um, but I did read that not all Bucky are quite so enormous.

Um, if they're not in the state of Texas odds are good, they're gonna be on the bigger side.

They're going to be sort of like a draw.

Um, but there are several in the state of Texas apparently that run more in the order of a normal gas station.

Um, a couple of their high points of visiting Bucky, their bathrooms are top notch.

They're really nice.

Their reputation.

Yeah, seriously, in 2012, that new brothels location won an award from Sinus for the cleanest restroom.

They, I didn't know that was an award but I like it, but they have a cleaning crew that's in, they are like almost nonstop.

Like I said, I've been now 3 to 3 different stops at two different locations and we obviously have small Children.

We go to the bathroom a lot.

They are constantly cleaning the bathrooms.

They have the little lock that when you lock it, it says um occupied and not occupied, which I think it should be like required in bathrooms.

There should be a visual indicator that someone's in that restroom.

Um So they're very nice bathroom.

You don't like an awkward encounter.

No, not in the bathroom with my pants around my knees.

That's not for me.

That's fair enough.

Um They have a ton of Bucky branded specialties including the beaver nuggets, which I realize now I should have brought you.

The beaver nuggets are almost like corn pops is probably how I would describe them.

Giant corn pops.

They have a whole wall of jerky.

Um, and they, I found a whole display of Mary Jo's personal favorite.

The pecan log Bucky branded pecan logs.

Not Stuckey, not stuck.

I feel like this is a rough, this is going to be a rough run for Stuckey trying to come back.

Yeah.

Oh, maybe I should have looked into that.

I didn't put that piece together.

Sorry guys, I'm gonna put a reel up on Instagram when this episode drops.

That previews Bucky a little bit and I'm gonna try to do a little designing women twist.

Um That'll give people a flavor for the sort of stuff they might find there.

Um I'll tell you when we go, we load up on all these random snacks.

I've now bought a t-shirt.

My son has a blanket he sleeps with at night now with Bucky's face all over it.

He has a um onesie like a J S that are like he looks like a beaver when he puts them on.

He met Bucky this last time wearing his Bucky the beaver onesie.

It's an event like it really is Kyle.

When we left.

The first one, Kyle said that is so much more than I was expecting and I found out about it because some influencers that I follow online just started like, touring Bucky.

And I was like, what is this place?

We were driving down to Florida last year and I saw the sign, the signs start popping up like 64 miles out.

They're like, cleanest restrooms you've ever seen?

They have very funny, quirky little sayings.

Like, um, I don't know, very cute little billboards.

They start popping up and like, every couple of miles I would tell the kids we're going to Bucky, we're going to Bucky.

And I could tell Kyle was like, don't build this up so much, Nikki.

It was amazing.

There was no let down.

I drove all the way to Calhoun to go to this place.

Yeah, I mean, I will tell you that like, while I haven't been, um, a friend of mine has talked about Bucky for at least seven or eight years.

It's amazing.

Yeah, I mean, just singing its praises.

So, and they're expanding, they're expanding a lot.

So there's a lot more locations coming into play.

Um, so you have more opportunities to go.

It is, I think if you and Casey have like a Saturday together or a Sunday together, it's worth the drive.

It took us a couple of hours, but it's, we drove right by where Kyle and I got married was on the way.

So it was a nice little day trip.

If this episode of designing women gets you itching for a trip to Memphis.

Incidentally, a place I've never been my Google Maps told me that our route to Memphis from where we are would take us straight by the Bucky at 6900 Bucky Boulevard Leeds, Alabama.

So if anyone is so inclined, check into it, it's worth the stop.

Um, and then on that note, one final thing I'll pop in here is a wonder log article that you found actually Salina on top places to stop on your six ish hour drive from Atlanta to Memphis.

So obviously you're stopping at Bucky's.

Um But some of the other sites you might want to stop are two below Mississippi, which is incidentally the home of Elvis Presley and where you can actually see his birth house that was me popping my eyes.

Um Dismal Canyon in Phil.

Phil, Campbell, Alabama.

Sorry, that was really hard for me to say it's a nature preserve known for waterfalls and bioluminescent glow worms that light up on night tours.

That's cool.

That sounds really cool.

Um There are several historical spots in Birmingham, Alabama, including the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, a multimedia museum chronicling the civil rights movement.

