This morning we surprised ourselves and slept in an extra hour. I guess the rhythm or the road trip is slowing wearing us old guys down. I had another "hotel" breakfast of artificial eggs (I think they came out of some part of a chicken, but I'm not sure where!), super thin bacon, fruit and something that resembles coffee.
Driving east/northeast, we followed LA route 28 then 84 toward Natchez, Mississippi. We crossed the "Big Muddy" into Mississippi and stopped at the visitor's center in Natchez. The Mississippi River was actually more impressive when we crossed at St. Louis, Missouri than here.
The Natchez visitor's center was actually much better than visitor's centers for most states we visited. Remember, I highly recommend stopping at visitor's centers as they, and the people who staff them, can provide you with a lot of valuable information that otherwise you would never know.
Our intention was to drive the Natchez Trace north to Nashville, but we could not find the start of it! The funny thing was that Vance's brand new Garmin GPS did not have the Natchez Trace entrance in Natchez anywhere in the system, so we couldn't find the entrance! Brand new! The lady at the visitor's center gave us a map and showed us how to get to the Natchez Trace. Another plus for a visitor's center!
The Natchez Trace is an historical route from Natchez to Nashville that was primarily used as a trade route from the late 18th century to the 19th century. The trace followed the trails of mainly bison that walked the ridgeline looking for salt licks. The bison were able to trample the heavy undergrowth and make a path the Native Americans later used to travel north and south. Later American and European settlers would travel down the Mississippi River to sell their wares, then head north back to their homes on the Trace. Currently, it is 444 miles long. Some of the old trace, i.e., the walking paths, are still visible.
I would characterize the Natchez Trace as similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. It is a two lane road, relatively straight and level with trees on both sides. There is no commercial development in sight. The main difference between the two is that the Blue Ridge Parkway was built in the 1930s, so there is no real history attached to it, and the Parkway is along the ridgeline of the mountains while the Trace is relatively flat.
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| Emerald Mound |
Later, we stopped to see one of the inns or, as they were called, stands, on the Trace. The inns housed travelers as they traversed north and south. The inns were originally homes but were used to house individuals.
Another sight was an original portion of the Trace, where individuals actually "walked" the route, rather than ride. This was located in sort of a depression or gully, worn down by thousands of individuals tramping upon the soft earth in this portion of the Trace. I photographed a bit of this original Trace route as it was fascinating to see how wide and deep it had gotten just from travelers.
From the top of the hill to the bottom is about 15 ft. I have a hard time imagining how so much human traffic was able to wear this route down this far. But, I am told the ground here is relatively soft and people walked over this very earth for more than a hundred years.
After an easy day driving the Trace (the speed limit is 50 mph), we stopped for the night in Tupelo, MS. Yep, the birthplace of Elvis Presley himself! In the morning, we will drive the short distance to see the house in which he was born before heading back to the Trace and on our way to Nashville.
We did take the opportunity to walk around Tupelo a bit before dinner and we found it to be a splendid city. From what we saw, the citizens take great pride in their city as we saw well kept homes and businesses, an art fair, clean streets and nice restaurants. I recommend a visit her if you are near Tupelo.
Today we drove from Louisiana to Mississippi, a total of 330 miles. We have totaled almost 5000 miles so far on this road trip,. Enjoy!
Thanks for looking.
Dennis Mook
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