Taking the Natchez to Nashville

The Natchez Trace Parkway is a National Scenic Roadway that stretches from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN.  We had gotten on it just north of Jackson, MS stopping in Tupelo.  It is a beautiful drive that traces the route many native Americans and settlers traveled, lived, fought and died.  No commercial vehicles are allowed, and the speed limit is 50 MPH.  We decided to stay on the Trace all the way to Nashville, and it was a great drive.

Nashville is a beautiful area, with rolling hills and beautiful farms.  Of course, it is best known for its music, particularly country music.  And, when you think Country Music, you think Grand Ole Opry - so that's when we went first.  Unfortunately, my computer is not communicating with my phone or the cloud anymore, so I can't post any pics, but I will try to figure out the glitch & post later. Some interesting facts (for a non-country music person): the Grand Ole Opry started out 90 years ago as a radio program with the first live radio performance of a fiddler; the original Opry was at the Ryman building downtown; musicians are asked to be members (a very high honor) based on their accomplishments and likely future accomplishments; members are required to perform at the Opry a minimum number of times per year; in 2010 the entire Opry house was flooded with about 4 feet of water.

Our next stop was Historic Downtown Nashville - I have never seen so many cowboy boot stores!

And lots of bars!  A lot of them had live music - not just country music.

I loved the vintage signs

 

                                                          and the funny signs!

The lavender  building is the famous Tootsie's Orchid Lounge.  It was packed!

They have live performances on 3 stages & lots of famous people have played here.

 

Then there is the Ryman Theater right around the corner.  Still lots of performing going on there too.

We also got serenaded by this guy who did a wonderful cover of "What a Wonderful World"

and he could blow a pretty mean horn!

 

On a completely different note, we drove to Andrew Jackson's Hermitage.  It is one of the best preserved historical homes in the U.S. 

We walked the estate with an audio guide that told the story of Hermitage.

There were "human" guides to give us the tour inside the mansion in period costume.

No photos were allowed, but it was amazing to see because a lot of the furniture and knick knacks are original, especially when you remember the mansion was built in the 1830's!  The wall paper and window coverings are exact reproductions of what was in the home when Andrew Jackson lived there.  I was shocked by the bright colors.  It was also interesting to see some of the innovations they had - like a type of wheelchair & intercom.  The beds looked very small to me, but we were told that Andrew Jackson was 6 feet tall and could fit on the bed.  When we saw his uniforms, they looked very small - then we found out he only weighed 138 lbs.! 

After the mansion, we were free to wander the rest of the estate.  Along the way, the audio tour continued with many interesting facts about the workings of the plantation, the other people who lived there and insights into the lives of Andrew and his beloved, Rachel.  Sadly, Rachel never lived in the new mansion - she died a month before Andrew was sworn in as president.  His campaign had been particularly hard on her.  She had been married before Andrew to an abusive man & left him.  She & Andrew had begun living together before she was legally divorced.  I guess politics were as nasty then as they are now!

Andrew Jackson's tomb

The cemetery for family & special friends

Rachel's garden (it was beautiful)

This was the original house at Hermitage. When Andrew & Rachel were living in it, it was two stories.  Later, it was converted to slave quarters.

more slave's quarters

This is the spring house built over the spring below.

I couldn't believe how clear the water was.

After the estate tour, we went back to the museum and learned more about Andrew Jackson's part in our national history.  It was a very interesting way to learn (or relearn) something that seems so dry when you are learning it in school!

 

We are heading toward Memphis next - more Elvis!

 

 

 

 

One Rainy Day in Tupelo

One of the last days we were in Tupelo, it was cool & rainy so we decided to go to a museum we had seen in town.  The Tupelo Automobile Museum is quite unique!  It is a collection of 150 automobiles, most of which I had never seen before.  The oldest was an 1888 Benz - it didn't really even look like an auto, but more like a motorized 3 wheeled bicycle.

They were collected by Frank Spain, who was a pioneer in TV.  He designed & had built the antenna, transmitter, cameras and all ancillary equipment for the Tupelo TV station and started broadcasting in 1957.  Later, he became one of the partners in MCI.