Um And this one, Salina I added just for you because I think this is the one that stuck out to you.

Um It's a little bit off the beaten path from Birmingham, but it's called the Eva Maria Grado.

Um It's kind of wild.

It's located on the grounds of Saint Bernard Abbey, which was founded in 18 92 their website labels it the only Benedictine Monastery of Men in the state of Alabama.

The grotto consists of a landscaped hillside of 100 and 25 small stone and cement structures.

The handiwork of the creative genius brother Joseph Zel Os B A monk of the abbey for almost 70 years.

I was absolutely fascinated when I saw that thing.

It's crazy.

I would love to go.

I love stuff like that.

Well, they have a whole list of places to stop.

Should you want to find yourself in Memphis?

Well, I do very much so.

Want to go to Graceland.

So you'll find out more about why later?

Oh, ok.

Well, that's it.

That's my southern spotlight on Bucky.

Thank you for my treat.

You're very welcome.

Enjoy your coffee out of Bucky's head.

That's very exciting.

I'm trying very hard not to eat Bucky right now.

There's just so much stuff there and it's really hard.

Like, it's almost like a, um, it's almost like a home goods in there too.

Like, they have a lot of home stuff.

I heard that and it's, um, so we went to the one we went to was Springy because they had like, the Eastery sort of stuff out when we went.

So that's like the pastel colors.

It was very cute.

They had a lot of really cute stuff.

Yeah, I, I do really, really want to go.

Well, you like Bucky?

Like, I'm sure I would like it if I went, I like what's sitting here.

Should we talk about what we liked about the episode?

We can, um, what, what did you like?

Nikki Julia's heart to heart with Vern was, it was a weird set up, like I said at the beginning.

But like you said, it was a really touching scene and I do think I got Misty when he was talking about his son.

I do think especially the part where he said um that he considered suicide.

He was good.

Like he was a good actor.

We don't always, it's the eighties.

I'm, I'm just gonna like straight shoot for a second.

We don't always get the best, like walk on cast members for the day, the best guest stars.

I thought, I thought he was really good.

He was really good.

Um I'm like, he's a special man.

He's a real special man.

So special.

Um What else did you like the cast on a road trip?

I just really enjoyed them being on a road trip.

I marry Joe.

I identified with so much just in terms of the food because I do the same thing on a road trip.

I walk into a gas station and suddenly I've got two bags of peanut M and MS because that's my road trip food.

I also really like the little um powdered sugar, white doughnuts.

Those are road trip food for, I don't know why.

I just think they're so good.

Well, I think we're tapping into something that's like, it's also tradition.

Yeah.

And I think, you know, I think people really enjoy traditions.

It's like in the history books or something.

And so I think there are these little things that we just, we do and it kind of becomes part of this larger routine and it's almost like Pavlov's dogs or something because you ring that bell and the next thing I know I'm getting something special on the other end for sure.

And it's right on the way.

Hardy's is my other road trip stop.

I stop at Hardy's any time I can on a road trip and I used to do it a lot more than I do now.

Now I'm very like, business focused on road trips.

Hardy's is good.

I feel like Hardy.

She doesn't get enough love and it's really good burgers through a drive-through.

It's pretty top notch.

I'm talking breakfast from Hearty's specifically biscuits and gravy.

Good biscuits and gravy and the cinnamon rolls so good.

And the coffee is really good too.

I'm like, now what, Hardy, there's a Hardy and be I wanted to tack on something to what you said here too because you like, like basically the same thing I did, which is the genesis for this episode.

So, like, I know at the beginning your general reaction is kind of like, well, this episode is a little random but like, I'm kind of all in on anything that's a road trip in a show because I, I think it's ripe with comedic opportunities.

But we also get to leave this particular soundstage and sure, only briefly and then we're switching around what our typical sound stage looks like, but at least it feels like we get a different sense of place because I get tired of being at Sugar Baker.

Um I think sometimes I just, I want them to shake it up.

Uh Also I thought with the road trip in mind this time, uh It worked well because uh Charlene's love for Elvis is well established within the world of the show.

Um Even though it does feel like we switch from Jerry Lee Lewis to Elvis at some point, uh We don't even really hear about him anymore and it kind of all goes over to Elvis, but that's ok.

