This summer I had the opportunity to engage in an activity which is an absolutely, positively indispensible part of the college experience. No, I’m not talking about Spring Break. I’m not talking about having gobs of people over to my place for wild parties where everyone gets wasted and the cops get called.
I’m talking about the road trip.
It has been a while since I’ve gone anywhere outside of the southeastern U. S. And this summer I wanted to do something that at least had some resemblance to a road trip. So on my most recent visit to Louisiana I traveled the full length of the Natchez Trace Parkway on my way home.
The Natchez Trace Parkway is a two-lane road, about 450 miles in length, which begins in Natchez, Mississippi, and ends just outside of Nashville. It follows the path of an old wilderness road called the Natchez Trace. This trail originally connected Native American settlements throughout the region, and it was of vital political, economic, agricultural, and cultural importance in the southeastern U. S. during the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Natchez Trace Parkway begins at Liberty Road, just a couple of blocks east of Highway 61 and only a mile or two outside of downtown Natchez. This segment of the Parkway opened in 2005, along with another segment bypassing Jackson, Mississippi. Prior to the opening of this segment, the beginning of the Parkway was about ten miles northeast of Natchez on Hwy 61.
Jackson, Mississippi. Here we are well within spitting distance of the largest city in the entire state of Mississippi, but this house is the only sign of civilization that you will see from the Parkway. This is where the Parkway passes through Madison, which is the Alpharetta of Jackson.
This is the Ross Barnett Reservoir, which is the Lake Lanier of Mississippi.
French Camp is a historical village about 90 miles northeast of Jackson. Here you can stop and walk through a 19th century farmhouse and the surrounding buildings. There is even a cafe and a bed-and-breakfast here.
This is where the Parkway passes through Tupelo. Up to this point the Parkway has been a fairly straight, level road through flat to rolling country. But at Tupelo the character of the road and terrain begins to change, becoming a good bit more winding and hilly, though at this point there are still a lot of places where it is straight and level.
Indian mounds are a frequent sight along the Parkway. This is not surprising, as the old Natchez Trace played such a prominent role in the lives of the Native Americans who used to live in this region. These are the Bynum Mounds, about 30 miles south of Tupelo.
More Indian mounds. These are located right at the Alabama state line.
…and here is where the Parkway enters Alabama.
The Freedom Hills, a region of mountainlike hills in northwest Alabama.
If I give you any more than this today it will be overkill, so this is just as good a place as any to break it off for the day.
