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elvisdove · 5 months ago

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70s elvis was such a cutie :(((( the 2nd to last photo, ughhh 💔

• Elvis in Hawaii - March 1977 •

I feel inclined to share some fun tidbits and photos of Elvis from his last vacation to Hawaii in 1977 cause he's an absolute baby in these pictures, and I just want to squish him. 🥺❤️

Elvis lounging on the beach, March 4th, 1977 in Honolulu, HI with his fiancé Ginger Alden.

After finishing up his recent tour on February 21st, Elvis would plan a two week vacation to Hawaii for himself and Ginger, which would very quickly expand to include a group of 30 people and amount to a cost of $100,000. They would fly out from Memphis to Honolulu, HI, on the evening of March 3rd.

Alongside Ginger, her sisters Rosemary and Terry would also join the trip. As for Elvis' friends and family, Larry Geller, Dr Nick, Joe Esposito, Shirley Dieu, Billy and Jo Smith, and several others would be among the large group who accompanied him to Hawaii. They would spend the first couple of days at the Hilton Rainbow Tower (now the Hilton Hawaiian Village) before moving to a beach house on the east side of the island in Kailua while the rest stayed at the hotel.

Despite his physical health not being the greatest at this point in time, everyone agreed that Elvis seemed relaxed for the majority of the trip and Larry Geller in particular hoped that Elvis would be able to take full advantage of the new surroundings and take the opportunity to get outdoors, exercise and eat better.

"Health and nurturing are everywhere. The air is clean and aromatic, and the Hawaiian fragrance of pineapples and tropical flowers in the atmosphere has already enveloped all of us. It's so seductive."

If I Can Dream: Elvis' Own Story (by Larry Geller)

While this vacation was a much needed break for Elvis and his friends and family, it was also his first real vacation with his now fiancé Ginger Alden, whom he had proposed to about a month before on January 26th, 1977. He spent much of the trip either lounging with Ginger and her sisters, or he would stay in at their beach house relaxing and reading books during his downtime.

On one occasion at the beach with Ginger and the others in their group, she would have to cut off the sleeves to Elvis' jumpsuit as he was getting overheated in the sun and hadn't packed any short sleeve tops.

"Before long, the rest of the group arrived at the house and Elvis decided he wanted to go to the beach. It was so warm out, we found some scissors and cut off the long sleeves to the jacket of his jogging suit."

Elvis and Ginger (by Ginger Alden)

Both Ginger and Larry noted how Elvis refused to change into shorts or remove his shirt, even when he was on the beach. Ginger suspected it was because of the marks on his back that the rhinestones from his jumpsuit would leave, leaving him a bit self consious, but neither of them were entirely sure the exact reason.

The "customized" jumpsuit that Ginger helped alter for Elvis while on the beach in Kailua.

Throughout her book, Ginger recounts the good times she had with Elvis during this trip and noted how special it was to her. Not only was it a dream vacation for her, but it was also a chance for Elvis to get some much needed rest.

She recalls several instances of Elvis having fun and goofing off with her and her sisters, most of which seemed to be with Rosemary, who shared his similar sense of humor. They would cut up, making jokes about rats and cheese, and Rosemary even challenged him to show off his karate skills, which Elvis did expertly. Ginger would also convince Elvis to play ping-pong with her despite finding the whole game rather silly.

One of my favorite stories from her book is the one that explains this infamous photo of Elvis. For the longest time, I had no idea who he was laying on top of, but Ginger explains:

"Suddenly, I noticed Elvis cut his eyes over at her. Rosemary looked back at him, smiled, then turned her attention elsewhere.

A big grin spread across his face as he continued to watch her. Shortly, he stood up and, as he walked past her, he suddenly turned and pounced. Rosemary fell backward with Elvis on top of her.

Someone snapped a picture of their spontaneous tussle while we all laughed. Then Elvis stood up and helped Rosemary to her feet."

Elvis and Ginger (by Ginger Alden)

I think this story shows just how much of a big kid Elvis is at heart and how he enjoyed just goofing off and playing around with his friends. Something that Ginger found as one of his most endearing qualities.

While the trip was overall a great experience, it did have its ups and downs. Elvis and Ginger would have a pretty heated argument after his temper flared, and though they would talk through it, Ginger was becoming more apparent of his sudden mood swings and was becoming increasingly concerned with his use of sleeping pills.

The trip would come to an end on March 13th after Elvis had gotten sand in his eye while messing around outside, and Dr Nick advised that they return home to Memphis to recooperate as he feared that Elvis may have scratched his cornea.

This would be Elvis' final vacation, and while no one really felt that any significant change had been made toward improving his overall health and outlook, it was definitely a much needed break for him and a good change of scenery before he would return home for yet another tour that would kick off in Phoneix, AZ on March 23rd, 1977.

•

I love looking at photos from this trip cause Elvis really does seem relaxed and at peace. Hawaii was one of his favorite places to go, and I think this vacation was a much needed break for him. Of course, it didn't last very long and almost as soon as he returned, he was back to touring despite his very obviously declining health.

A vacation couldn't save him in the end, but I think it at least gave him a good distraction from his daily struggles at the time. ❤️

Here's some more photos that I really love! ⚡️

(Small disclaimer: Online, the photos of him in the blue jumpsuit and terry cloth hat are dated as March 4th, 1977 but after reading both Ginger and Larry's recounting of the vacation, I believe this was actually on March 7th as these photos were taken in Kailua once they moved into a private beach house. According to Ginger, when they were staying at Hilton Rainbow Tower, Elvis didn't go down to the beach as he wouldn't have much privacy from fans. This is speculation, however, so I'll keep the date as March 4th, 1977 as I can't be 100% sure.)

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