I thought I'm ok with it.

Um So I love how Giddy Charlene is about going on the VIP tour to Graceland.

Um Incidentally, it sounds like me when I really want something, you know, like right on the verge of mania.

So in addition to identifying with Mary Jo, I also like identify with that like I am sort of like someone who turns into a child over things that I really want to do for me.

It's really simple things like we were talking a minute ago about those um those stops on the way to um Memphis.

So dismal dismal Canyon, that nature preserve.

That's right up the alley of things.

I would totally get my family up at six AM and I was like, all right kids.

We're going to Dismal Canyon.

Mommy's excited.

Let's go.

And there's the whole drive there.

I'd be so excited about seeing these bioluminescent worms.

And that's family of origin for you.

Yes, because your family got you up sometime and took you on trips and it was a last minute thing and I love that.

I love that spontaneity.

That's how my mom was.

Um, my trip to Bucky was very spontaneous.

I only planned it a week and a half out.

I mean, you didn't even have a spreadsheet.

I didn't have, I had nothing.

And is there anything more spontaneous than the lack of a spreadsheet?

I agree with you.

Um, I liked Mary Jo's commentary on all the things that you can do while we're talking about the gas stations.

Um, and these, like these places that are like all in one kind of stops.

Uh, so she goes, I mean, you know, now you can go in, get your fires check, buy some birth control in the bathroom and have a little turkey and dressing on your way out.

And that all sounds right.

Bucky doesn't have any of those things.

Um, but they do have fresh made barbecue.

You can go over and get brisket or pulled pork.

They have a fudge bar, they have an ice Cream bar.

Um So man, those are options.

What else did you like about this episode?

That was it?

Um I got a chance to talk about Bucky.

I'm tapped out.

We'll see you at the finish line.

Um I like this episode spotlighted that our ladies are a class act.

Julia protecting people from the condescending reporter.

I mean, the way she did, it was kind of weird.

Um But I still thought it was nice, like I thought that was a nice thing that she was doing.

She was seeing something that these individuals could not see and she kept kind of trying to get them to go somewhere else so that they wouldn't tell the reporters things that reporter things that he was obviously going to use against them.

So it's interesting you say things people couldn't see because Charlene, I know he's going to do that but I want to show him my stuff anyway.

So for Charlene, I agree that with that for the other people, I wasn't as sure.

Um, we get to hear Charlene say that and I think that helps kind of cement for her that it was ok.

Um But she also, she cared a little bit because she changed her name.

Um Charlene genuinely listening to people's stories.

I love that.

She said, I know, I mean, I know we're talking about fake people but she genuinely wanted to hear those stories, which kind of makes sense as an Uber fan.

She wants to hear why other people love this person.

I don't think it matters what the topic is.

I don't think, I think if they were talking about something she didn't give two craps about, she would still listen, like it was the best thing she'd ever heard because it's Charlie and that's when she loves people.

She does.

Um, and then these are my last things, two things happened at the very end of the episode that I thought were really strong.

And I think, you know, sometimes you can have an episode where of any television show and maybe it's not that strong, but if you come in right at the end, uh that's what I'm gonna remember it.

And I think this one had that going for it.

So the show ending button in this case, Charlene buys a bumper sticker, which is the namesake of the episode E P phone home and she says that she would like to put it on the car.

Julia says over her dead body.

But at the very end of the episode, when are you lonesome tonight is playing as they drive home from Graceland and as the camera pulls back, you see it on the front of the car.

And I like to believe that either Julia or Anthony put it on there.

Those are my two guesses.

I think it was Julia.

Um Love it.

I hope it was the case.

And then in this, in this thing didn't happen Vern sending out that song to Julia over the radio at the end also really worked for me.

Uh, because I don't know if it landed this way for you, but for me, it felt like they let us sit with it for a minute.

And by that, I mean, we see the glances, everyone is exchanging and Delta Burke as Suzanne, she maybe has the greatest smirk of anyone I've ever seen.

And it was kind of like, you know, there's a little bit of a sisterly rivalry that goes on between the two of them and it was like almost like a, a sign of respect.

Like, um, not only for the person that Julia is, um, but for the way that she is magnetic and she does have a lot of charisma and she is beautiful and she could have like this meeting with this person.

