Riding the Natchez Trace Parkway- Part 2

So two weeks later we’re at it again! We return to Natchez to start the Parkway at mile-marker 0. This time the sun is shining, the skies are blue, and the oppressive fall heat we have been experiencing has been broken with 70° temperatures and breathable humidity.

Here we go!

The Parkway stretches 444 miles through three states. It was established as a unit of the National Park System in 1938, officially completed in 2005, and it commemorates the most significant highway of the Old Southwest.

Our first stop

A natural travel corridor, the Trace dates back many centuries and contributed greatly to the westward expansion of the United States in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s.

Sunken Trace

Before entering the Trace, we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant then took the road to mile-marker (MM) 41.5 where we experience the Sunken Trace, a preserved section of the original route where one can imagine what it was like to follow this path. Just viewing this relic one can imagine hardships and dangers its itinerants endured.

Rocky Springs church

Next we rode to MM 54.8, the ghost town of Rocky Springs. Established in the late 1700s as a popular watering place for travelers along the old Natchez Trace, the community of Rocky Springs reached a maximum population of 2,616 inhabitants, plus approximately 2,000 slaves, all living in a 25-square-mile area.

Bathroom break is over!

The community of Rocky Springs began to decline during the Civil War. In 1878 the remaining inhabitants of Rocky Springs faced an outbreak of yellow fever and in 1930, the last store closed, and the natural spring, from which the town took its name, dried up. We viewed a Methodist church and cemetery adjacent to Rocky Springs. We pressed on to Ridgeland, MS, and the Mississippi Craft Center featuring hand-made crafts from craftsmen from all over the state.

Ready to climb "Little Mountain"

After perusing the center’s offerings, we found a motel to spend the night, had dinner and turned in really tired from the day’s activities.

Day 2: After breakfast, we left the Jackson suburb of Ridgeland and rejoined the Parkway. The route took us along the western shore of the Ross R. Barnett Reservoir which is huge. We rode on, adhering to the parkway’s 50 mph speed limit, and passed by the tupelo-cypress swamp site, but didn’t stop because it looked a lot like home.

"Elvis, I'm here!"

Stopping at the Jeff Busby Park at MM 193.1, we climbed to the top of “Little Mountain,” Mississippi’s highest point—a whopping 603 feet, and where a clear day one can see about 20 miles. Jeff Busby was a Mississippi congressman who proposed that Congress authorize a survey of the Natchez Trace in 1934. We next stopped at a section of the Old Trace at MM 198.6. Again, it was awesome to imagine travelers using this route.

The house the "King" was born in

While Indian tribes generally didn’t recognize boundaries, the Line Creek site at MM 213.3 was the historic boundary between Chickasaw and Choctaw lands. Stopping at the Chickasaw Council House at MM 251.1, we learned that this site witnessed the signing of several treaties between the federal government and the Chickasaw Nation.

Jane with young Elvis

At MM 259.7 we exited the Parkway and rode into beautiful Tupelo, MS. It was lunchtime so we found a local restaurant and had some of the best chicken gumbo and roast beef sandwiches we’ve ever tasted. One doesn’t come to Tupelo and not visit the tiny, two-room home that was the birthplace of “The King,” Elvis Presley. Around the home is the "Walk of Life” which highlights events in the Presley family’s life. We walked the grounds and took our photos and then headed back to the Parkway. At MM 266.0, we stopped at the Parkway’s Visitor’s Center and Headquarters. Here, we viewed exhibits detailing the groups of people who utilized the pathway. We spotted the Pharr Mounds at MM 286.7, a collection of eight mounds that were built 1,800-2,000 years ago. We finished this section of the Trace at the Colbert Ferry, MM 327.3, where George Colbert operated a ferry across the Tennessee River from 1800 to 1819. His stand, or inn, offered travelers a warm meal and shelter during their journey on the Old Trace. Colbert looked after his own well being and once charged Andrew Jackson $75,000 to ferry his Tennessee Army across the river.

Colbert's Ferry on Tennessee River

It was a remarkable stop for us as we saw several bridges across the Tennessee River that we boated under when we did the Great Loop! We took the parkway bridge across the river and veered off on a road we thought would take us to Sheffield, AL, but somehow we ended up in Florence, AL—a place where we spent many days at the marina while we were on the Great Loop. It was good to revisit our past.

The next morning we headed back to the Parkway and proceeded to another Sunken Trace site at MM 350.5 and then moved on to Dogwood Mudhole at MM 367.3. At this site on the Old Trace was a mudhole that was impassable to wagons after heavy rain. Wagon travelers would have to wait until the section dried and hope that more rain wouldn’t further delay them.

Lewis's grave site and monument

At MM 375.8 we experienced one of the major highlights of the trip, Old Trace Drive. Here we got to drive on a one-way, 2.5-mile section of the Old Trace and get a feel of what it was like to travel the trace. We hit another major highlight of at Trace at MM 385.9, the Meriwether Lewis Gravesite and Monument. Lewis led a very interesting, but shortened, life.

