The residents of The Neighborhood Assisted Living facility didn’t need to put on their blue suede shoes in order to walk the 213 virtual miles to visit the Graceland Museum in Memphis, Tenn., but to celebrate their achievement, the group did receive a visit from their favorite singer, or at least the next best thing.

Activities director Charolette Maddux said the residents began their virtual journey on Aug. 1, after partnering with Centerwell Home Health. Through Centerwell’s “Step On It” program, residents were able to choose a destination and determine the amount of steps needed to complete their journey. Centerwell then provided residents with pedometers and guidebooks to track their journey.

Maddux said she gave the residents a number of choices and the overwhelming majority chose to visit the birthplace of Elvis Presley. From The Neighborhood, residents would need to walk a collective 213 miles to reach Graceland, or roughly 426,000 steps. Maddux said she had scheduled out the journey with planned stops at both Muscle Shoals and Tupelo, Miss., but the residents enthusiasm caused them to complete the journey several days ahead of schedule.

“They actually got there ahead of time. When we would reach a stop, I told them since we got there early we would have to spend some time walking around and exploring the towns. We just made a big adventure out of it,” Maddux said.

On Tuesday, Aug. 29, the facility’s common area was decked out with guitars, vinyl records and pink Cadillacs to celebrate the completion of their journey. Awards were given out such as Most Improved, Spirit Award and Heart of the Community Award. One of the more notable recognitions was given to Gilman Story who contributed 62.7 miles to the journey.

The group was even treated to a performance by Elvis tribute artist Bobby Hollis, who received an enthusiastic response from resident Patsy Narrell from her front row seat.

One resident, Fay Speegle, wasn’t quite sold on Hollis’ ability to live up to The King prior to his performance. “I mean he looked like a cute guy, but he’s no Elvis.”

However, Speegle changed her tune, a little, after seeing Hollis in action.

“You can’t really beat the original. He [Hollis] is a really good guy though,” she said.