Memphis to Tupelo, MS

Oct 21^st

A beautiful but chilly morning greeted us when we awoke at 7:30 AM. Normal routine – walk dogs, feed dogs, have breakfast, clean up, put things away, pull in slides, pull up jacks, disconnect water and power. With that done, we topped off the hydraulic reservoir with ATF fluid, moved the coach out, connected the tow dolly, pulled out of our site and connected the car to the tow dolly. Then we pulled out of the Graceland RV Park and headed for the freeway.

Welcome to Mississippi

It’s a short drive today and we were under way by 10:00 AM. Leaving Elvis Presley Blvd we merged onto I-55 N, then immediately onto I-240 E for 4 miles then we cut over to I-78 S crossing into Mississippi about 5 miles later where we connected with I-22 S. Staying on I-22 for the next 85 miles we exited to the Natchez Trace Parkway (by accident) just north of Tupelo, MS – we were supposed to get off one exit further on.

But, as so often happens, in looking for a place to turn around we came to the Natchez Trace National Park Visitor Center. Now that may not sound fortuitous, but instead of turning around and backtracking to the freeway, we parked and went in figuring to get information about the Natchez Trace Parkway and other points of interest. In talking to the ranger we got all that and more. When she found out where we were staying, she told us to take the access road at the end of the parking lot, turn right on Gloster Rd and turn left into the Campground at Barnes Crossing – we were less than a mile from our destination. Sweet!

On the pad at Campground at Barnes Crossing

Getting back to the rig we followed the rangers directions and got a two night camp site in a very nice RV Park. Once we got set up and the kids walked and watered, we took the car off the tow dolly and headed into town to the Tupelo Automobile Museum (http://www.tupeloautomuseum.com/index.php).

What an incredible collection of cars! The 120,000 sq ft Museum was a 28 year process. It began when founder Frank Spain acquired his first antique car in 1974. Spain and his good friend, museum curator, Max Berryhill, spent the next many years researching, finding and acquiring the 150 rare automobiles in the collection. Cars were gathered from all over North America and Europe.

Initially cars were stored at various locations throughout the United States. Spain and Berryhill desired to develop a museum so the public could enjoy and learn from the collection. Spain’s hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi rallied support for the museum and it opened in 2002. Today over 100 antique, classic and collectible automobiles, chronologically displayed, illustrate the progress of over 100 years of automobile design and engineering.

Tina and the 1886 Benz

The very first car in the collection was an 1886 Benz, representing the birth of the automobile. In front of each car is a speaker which details the history of that car. After that we strolled past a rare Tucker, a Lincoln previously owned by Elvis Presley, other movie and celebrity vehicles, Hispano Suizas, a Duesenberg all the way up to a never driven Dodge Viper. It was really incredible to see all these cars so lovingly restored and on public display. What a treat! Check out more cars at our photo site.

Leaving the Museum we drove down Main Street through the heart of Tupelo, birthplace of Elvis. It really is a very nice town and looks like it is weathering the current economic downturn better than most small cities. Continuing west on Main we stopped at the Tupelo National Battlefield.

Tupelo National Battlefield Memorial

This one-acre site commemorates the last major Civil War battle in Mississippi. The engagement at Tupelo, July 14-15, 1864, was part of the effort on the part of Union forces to keep General Nathan Bedford Forrest in northeast Mississippi and away from General William T. Sherman's supply line running from Nashville to Chattanooga.

The Battle to Protect General Sherman's Forces

Federal forces under General A.J. Smith occupied the town of Harrisburg, present day Tupelo. Forrest and his commander General Steven D. Lee, realizing that Smith could take control of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, moved troops to Harrisburg for a two-day battle that would ultimately end in a draw. The Union objective had been achieved, and Sherman's supply line in eastern Tennessee remained open, allowing Sherman to continue his march to the sea.

From there we continued west and eventually got on the Natchez Trace Parkway heading north. We made our first stop at a Chickasaw Village Site point of interest. The Chickasaw Nation had a population of about 2000 and lived in the Chickasaw Old Fields, a small natural prairie near Tupelo, Mississippi. Although their villages occupied an area of less than 20 square miles, the Chickasaw claimed and hunted over a vast region in northern Mississippi, Alabama, western Tennessee and Kentucky.

Chickasaw Indian Village

This site identifies where a small village of several houses and a fort once stood. During the summer the Chickasaw lived in rectangular, well-ventilated houses. In the winter they lived in round houses with plaster walls. In times of danger, everybody - warriors, women, children - sought shelter in strongly fortified stockades. A large group of school children were there ahead of us but they headed off for a hike to the Old Town Overlook, about two miles away.

We got back in the car and made one more stop at the Old Town Overlook. This site actually is not an overlook for a town. Rather, it is a learning site. In the early 1800s ordinary Americans could not be bothered with learning the names of Chickasaw villages on the Natchez Trace. One they called Old Town and passed the name on to the stream running through this valley. The stream is one of the sources of the Tombigbee River first called "River of the Chickasaw" and later the "Tombeckbee" by the French. So it is really an overlook for Old Town Creek.

We got back in the car and returned to our campsite around 4:00 PM to settle in for the night and to plan our travels for tomorrow. We may even go kayaking on Bay Springs Lake.

Miles traveled today, 103. Total for the trip so far, 3,482 miles.

To see all our photos, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mjdolanski