Lewis Museum

He was an explorer, soldier, politician, and public administrator, and best known for his role as the leader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition which explored the newly acquired Louisiana Territory. While traveling the Trace, Lewis came to Grinder’s Stand to spend the night on October 10, 1809. In the predawn hours of October 11, gunshots were heard and Lewis later died of gunshot wounds to the head and gut. Multiple accounts, and probable embellishment by the newspapers, added to the mysterious circumstances surrounding Lewis’s death.

At Jackson Falls

After viewing the exhibits detailing his death, we concluded that Lewis’s death was a suicide. Outside the museum a volunteer described the wealth of discovery that the Lewis and Clark Expedition produced for this country and the impact it had on settling the west. Back on the Parkway, we somehow missed the Tobacco Farm at MM 401.4, bud we did find Jackson Falls at MM 404.7. The falls were small and not very impressive, but we figured it did serve as a watering hole for the travelers.

The Gordon House

The historic Gordon House at MM 407.7 is the only remaining, intact structure on the Old Trace. In the early 1800’s, this site was a trading post, inn, and ferry for the travelers. The Gordon family home was built in 1818. We exited the Parkway around MM 415 and set a course that would take us home. We spent the night in Livingston, AL, and left the next morning to finish our trip home. It was a great trip and an interesting experience and something we highly recommend.

We Take a Stab at Riding the Natchez Trace

So Capt. Larry was reading James Michener’s book Texas, in which Michener describes how Texas was populated in the 1700-1800’s by so many people from Kentucky and Tennessee.

Longwood

Some came by riverboat to New Orleans, then by ship or over land to Texas, but most came following the Natchez Trace from Nashville, TN, to Natchez. MS. We had ridden a small section of this route with our motorcycle group, and its beauty and Michener’s rich description of the byway convinced us to do its entire length. A leisurely fall ride on our trike would be enjoyable. It’s the time of year when fall colors present in the southern portions of the country, and an extended ride was something we hadn’t done on our motorcycle since our 7-week, 12,400-mile ride to the four corners of the U.S. back in 2008. Plus, the Natchez Trace is a National Parks Service Unit so we can get another stamp!

Longwood Carriage Yard

We picked a date in late September to start our journey. Wanting to spend some time in historic Natchez, which is only a 2.5 hour ride from our Louisiana home, we decided to travel and spend a day sightseeing, stay overnight, then sightsee the next morning before heading on up the Trace. Jane has a penchant for wanting to stay at historic properties, so we made reservations at the Monmouth Historic Inn—a Natchez landmark since 1818. When our start date arrived, we arose to find it raining. No, not just raining, but bucketing down and the forecast didn’t indicate much change all day. It was obvious we wouldn’t be out on our trike today. However, the inn’s cancellation policy gave us a refund only if we cancelled three days prior to our reservation.

Monmouth Historic Inn

With the room being fairly expensive and nothing much we could do with the day, we made a snap decision to drive to Natchez, see what we could see (the hop-on, hop-off bus would be out of the question), spend the night, and return home the next day. And that’s what we did.

Arriving in Natchez in a driving rain, we chose to start our adventure with lunch at a restaurant in the Natchez Under-the-Hill district. Natchez Under-the-Hill is the section of the city at the bottom of the Mississippi River banks and is historically associated with the seedier aspects of wharfs, cargo, and boat hands associated with river boat traffic.

Reading area

Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill represented the more refined elements of Natchez’s society and was where plantation owners in the area built their homes. After a great lunch at the Magnolia Grill, we swam to the car and drove up the steep banks to Natchez On-Top-of-the-Hill. Jane wanted to tour a plantation home. We chose the unfinished Longwood home, reportedly Natchez’s most popular. This historic octagonal antebellum mansion was the creation of Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan for plantation owner Dr. Haller Nutt. Started in 1859, work was halted in 1861 at the start of the Civil War. Only 9 basement rooms of the planned 32 total were finished.

Our bed

While the family temporarily moved into the finished rooms, Nutt’s death in 1864 resulted in the remaining rooms never being finished. The home is one of the last examples of southern opulence before the war reversed the cotton grower’s fortunes. It was an interesting tour and the construction techniques were really amazing. With the rain still not abating, we drove around the city to sightsee. We saw the Holy Family Catholic Church which was locked, and St. Mary Basilica which was also locked.

Modern Breakfast Hall

We spotted the Dunleith Inn and stopped at the Melrose plantation home, a National Parks Service Unit. Obtaining a stamp at the visitor’s center, we talked with the ranger in the gift shop. The next guided tour was an hour away, so we decided to drive on to our accommodations at Monmouth Inn and check in. With the rain preventing us from touring the grounds, we relaxed until happy hour, and then had an excellent dinner at the inn’s restaurant.

The grounds

Overnight the rain finally stopped, and after a southern-style breakfast we were able to tour the grounds and get some photos, before heading home via the Mississippi River Road route. It was a fun but challenging excursion.

In the patip