It didn't mean it had to be sexual or anything, but they did have an instant connection and they did have a bond and I think he really, she really made a lasting impression on him and vice versa.

And I thought there was something that was so sweet about it, like they didn't have to go have an affair.

It was just like this wonderful, lovely moment.

And so all those things really worked for me.

That's nice.

What about what we didn't, why don't you start us off that reporter Super Skeezy.

But I do think it made for a realistic plot line.

Yes, I think people do enjoy passing judgment on other people's likes and preferences and based on the stories that we were hearing from people about what had drawn them to this event and what had drawn them to Graceland.

Um I could see him writing a mocking piece based on those stories and the way that um these fans reacted to Elvis and I could see other people reading it and enjoying it.

Yeah.

I don't like that.

Yeah.

I mean, I do think like there is something, um, I think people for forever have been fascinated by things that aren't whatever we at the moment in time, consider the, the norm and anything that falls outside of it.

You know, I think it makes, it takes me to that place where people go to, they would go to the circus to see twins because that was so weird who's ever seen a twin or they would go to see people who were larger than other people, which I don't appreciate and I don't like, but I'm just saying like that, that's the kind of thing that they would do, you know, and I think that people do have a fascination with those kinds of things and, and, and I think, and I think it's, it's ok to be interested.

I think being interested can be and curious, I think is a really good thing but I certainly think it can also be twisted and used against people and that I'm not ok With, it's like that classic question that Angus asks us in that classic 1990s movie, Angus.

Um, what is normal?

How do we define normal?

You know what I mean?

That's true.

You've never seen the movie?

We'll be adding that to your list.

We just all have lists.

I know what it is.

We've talked about it before.

God, I know I need to watch it.

So I, I Would just be curious as a 30 something.

Does it resonate with you the way it does with me?

I think it's a timeless ageless message.

What is normal?

Are you normal then?

What does that make the rest of us?

It's deep.

It's, it's very deep.

It is.

I only have one thing I didn't like and it's that, um, big episode for you.

It dragged a little bit in the middle of the episode when we basically get introduced to one Elvis fan.

After the next.

It wasn't terrible.

It's just like I remember the first time watching it and being like, what are we doing?

What are we doing here?

Um, because it felt it, there's so many times I watch the show and I'm like, you just need to do theater.

It's so many times it feels like a play and this was one of those times for me.

Did it bother you at all?

That Anthony was only there to like almost bumper the episode.

Uh, it did but, um, I liked that we at least brought him back at the end so he could drive.

Of course, of course.

Um, but I'll take any time I can with him and I did enjoy some of like, um, I would have preferred for him to be there longer, but I did like some of the, um, he got in some good shots while he was around.

So I, I'll take what I can get until we really truly bring him on as a full cast member.

Ok.

All right.

Well, do you want to go ahead and rate the sucker?

Yes.

What do you have dearly departed dates?

Because at the very beginning of the episode, Suzanne's date dies.

Oh, gosh, she's devastated by it.

It's ruined her entire weekend now.

She has to go to Memphis.

So I'm giving it four dearly departed dates.

So I liked it.

Yeah, it was a nice episode.

A little random how they kind of pulled together.

I thought that I just Julia and Vern ending up together was just odd.

It just seemed odd to me.

Um, but I get, I get what brought them together.

Right.

But it just felt a little random.

Well, it felt like even if she pulled him to the side, but they really have wound up, like, let's go for a drink.

Right.

Yeah.

And then there was this weird, like, undercurrent with all the other women that was just sort of like, like they assumed there was something sexual, like, I think at some point maybe it was Suzanne who asked, like, what are you going to tell Reece?

She's like, I have nothing to tell Reese.

I went and had a drink with this guy and, like, nobody could believe that he had this very tragic life story.

He needed to share with somebody.

Right.

Yeah, I get that.

Um, I gave it 4.5 out of five love songs dedicated to someone special on the radio Delia.

We don't get that anymore.

You know, De Delilah is still around.

I think so.

Good for her.

She has a really sad story.

She lost a child.

I think, I think we've talked about this before.

De de de um I, I mean, really for all the I, I covered all the things that I liked about it.

I just thought it was um I thought it was interesting.

I like the genesis of the episode.

