“But Elvis is dead.”
- Several Pink Palace summer campers gawking at the King
“It’s a miracle.”
- Explanation by Ronda Cloud, Pink Palace public relations specialist

At the Pink Palace Museum, winner of the Most Admired Architecture award, Elvis gets camera shy.

“Back up some more, like it’s poking you in the butt,” instructs Commercial Appeal photographer Mike Maple. Elvis reluctantly edges backwards towards the horns of the life-sized Triceratops.

“This is where he doesn’t say ‘Thank you very much,” says conservator Roy Young.

“His skin is deteriorating,” notes Ronda Cloud, community relations manager. She means Rollo, the aging rubber Triceratops, but manager of collections Ron Brister is quick to point out that the Pink Palace now has two relics in the same display.

Cloud says that the museum’s modern, computerized interactive displays have “tons of stuff for kids to do, see, feel and pound.”

On cue, day campers zoom in, making a beeline for the man in the jumpsuit. They stop dead, mouths hanging open. The kids regard him for a long moment. Elvis doesn’t appear too keen on being pounded.

Then, as manager of summer camps Dory Lerner puts it, the kids “scatter like a drop of mercury hitting the ground.” After all, Elvis is not the only attraction. He’s got sequins, but how low-tech is that?

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Most Admired Architecture: Interstate 40 Most Educational Outing:Summer Drive In Most Underappreciated Attraction: Elmwood Cemetery Most Bikeable RouteAre you kidding?