A day trip down the Natchez Trace

This past Saturday I took a drive down the Natchez Trace Parkway. A friend suggested it would be a great drive for photo taking and was interested in the history so we jumped in the car and made our way south. The drive took us to Tupelo, Mississippi where Elvis was born! It was a long day with lots of stops between Nashville and Elvis, but was totally worth it. The drive was absolutely gorgeous and the weather was great. I'd love to make the drive again in the fall and maybe turn it into a weekend trip so I can make it all the way to Natchez, Mississippi.

The first stop was to see the double-arched bridge. The bridge is just south of the Loveless Cafe. Very cool.

Probably my favorite shot from the day. Simple, but I'm a fan of it. I'm also fairly certain that this bench has no historical significance. I doubt the early explorers placed it there!

Funny story about this here tobacco barn. We pull up at the stop and read the large posting that says it's a 10 minute loop to see the tobacco. This barn is directly in front of us (about 20 feet maybe) so we start walking down a road thinking that's where the 10-minutes come in. When we realize it led to nothing we turned around. On the walk back I remembered that the information stations (I have no clue what they are actually called) have a button that, when pressed, allow you to hear an old man talk about the tobacco. I assume that if we listened all the way through it would have taken approximately 10 minutes. Oopsies!

This is the Grinder house. Or a replication of what they think the Grinder house looked like. This is where our dear friend Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis & Clark) was shot. It was actually quite interesting as I didn't realize he was only 35 when he died. And, his death is a mystery.

See that small hill, or mound, in the background? The indians built that around 1000 A.D. Crazy, I know.

Ah, Elvis. This part of the trip didn't quite mix with the rest, but it was pretty interesting. I'm kind of amazed at the Elvis obsession.

This is the car that Elvis may or may not have been in when he moved from Tupelo to Memphis. It also may or may not be a replica of the car or it may or may not be a few years off from the actual car. Yep. Really, that's about how confusing the letter framed next to this car was. I actually only know that this car doesn't get dusted very often. And it's sea green.

So, there you have it. What you didn't see in these pictures are the 100's of turkeys along the parkway, any of the "overlooks" that were disappointingly lame, or the non-existent lunch spots along the way. If you're thinking of driving the parkway, pack a lunch. My counterpart for the trip did not heed my advice so we ate crackers and Reese's eggs until dinner in Tupelo. :)