Natchez Trace Parkway

We have spent the last three days driving on the Natchez Trace Parkway. What an amazing road! It is beautiful, lush and a living historical document. It was first an Indian trail and then early traders used it to travel back and forth from Tennessee to Natchez. Later settlers and general travelers made use of it. Finally it was taken over by the National Park Service. They have preserved it, built trails and picnic areas and put up many informative signs. It is about 440 miles long, from Natchez to Nashville. Our three days took us from just west of Jackson to Nashville, about 350 miles. It is an easy drive with no commercial vehicles are allowed and a speed limit of around 50.

Our first day we drove from Vicksburg to Tupelo. Our first stop was at Cypress Swamp, a short trail that wound around a swamp and had a raised boardwalk for part of the trail. We didn't see any alligators or snakes, happily. It was magical, with bird calls, frogs and interesting plants of all sizes. We also drove to an overlook that is one of the highest points in the state and walked on part of the old Trace, a leaf-covered trail about 10 feet wide. By the time we got to Tupelo it was raining quite hard. We were glad to get to our hotel but then went out again for dinner - it felt almost like home!

The next day we had a short drive but there was a lot to see. First we visited Elvis Presley's home and the adjoining museum. It was quite interesting. I hadn't realized how really poor his family was. His house was tiny - 2 rooms. One room served as bedroom and living room, and the other was the kitchen and dining room. It was also fun to see all the pictures, clothes, jewelry, ticket stubs etc. in the museum.

Once we were back on the Trace, we stopped at the Visitor's Center to learn what we could and then shortly thereafter stopped again at a spot with 13 Confederate grave sites. It was continuing to rain and so further stops were cancelled and we drove right to Florence, AL, to find our hotel. On our way, we stopped at the Old Rocking Chair Cafe for lunch. What a place! I finally got to have fried pickles! I also ordered sweet potato fries and fried okra (I won't repeat the latter). It was still raining when we got to our hotel so we decided to go to the Applebees just about a block away for dinner; that worked fine since we weren't very hungry for dinner!

Today we found our way back to the Trace and stopped at Rock Spring for a hike. Since the sky had returned to being bright blue and sunny, it was a good morning for it! There was a large pond dammed up by beavers - one of which was swimming across the pond when we arrived - and on a long log sat a string of turtles! We were the only ones around and it was so peaceful! After the pond, we came to a part of the Trace that one can drive on and we took it! It was one way, narrow with trees on either side - really great! Our last stop of the day was at the burial place of Meriwether Lewis. His marker is a column with the top broken off, marking an unfinished life. After all the years that I taught the Lewis and Clark Expedition, it was meaningful to see his resting place.

When the Trace ended, we used our invaluable GPS to get us to our hotel in downtown Nashville. Tomorrow we will see the Country Music Hall of Fame in the morning and then go from there. More later.....

Photos:  Jon starting our hike at Cypress Swamp, another scene at Cypress,  the Trace as it looks today, the turtles at Rock Spring, and fried pickles!