Um I like the way for the most part that we spent the time and I mean, if I'm going to sit there and cry and have 18 likes, it feels like I have to give it a high score.

Yeah, I think so.

And thus it got a 4.5.

Uh let's talk about who won the episode.

Charlene 100%.

She was living her best life.

This is like her dream.

I like it.

Who did you pick?

I picked Vern all, um, he's going to get to do something in honor of his, of his son.

Um, and then he meets Julia and had a special heart to heart with her.

And, um, and I don't know, I just, I just liked him a lot.

I thought he was so I thought his story was so powerful and moving and so I just wanted him to win.

Ok, that's fair enough.

Um, how about who lost the episode?

I'm going with Suzanne.

Ok.

She really got it handed to her on this trip.

Like she lost her date at the very beginning of the episode.

So she's had a traumatic loss in her life.

She gets shoved in this car.

Um, she couldn't put her feet down on the floor because Charlene's like wet knapsack is hanging down there or whatever.

She said she couldn't put her feet over on it.

Was that Tupperware Container?

Um, I, there was something about how she couldn't get clean, she couldn't get her hotel room.

Like it just sounded like a real cluster for her.

Yeah.

Not her best life.

Yeah.

I wonder how many of Suzanne's boyfriends have died.

We should, that should probably be on the bingo card.

I know.

Um, I had Mr Weddington who is a reporter, uh, you know, Julia hopefully stopped him from getting his story and, you know, I hope he gets put on a really undesirable beat.

That's what I hope whatever he thinks the worst is, I hope that's what he gets put on.

You don't, you don't think Graceland in Memphis was that beat?

I don't, I don't know what that beat was.

Features.

Um So yeah, eighties things.

I feel like this is a stretch, but it's kind of a question.

Baths versus showers.

Was there a time?

Showers weren't common at the very beginning of the episode?

Suzanne says Mary Jo, did you not bathe this morning or did you not take a bath?

She's a, take a bath.

Did you not take a bath this morning?

I have a take.

Ok, I have a take, I think that there are bath people and there are shower people and I think there have always been bath people and there have always been shower people and I think Suzanne is definitely a bath person.

I think that, um, she wants to luxuriate.

I would, I, I do think there's another answer to your question too, which is, I think if this is something they track, I do think more people probably take showers now than ever before.

Uh, they're more convenient.

You're not sitting in your own dirt, right?

Bathtubs are expensive, right?

The water is very expensive.

I realize now the tub is, I could have Googled this.

Yeah.

No, that's what I mean.

You have to fill the whole, oh, you mean like the actual tub?

Yes.

Especially if you, it's so funny to me too.

Like how things, um, uh, circle back around.

Like, you know, you used to not, would have wanted, um, uh, like a standalone tub.

The people went and they got the built-in ones.

Now you got the standalone ones again.

And though, because of supply and demand, they're just outrageously expensive again.

Have you been pricing bathtubs lately when we were, Did our master bath?

Yes.

And that's why I still have a built-in one because even the faucet alone with like the wand that you get.

I was like, it was like $2400.

That's just a faucet.

That's not the tub.

You're a shower person.

I am now.

Um, that was my last day.

It's time for another round of movies in the paper.

That was my first 80s thing.

And then I feel like dedicating a song to someone on the radio.

Feels very 80s.

This is the last one, last minute one that I noticed as we were talking about the name of the episode again.

Um, yeah, it's ETET came out in 82.

So like, I don't know that you would name an episode EP phone home in 2022.

I feel like you are.

In fact, I think this speaks to how popular ET was because they were still talking about it this many years after it came out.

Um, southern things.

Gulf Shores.

That's where the truck driver was headed.

Oh, good.

Gulf Shores, Alabama.

Ok.

Yep.

All right.

Anything else?

Oh, boy.

All right, Memphis.

We have, oh, I didn't even talk about all that stuff because I figured that was gonna come up in extra sugar.

Well, I'm covering it here.

Ok.

Ok.

All right.

So the Malco theater, that's where one of the Elvis fans meets him is outside of that, that is a movie theater chain in six states and the headquarters is in Memphis.

The Peabody that was an actual exterior shot in the show.

It's known as the South Grand Hotel.

It's also world famous for its.

Did you read anything about this five Resident ducks?

