Our Trip Continues....Natchez Trace Parkway

We left Nashville this morning and headed toward Jackson, Mississippi.  We are traveling the Natchez Trace taking our time to make the stops we think look interesting.  From what we saw today, we enjoyed the beauty of the Blue Ridge Parkway (we took it last June) better, but today was so pretty, weatherwise, that the trip on Natchez has been good.  We only made it to Tupelo, Mississippi, tonight and stayed in a very comfortable motel, The Jameson.  Clean, nice room decorations, and they honored a motel magazine rate....which was cheap!  It boasts a "homemade" Belgium waffle on it's continental breakfast, so we'll see.  The pool looked nice although we didn't go very near it.  All in all, we sure would stay here again.
Here are a few pics from our day:

We got on the Pkway at mile marker 442 out of Nashville.

The Gordon House, first brick house built in 1817-18. The owner was the ferry operator. However, while he worked or was away, his wife saw to the building of the house.  Other than the front porch that was missing, it appears to be standing as it was built.  Clyde found that hard to believe, but that's the way I understood the marker.  The fence around it was newly replaced.

This was Jackson Falls a short hike (900 ft.) took us there.  It was nice to see but this picture doesn't show it well.  We met a nice couple that had walked up on the top of the little waterfall, and she had slipped on the rocks.  She was soaked and her nice, big camera was a little wet.  She took off the lens and there was mud.  She hurt her knee pretty good and struggled a little to get back. 

This is actually another waterfall that we couldn't hike to but walked along the top looking over at it.  Way up in the picture, and over to the left a bit, you see a little red which is the car.

There are no restaurants along the Trace you have to get off to find one, which is easy to do.  However, I like taking food with us and stop along the route at a picnic area.  We just ate a hearty snack here this trip and ate our meals at local stops.  Cheese cubes, good crackers, apples, bananas and a few other things make up our snacktime. 



This was a 20 min. hike to a natural spring, but after crossing over this little rock bridge, we went a ways and decided to turn back.  Clyde loved this walk over the water.  He thought it was so neat.

Tennessee River, wider than we thought.

Well, this is the last pic for today.  As we were leaving the river, we came across this is the road.  Today we saw mostly wild turkey.  Maybe two deer so far, two snakes, but many turkey.

The neatest place I enjoyed today, was when we got off to go to a little town (Collinwood, I believe) to pick up a Natchez map at the welcome center.  It was a wooden building, with a big front porch, and inside quilts hanging on the ceiling, cookies in a tuperware container he offered us and coffee (which we don't drink, but yes on the cookies:)  Just a VERY neat place.  Restrooms clean:)  YEAH!  Next door, Hazelbeas Sweet Treats (again, I wrote it down but not sure of name).  I bought two handpainted (by the owner of the shop) wine glasses.  I sampled her chocolate but just enjoyed the store.  We met a group of boyscouts from Danville, Ky.  They were bicycling the parkway and were waiting there for one boy to get back from the hospital.  He had an alergic reaction to the cookie he ate at the welcome center....yes, I had already eaten mine.  It had walnuts in it.  The owner of the sweet shop gave the boys a large plate full of homemade treats. 



All in all this was a great day.  I can't say the route was amazing or full of surprises.  The stops were far between each other and the scenery was green trees.  Tomorrow we will go on past Jackson, which we didn't make today, and into a town that I forget the name at the moment...and Clyde is asleep.  Where I should be.  Goodnight!