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Published: July 29th 2016
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Natchez, Mississippi
Follow the roads of the great men of music Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee.
Driving to Mississippi from Louisiana we weren't sure which way to go, so many interesting things to do in Mississippi, and so many talented Musicians came from here. And also very historic, we decided to follow the Natchez Trace Pathway. It starts in Natchez, on the border of Louisiana and Mississippi and runs through Mississippi and Alabama and finishes in Nashville Tennessee. The Natchez Trace Parkway stretches for 440 miles, or 700 Kilometres, it is a National Park, it averages about 200 metres wide.At different places along it you can see the old Trace, a pathway which was made by Indians, then by Trackers and Traders which came from the north and would walk home from Louisiana after sailing their goods down the Mississippi. The Trace became less popular when the steamboat was invented, they then returned to the north via steamboats.In places you can see things of interest like, areas of Indian settlements and historical Battle sites. You also can get off the trace at towns with historical pasts. There are State Parks along the way so you can camp or stay in cottages, or even take your RV. While you are on the
Mississippi
Start of the Natchez Trace Parkway trace there is no commercial traffic and the speed limit is only 45 miles per hour. So you can slow down and enjoy the nature and the beauty of the road. There are ranger stations along the road, picnic areas and public toilets. They have a saying, when you start the road if you cannot respect the speed limit or have the time, then you need to find another road. We left the Trace to travel to Vicksburg. A great battle occurred in Vicksburg during the civil war. The Vicksburg Battleground is a National Park so it was a good opportunity to use our National Park pass. It was such an amazing place, with over 45 kilometres of battle roads with lots of information. It has Memorials for each state for the loss of its soldiers. Vicksburg itself is part of history, and is were the Yankees starved the people and troops of the south by besieging the town,by beating the Confederates and winning the city it helped to win the war. The Mississippi River runs through Vicksburg and we spent the day totally emerged in the history of the the place.We got back on the Trace were we left
it and traveled to Jackson where we spent the night. In the words of the great Johnny Cash "We're going to Jackson, and we're going to mess around". Back on the Trace were we spent the day admiring its peace and quiet, we continued on to Tupelo were once again we left the Trace to visit Memphis and Graceland the home of Elvis.Not particularly a fan of Elvis, I found out that you can visit the grave of Elvis for free. If you get there at 7.30 in the morning you can walk into the garden and visit his grave. You can't go into the house, just into the garden and then stand in the memorial garden.Glen and I were there a whole 20 minutes without anyone else, It was amazing, and very peaceful. We took photos and then walked out.Every day over two thousand people visit his grave and Graceland. We are glad we missed them. I must say I was so impressed at Gracelands it was a modest home but beautiful. We even crossed the road to Lonely street and found the Heartbreak Hotel. We loved Memphis city and visited the Peabody Hotel which is famous for its
ducks. The ducks live on the roof and make their way down to the foyer fountain to swim in it. A grand 6****** Hotel very hubley Jubley.We caught the city trolley and rode around town and visited famous land marks like the Gibson guitar factory. We also visited Sun City, the recording studio were all the famous musicians and singers recorded, like, Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash to name a few.Martin Luther King was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel of Mulberry street, the hotel is a fantastic Cival Rights Museum which is a must see.We had lunch at Gus's famous fried chicken, which is famous in Memphis Thanks to the trolley driver who put us on to it. We thought it was a takeaway but pleasantly surprised when we opened the door to find an old fashioned diner.In Memphis there is a large pyramid near the Mississippi river. The building houses a Sporting Goods Shop called Pro Bass, these shops are a chain store which are all over the U S A, and the one in Menphis is the largest. I have never seen a sporting shop like it, from the outboard motors to the fishing
rods. Guns, duck decoys, duck whistles, hunting gear, hiking gear, out door camping, and heaps more. So many things, the setting of this shop it like a themed swamp with Cypress trees in water with catfish and alligators. There are stuffed deers, Bears and Racoons, its unbelievable like Disneyland for "Men"We even crossed the Mississippi River here and went into Arkansas for coffee. Returning to the Trace we went to Tupelo, the birth place of Elvis and had a look at this tiny home and local church. We then traveled to Nashville and the end of the Trace, we were sad it had ended, we loved the drive, from dawn to dust we found beautiful scenery and wonderful things of interest.Nashville the Country Music Capitol, what a lovely city. We visited The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum which was truly fantastic even for someone like me who's not a country music fan. I knew more about country music than I though I loved it.We called at Johnny Cash and June Carters graves to pay our respects. We visited the American Pickers shop. We had a beer in Margaretaville and pub crawled the bars and the country music of
Broadway Ave. Nichole and Keith weren't in town but we visited the Grand Òle Opre, where the famous of country music perform. Our feet haven't touched the ground as we are trying to see as much as possible, sometime not what you'll expect us to visit and sometimes we have to choose as we are finding it so expensive, maybe not for tourist but for travellers you just can't see everything. So when you scratch your heads and wonder why we didn't see this or that, or visit there, remember, we can't do it all. We try ?
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