What I want to go there so badly now who march daily through the lobby at 11 AM and five PM, we can link to the whole story behind it.

Um For those who are interested and so Nikki doesn't kill me.

You also want to talk about the hotel opened in 1869.

It was on the National Register of Historic Places.

Another thing that was kind of hard to find is how many generations of ducks they've been through Because the Ducks started as a tradition in the early 1900s.

And I don't know the lifespan for Ducks, but probably a lot of ducks.

And the hotel also had just reopened in the early 80s.

It sounds like it shut down for some amount of time and they had just reopened it before this episode.

Oh, Ok.

It's otherwise known as the South Grand Hotel.

Were you just sitting on that?

That was in my references we need to talk about.

Oh, because I wanted to talk about the duck.

It's cute.

Like they're really cute and there's a story about how the ducks got there and why they're there.

Yeah, there is.

It's something like it's a cute story.

Anyway, it's in what we'll link to.

Um, and then we'll go into more detail about Graceland here shortly, but it was elvis' home when he was alive and now it's a major tourist attraction.

Elvis is a huge Southern reference in this altogether.

And um many of his songs are also mentioned specifically.

So Love Me Tender.

Are You Lonesome Tonight?

Hunk of Burning Love that name right now just makes me so sick.

Um Heartbreak Hotel and I saw you crying in the chapel which I'm not familiar with.

Um Julia says I'd rather be tied butt naked to the town clock.

So let me tell you something.

I don't know it's Southern in origin, but I know that they're not saying it in L A or New York City.

And also didn't sound like something Julia would say.

Yeah, I guess that's how much you didn't want it.

That's true.

Um Truly Southern Road Trip Treats pecan rolls and fudge.

Um Both found at Bucky's both found at Bucky.

Um Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

I played that record till I Plum wore a hole in it, it sounds so southern and then fell out.

Nobody outside of the south is saying that.

Oh, really?

I thought that was like a World War Two era thing.

Like, where's my fella?

Oh, I mean, the till I plum wore a hole in it that fella.

I'm, I mean, good fellas.

So I'm playing fast and loose guy.

That one.

Um But it was said by Vern with a very Southern accent, uh references that we need to talk about the word hotel.

Yeah.

Uh I'd literally never heard of that.

No, it is apparently a combination between auto and hotel.

Like motel is a combo of motor and hotel.

Lo and behold in my googling, I found the north walled hotel in Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

It's been demolished and replaced by a bank is that it Looking really pretty website that has like the five hotels or whatever that are left dead motels.

USA.

Yeah, that's kind of cool because that is like this really interesting like brief Americana um that I don't know but yeah, I never heard that word before.

It's weird.

I don't think they were, it's not like super common, like I think motel was the more common.

Um But the pictures are really pretty.

It looks very like 19 fifties, 19 sixties and neon.

Yeah, I liked it.

Yeah.

What else you got?

Arthur Fromer who wrote fromer guides.

He's also a Missouri and he was born in Jefferson City, Missouri lived there until he moved to New York at, at 14.

But he writes all those fromer travel guides.

If you've ever seen the movie hero trip, it's a very big moment in that movie.

And they talk about from.

Oh, yeah.

Ok.

Because I was like, I don't remember.

Isn't there like Rick Steves or something?

He has like guides.

I only know Arthur from and I only know it from your trip.

Oh, good movie be underrated.

It's all good.

Um I only had one other thing which just kind of stuck out to me.

Uh One of the fans said that she had twins out of wedlock and all I could think was, well, there's a phrase I haven't heard in a long time out of wedlock.

Um And I was just wondering if there are some listeners who may not know what that is.

I mean, I mean, I'm just like, it doesn't feel like it's as big of a deal today as it was once upon a time.

It's a super, not PC word because it infers so many things.

I just, yeah, so like, I just wonder like, you know, I'm thinking about young kids today who are huge fans of the show.

Um I am, it just, it just means that, that you had or you had a baby and you weren't married.

That's it.

So, and it's just, and, and doesn't that sound pleasant?

You know, get it locked down and up, you wanna talk about some cut lines.

I got nothing really got nothing.

There may have been a couple of little tiny cuts but nothing worth talking about.

So next episode, Episode four, Getting married and eating dirt.

That's disgusting.

Not the getting married part.

