Woke up way too early (that's what I get for going to bed early), killed some time on the web, then went down to see about my bill, picked up a luggage cart & loaded it up. When I got back down, the valet parking attendant had Subie all ready to load; she even helped load it. I pulled out at 0550, turned right on Bienville, right again on Rampart, and popped right onto I-10 west.
I-10, and later I-55 ( the Louisiana Scenic Bayous Byway ), goes over miles of water: swamp, marsh, even part of Lake Pontchartrain. It must have been one heck of an engineering job to build well over 20 miles of bridge. I stopped for breakfast at a Waffle House in Hammond, temp 81 at 0730, bought gas, & headed toward Mississippi through hilly country.
Mississippi likes music. The Lynyrd Skynyrd Monument is at exit 8; the Bo Diddley Memorial Highway sign is at exit 12. A little further up is the Robert L. Johnson Blues Memorial Highway. Hazelhurst hosts the Mississippi Music Museum.
As I pass though Jackson at 0930, I notice that the Pearl River isn't staying within its banks. TheNatchez Trace Parkway runs for a time next to Ross Barnett Lake – it's up, as well.
It seems that many locals in urban areas use the Parkway as a short cut, but that traffic fades away as I leave the area. Soon, I see other signs of the storms that filled the waterways – trees down, sometimes in bunches, the whole way to Tupelo.
I hit Kosciusko about 1100, and stopped for lunch at a Mexican place, the only one on that area. Then I stopped at a small Trace info center; a lady there said that she'd been without power for 6 days from a series of storms.
The Parkway has pullouts for nature trails or a bit of history - this is the actual Trace:
Take a close look at this sign (click on it to expand):
I got out at the pullouts for sections of the original trail and for these small mounds.
Hit Tupelo a tad after 1400, so decided to see the Tupelo National Battlefield Park, right off a major street & likely less than an acre. Here's the main attraction:
On to my hotel, a Best Western & nicely up-to-date. Crossroad Rib House was within easy walking distance; the briskets was superb – thick, juicy, didn't need sauce. I should have bought the dinner rather than the sandwich.
358.5 miles for the day, much of it at a gas-saving 52 mph on the Parkway; 1516.6 for the trip. Tomorrow it's back on the Trace for a bit, then visits to Iuka & Corinth battlefields.
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