Sunday, Oct 30
If you looked at yesterday’s map you may have wondered why I headed back west to Jackson, MS after completing the perimeter. The answer is that I enjoyed driving the Blue Ridge Parkway so much that I decided to check out the Natchez Chase Parkway.
This closely follows the path of a traditional trail that was used by Native Americans for centuries before Europeans arrived. The parkway is managed by the National Park Service and is a joy to drive for many reasons: no commercial vehicles, little traffic, no lights or stop signs and plenty of interesting roadside stops. In addition, today’s weather was perfect with sunshine, a slight breeze and temperatures in the 70s. If you are on a road there cannot be many that are more pleasant to drive than this one.
Unlike the Blue Ridge the Natchez Trace Parkway is not elevated above its surroundings so there are few views but the trees are beginning to turn color and there are plenty of nature trails and historical points of interest along the way. Today I drove from Jackson to Tupelo, MS but the Parkway runs from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN and is 444 miles long. I joined it at mile 98 so I will be driving about 350 miles over two days. You can follow all this and see the serenity of the region on the map/video page here.
Once in Tupelo I visited the Elvis Presley Birthplace which is a much calmer experience than visiting Graceland in Memphis. There is a museum, the house where Elvis was born, the church where he first sung publicly, and a few other features such a fountains and markers that commemorate his life in Tupelo before he moved to Memphis.
The sights on the parkway are very varied. There are scenic spots, such as the Pearl River
Nature walks in various environments, such as this Cypress swamp
where I found this feller who was at least four feet long
and historical places, such as these native American burial mounds.
This is the house where Elvis was born. It was surprisingly accessible and you could simply walk up and swing on the porch.
There was a group of classic car owners at the birthplace and here are the first three as they were lining up to leave the car park.