Herbi
01.03.2008, 09:55
Next time you cruise Alki or stroll along the waterfront, you can see where Elvis slept one spring night many years ago. No, it isn't the Heartbreak Hotel, but legend has it that the King spent one night at a house on West Seattle's Beach Drive.
At 4225 Beach Drive SW, stands the Chambliss House -- a bright blue home on the Puget Sound with a plaque above the doorway that states "Elvis Presley Slept Here, May 18, 1962."
The plaque speaks the truth, according to Alan Chambliss, building owner and 30-year resident. He wasn't around to witness Elvis, but tells the story like it happened yesterday. About 15 years ago, Chambliss noticed a man and woman filming his house. Wondering what the fuss was about, he asked them what they were doing.
Their father, dying of cancer lived in the upstairs apartment years before and loved it so much the family wanted to document it as part of a remembrance video. While making their keepsake, the family mentioned that the dying man was Elvis Presley's army buddy and the King once spent the night in the upstairs apartment. As proof of their story, they showed Chambliss pictures of their father with the music legend.
Elvis and his chum kept in touch throughout the years. In 1962, Elvis came to Seattle to film "It Happened at the World's Fair" and the friend picked him up from Sea-Tac and drove him to the house on Beach Drive. "He didn’t expect to stay the night at first," Chambliss says. Perhaps the Rock-and-Roll Legend was a sucker for water views.
Chambliss let the dying man's family film the upstairs apartment. About three weeks later he received the plaque, now mounted above the doorway, along with a thank you note for being so welcoming.
Tenant Bob Castonguay now rents the upstairs apartment that Elvis slept in long ago. It is a modest room with a sizable deck and glittering views of the Sound. "People always laugh when I tell them I rent the Elvis room," Castonguay says. "I'm more of a Beatles fan, but I like Elvis," he adds.
Sunlight streams through the apartment's windows, but the air hangs heavy with the sense that something important happened there. As Castonguay puts it, "Elvis is long gone, but his spirit lives on."
Photo's: Elvis Presley Slept Here, May 18, 1962:
http://www.westseattleherald.com/articles/2008/02/21/features/features/feature02.txt
Source: www.westseattleherald.com / www.epgold.com
At 4225 Beach Drive SW, stands the Chambliss House -- a bright blue home on the Puget Sound with a plaque above the doorway that states "Elvis Presley Slept Here, May 18, 1962."
The plaque speaks the truth, according to Alan Chambliss, building owner and 30-year resident. He wasn't around to witness Elvis, but tells the story like it happened yesterday. About 15 years ago, Chambliss noticed a man and woman filming his house. Wondering what the fuss was about, he asked them what they were doing.
Their father, dying of cancer lived in the upstairs apartment years before and loved it so much the family wanted to document it as part of a remembrance video. While making their keepsake, the family mentioned that the dying man was Elvis Presley's army buddy and the King once spent the night in the upstairs apartment. As proof of their story, they showed Chambliss pictures of their father with the music legend.
Elvis and his chum kept in touch throughout the years. In 1962, Elvis came to Seattle to film "It Happened at the World's Fair" and the friend picked him up from Sea-Tac and drove him to the house on Beach Drive. "He didn’t expect to stay the night at first," Chambliss says. Perhaps the Rock-and-Roll Legend was a sucker for water views.
Chambliss let the dying man's family film the upstairs apartment. About three weeks later he received the plaque, now mounted above the doorway, along with a thank you note for being so welcoming.
Tenant Bob Castonguay now rents the upstairs apartment that Elvis slept in long ago. It is a modest room with a sizable deck and glittering views of the Sound. "People always laugh when I tell them I rent the Elvis room," Castonguay says. "I'm more of a Beatles fan, but I like Elvis," he adds.
Sunlight streams through the apartment's windows, but the air hangs heavy with the sense that something important happened there. As Castonguay puts it, "Elvis is long gone, but his spirit lives on."
Photo's: Elvis Presley Slept Here, May 18, 1962:
http://www.westseattleherald.com/articles/2008/02/21/features/features/feature02.txt
Source: www.westseattleherald.com / www.epgold.com