The eating dirt.

I can't handle it.

It's gross.

Just tell us how you really feel.

It's gross.

So we'd love everyone to follow along with us and engage Instagram and Facebook at sweet tea and TV, email sweet tea TV pod at gmail dot com.

Our website is sweet Tea TV dot com and hang tight for Extra Sugar.

We've alluded to it a couple of times but Salina, what have we got this week?

We're gonna do a little deep dive into Graceland and the king himself.

Let's do it.

You know what that means?

What does that mean?

We'll see you around the bin.

Welcome to this week's edition of Extra Sugar.

So, Nikki, this whole episode felt like a love letter to Elvis.

Yeah.

And you know, I tried to Google whether L BT is a really big Elvis fan and I didn't find anything.

The only thing that I could come up with is that she wrote a whole episode of a show about him.

Somehow I put two and two together, just rub those two sticks together.

No, like I think he died in 77.

This premieres in 88.

So I wonder if, when she was writing this episode, if there was just a lot of stuff in the news because it would have been the 10 year anniversary since he died.

So I think maybe just a lot, you know, we all, we everybody knows who listens to this podcast and also researches for this podcast that L BT is such a person who's up on current events.

So I just imagine like, maybe this is like, uh you know, going in and then as she's like reading the news and then just coming out in her writing, but like, it definitely felt like a love letter to me.

And so in honor of that today and for extra sugar, I thought we would cover three pretty big Elvis focuses of the episode.

The first is Graceland.

The second are these nice things he did for fans.

We get vern's story about the hospital and the belt buckle and everything.

I love stories of celebrities doing nice things for their fans.

Me too.

They're really nice and it's very, it's, I don't know, it's just always so heart touching.

But um and then the third thing I want to talk about is interesting Elvis memorabilia.

So also completely coincidental, But in four days from when this airs, not from when we're recording, it's not important that we're recording in 2018.

But on June 24, Baz Loman's Elvis will debut in theaters all across America.

Um it's been nearly 34 years since this episode aired in 45 years in August of this year since he died.

But the fascination with Elvis is alive and well, his legacy lives on his story is still being told and perhaps it always will be.

So, I just wanted to note that from the top before we hop in.

Do you have any Elvis memories?

I don't have a connection to Elvis in the world aside from mom's not a fan.

Really.

Not that I know she is.

She's hidden it very well all these years.

Yeah.

No, I mean, I think just in general I come from a family of music lovers so we all appreciate music.

Elvis.

It's not that we don't love Elvis.

Like the music is fine.

We like the music.

We've heard the music.

We're just not like rabid diehard fans of much of anything.

Are your parents really?

Big Beatles fans?

No, actually, I was the biggest Beatles fan in my family for a while.

My stepdad grew up with four sisters, maybe five sisters and they loved the Beatles.

Um, so he went like a hard left the other direction and did like southern rock and like Leonard Skard.

Yeah.

And my mom, my mom doesn't really care for country music or like country adjacent.

So I think she grew up with Elvis's music and grew up hearing it, but that's not really her vibe, which is weird.

It's so weird, but like, he's rock n roll.

But I do know that he has some things and he really is, was very big into the gospel scene.

So he has a lot of that.

Right.

So, again, like, let me clarify because if mom ever makes it this far in the podcast, she may like Elvis, I just don't know that she loves him, but we've heard his music, we listened to it growing up in the mom and Nikki, you gotta tell him, tell us, you gotta tell us.

And this is my test of whether mom actually found our podcast anywhere online or I'll, we'll help her find.

Um So, uh I mentioned this one early on but like watching Elvis and me and the movie about Priscilla's autobiography that really sticks with me.

And I was just sort of it, it circles back to this idea that we're talking about early, this earlier, this fascination with like famous people.

Um But it was also, in this case, it was just the way they lived how their lives were very much so like, uh soap operatic.

Um And it was, it was, it's very similar to my fascination with the British Royal family.

I'm like, how are, how is this a thing?

How is this still a thing?

Yeah.

And uh and my, another big memory for me is going to the legendary studio B in Nashville.

So where Elvis recorded more than 200 songs.

So, I mean, it's, I'm, I like Elvis music.

I do.

Um I'm not like some sort of like crazy fan.

I will occasionally listen to his music.

