Hattiesburg, Mississippi: Elvis is Alive! Museum (Closed)

The Elvis is Alive Museum continues to shrink. Bill Beeny, the man keeping Elvis alive, is turning half the museum into a real estate office (Beeny's primary occupation.). No longer is there a restaurant, a re-creation of Elvis and Priscilla's wedding, Elvis' pink Cadillac, a place to sit and mourn The King's passing, or weekly Elvis impersonator gatherings.

What remains are two walls covered with tabloid clippings; a tiny television playing Elvis videos; "Elvis" in his casket (sans Elvis mask but looking eerily like Michael Jackson); Elvis' grave exactly as it appears at Graceland, were Elvis' grave to exist inside some crazed fan's cramped house; a white Cadillac draped with red Christmas garland and fitted with a cardboard Elvis in the driver's seat; an entire room of thrift store cast-offs; and a gift store consisting mainly of Beeny's own books (about Elvis) and self-recorded right-wing religious tapes. (I wish I had written down the titles: they were truly amazing. One was "Every Great Man was a Christian.") Fundamentalist Christian tract literature is sprinkled about the premises.

Beeny will gladly tell you how much he spent for Elvis' DNA ($2,400) and from whom he got it (a doctor who worked next to another doctor who was going to trash Elvis' biopsy sample); the location of the real Lisa Marie (Sweden. She gets $500,000/yr from Graceland, laundered first through Japan); and much more. He'll even pose for pictures with you and a life-sized cutout Elvis!

Mildly disappointing, but a good chat with Bill makes the trip worthwhile.

I abide by the other's comments and recommend a visit, but do not eat here. The smell should warn you enough but a visitor in another comment called the burgers "decent." No, no, no.

Having gone to school at UMC, I made the trip between St. Louis and Columbia often, and had wondered what this "Elvis is Alive" business is all about. I was not to be disappointed. Though the establishment is now the Elvis is Alive Museum and Wholesale Grocer, one must not discount the convenience of being able to not only uncover truths behind the King's death, but also purchase five-gallon cans of ketchup. That said, there is in fact justification given for the proprietor's theories, not the least of which is the lack of claim made on Elvis' life insurance policies. Further, the mannequin in the coffin does not wear an Elvis mask -- to the contrary, it looks nothing like Elvis, further emphasizing the point of the label that accompanies, stating "This doesn't look like Elvis, and neither did the body in Elvis'coffin."

I visited the place in early May, 1996, and I have to tell you that I found it to be an EXEMPLARY Roadside America attraction -- one that includes:
1. A pink Cadillac supposedly owned by The King
2. A recreation of his and Priscilla's wedding chapel
3. The museum's kinda-sorta-centerpiece attraction: a recreation of Elvis' funeral, including a coffin containing a mannequin (wearing an Elvis mask). There were several folding chairs around the casket, so that viewers could sit and enjoy pretending they're at a wake.

The point of the place's existence involved Elvis-related conspiracies; mainly, of course, that the guy had some reason to fake his own death, but also bits such as the idea that the girl who married & divorced Michael Jackson some years back WASN'T Lisa Marie, but a lookalike. Can't recount a single bit of the JUSTIFICATIONS the establishment gives for these supposed cover-ups, because, frankly, I don't give a $#!+ about them...

The joint's also a short-order grill that served decent hamburgers.

The Elvis Is Alive Museum is in a pretty bad state of disrepair, but Bill Beeny still keeps plugging away at it. His latest venture seems to be hawking a book by a woman from The Netherlands who claims to be the REAL Lisa Marie Presley. Apparently, the one who brought so much shame to the family name by marrying Michael Jackson was nothing but an impostor. The real Lisa Marie's book was going to be published to the masses, but the publisher mysteriously backed out at the last minute. Now the only place to pick up a copy is in the E.I.A. gift shop.