Frank Spain's curator was Max Berryhill, who assisted him in locating & purchasing the autos.   He also designed and oversaw the building of the museum.

Most of the cars had little speaker boxes (on top of the red post) that you pushed a button on and it told you about the car.

All of the autos are beautifully restored.

I loved the color!

I remember hearing about "Woodys"

Some of the cars were very rare.  This is a 1948 Tucker - only 51 Tuckers were made.

My favorite - the 1957 Corvette!

This is called a Barrister Corvette & was owned by Liberace.

Back to the Future anyone?

And, of course, this being Tupelo, there had to be an Elvis connection!  This is a 1976 Lincoln that Elvis bought and presented to his friend, who was a police Captain in charge of Elvis's security when he was in Denver.  We had seen the check Elvis wrote to the dealership for $13, 386.89 at the museum.

 

Check Out Mississippi!

After all of the partying in New Orleans, we were looking forward to taking it easy for a few days.  We were heading to Hattiesburg, Mississippi where we had reservations at a country campground, and it was lovely.

                                                  Our campsite at Okatoma RV Park

                                           This was our backyard - beautiful little lake with

 

this little family of geese.  There were lots of duck, geese & even some chickens!

What I didn't realize about Mississippi is how wooded it is.  Hattiesburg is in the Pine Belt, so there are huge stands of pine trees.

This tree had to be over 50 feet tall - its trunk was huge!

It is definitely spring in the South - the wildflowers are blooming.

There was spiderwort & red clover and many flowers

I didn't know the names of in all different colors.

But, my favorite was the wisteria.  It was hanging

everywhere and smelled heavenly!

 

More pictures of the pretty campground.

 

We left Hattiesburg after a relaxing week, drove to Canton (just north of the capitol city, Jackson) for a couple of days.  The campground we were in was named "Movietown".  Wondering why, we found out that several movies had been filmed in the area.  One of them was John Grisham's "A Time To Kill".  Sorry, no pics - my computer is acting up and I can't get photos off my Iphone - arghhhh.

 

We caught the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is a National Scenic Drive that starts in Natchez, MS and ends in Nashville, TN.  What a pretty drive!  We are in Tupelo, MS now, enjoying exploring this pretty town.  It is best known as the birthplace and childhood home of Elvis Presley. 

The Lee County Courthouse

This statue of Elvis is in Fairgrounds Park, which is located on the grounds of what was the old fairgrounds where Elvis performed as a boy in a talent contest (he got 5th!), then returned after he became famous to perform for his home town.

A sign on one of the benches in the park.

Reed's Mercantile - over 100 years in Tupelo.  Had to take this picture because I worked for Reed's in Stillwater when I was in high school.

Tupelo Hardware - famous because Elvis's mother bought his first guitar here.  Story goes that Gladys took Elvis to the store to buy him a bicycle for his 8th birthday.  He wanted an air rifle, but she managed to talk him out of it with the guitar.  They still sell guitars!

On our way to the Elvis Museum. 

It is a very pretty park-like setting with historic buildings, the museum and many nice, informative outdoor areas telling about Elvis's life in Tupelo.

 

This is the house Elvis was born in.  His father built the house.  Elvis was a twin, but his brother, Jesse, was stillborn.  His parents, Gladys & Vernon, were not able to have more children.

This was the bedroom...

and this was the kitchen/dining - that was it - two rooms!

Of course, this was the bathroom.  The outhouses were often used by more than one family.

Also on the grounds is the church Elvis attended as a boy.  They had a great video presentation that showed what a service was like in his day.

The museum had a lot of memorabilia, most of it from Elvis's early years.  It was very interesting to learn more about him and the women working at the museum were great - it is obvious that Elvis is well loved in his hometown!

 

Statue of Elvis as a boy.

 

We also stopped at the Mississippi Historical Center.  It is always interesting to find more about the history of an area.  Mississippi is full of notable people, writers William Faulkner & John Grisham, leaders in music, civil rights and education.  I'm always interested in Native  American history, so found this statue of  Piomingo, a Chickasaw chief and his quote, 

"If I could once see the day when Whites and Reds were all friends, it would be like getting new eye sight."