Um, but it's not, it, it, I, I wouldn't call myself like anything to the level of some of the things that we see.

But I will tell you that when I was in studio b I felt it, I felt moved the way that people feel like in a church.

And I felt that before too.

And I don't know if it was just because it's not just Elvis, that's been there a lot of famous, including Dolly Parton.

I mean, just huge names, right?

And not just country music either.

So I think you could just feel like it felt like reverent.

Um And then I did a skit in high school drama class that was about two very Southern women who get in a fist fight outside of Graceland waiting to get in and I had so much fun doing that skit.

Um I tried to look for uh to see if I could find the um the back and forth like the uh I'm like words when you thank you.

Oh Good Lord.

Um I tried to find the script for it but I couldn't find it.

Um But I, I just thought I had so much fun with that, but uh so getting back to where we were, let's talk about Graceland uh as always pop in any time with questions and let me know your thoughts.

OK, Graceland was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 7th, 1991 and declared a national historic landmark on March 27th, 2006, uh which is also a first for such a site.

I think they just mean a private home.

Graceland is the most visited privately owned home in America with over 650,000 visitors a year rivaling publicly owned houses such as Bmore Estate, Hearst Castle in the White House.

I think it's only second to the White House.

It's a two story five bay colonial revival house about nine miles from the center of Memphis.

And if five Bay Colonial Revival House doesn't mean anything for you.

It certainly didn't mean anything for me.

What I will tell you is, it feels and looks like the quintessential wealthy southerners home, but it doesn't necessarily look like something that a rock and roll star would live in.

So he bought the home in 1957 for 100 and $3000 after the release of his first hit record heartbreak hotel.

He was 22 years old.

Oh my gosh.

Yeah, just a baby.

That would be about a million dollars today.

So I'm pulling up pictures.

It's beautiful.

Yeah.

So still I think even for a store today, $1 million dollars feels like you're, it feels uh conservative.

Oh, yeah.

There are, um there are athletes that have homes in Swanee that are like a million dollars I'm going higher.

Sorry, I'm like a billion dollars.

But you know what, I'm sorry, I didn't finish that.

Thought there was one athlete I read about recently who has a home in swanee.

It's his country home and it's like over $1 million dollars and he has a city home too.

So, yeah, that feels, um, for someone's main home that then becomes the landmark associated with them.

That, that's a darn good deal.

And this is not to say that he was good with money because by all accounts, he was very bad with money.

Um But here are some things that you can expect to see if you go to Graceland two out of five of his planes.

Hound dog, one and Hound Dog two.

He added a main bedroom, a sitting room, two half baths, a conference room, stereo system and lots of luxurious furniture to the first one which he also called the Lisa after his daughter.

And it was also referred to as Flying Graceland.

So another cool place in uh at Graceland is the wall of gold.

This is all of his gold records and he sold over a billion.

So it's a lot uh the jungle room simply called the den when he was alive.

This is probably the most famous space there.

It's a kitschy room with green shack carpet, plastic plants, wood paneling, Tiki inspired Decor and a waterfall running down one wall.

It also doubled as a recording studio.

Later on.

Are you looking at it right now?

It feels like it would be my favorite place on the planet.

Uh So I have a friend um who went when she was in high school.

Random.

I was like, are you an Elvis fan?

And she was like, no, I just randomly wound up there one time.

But um she said that it actually was really cool.

I can't decide from the pictures.

It's very kitschy looking if you ever needed evidence that Elvis is indeed just a man.

I feel like this room proves it.

It feels like a like something a man would put together like a Yeah, like a man cave.

And I love cheeky themed things.

I know you do.

I thought you might enjoy that.

Um I do love the idea of a waterfall running down one wall.

Yeah, that sounds really nice.

So Elvis passed away at Graceland in 1977.

His master suite is unchanged.

There is still a styrofoam cup on a shelf and the same record on the record player.

I have that record written down in case you ask, what is that?

Uh It's nothing, it's nothing that I'd ever heard of before.

It's J D Sumner and The Stamps.

This is a gospel quartet that also sang backup for Elvis at some point.

Um He and his family are buried in the meditation garden.

The upstairs was his private domain and this sort of links back to the episode, but the upstairs remains off limits to anyone other than family members to this day.<