I drove the Natchez Trace Parkway. The road is wide and very pleasant to drive.

And every several miles a place to pull over and admire something. Many of these pull-outs are waterfalls.

Finally my favorite waterfall photo:

Another pull-out (and campground) was the cabin where Lewis of Lewis and Clark died, along with a memorial.

I stopped for lunch in a nearby small town. The storekeeper was a portly middle-aged woman with a strong Southern drawl, who strolled slowly about behind the counter like she was a real estate agent appraising a home. Such words as "rush" and "schedule" probably don't figure into her typical vocabulary.

Before me two young men ordered sandwiches. "Do you miss high school already?" she asked. "Yep, we're working now," one chuckled in response.

An old man wandered into the shop and asked her, "Hey, you need any help back there?"

"Nope, I already fed the whole sheriff's department earlier today, so it should stay slow."

Heh. The whole sheriff's department.

I got a sandwich, chips, and she convinced me to get blueberry waffle ice cream as well. Then I got back on the road.

I stopped in Tupalo, Mississippi, originally just for gas and food. But I saw a sign, "Birthplace of Elvis, next right." I love Elvis. My day just got longer.

A white-haired, well-dressed gentleman sitting on a bench stopped me at the entrance. He asked me where I was from and much more, and eventually revealed that he had written the brochure that guided one around the grounds. He encouraged me to get one. As we talked (really, he talked and I listened), someone walked by and said "Hey, how's it going today Jim." I think he lives on that bench.

With my feet pointed solidly away and gradually putting one foot in front of the other, I finally extricated myself after maybe ten minutes. I went into the museum to get his printed guide, and as I left the building again to go to the outdoor section, I saw that he had accosted a couple of old ladies with British accents.

I saw Elvis's childhood church and school along with nice fountains and statues.

I hopped back on the Natchez Trace Parkway. A couple hundred miles later, I stopped at a swamp filled with cyprus trees. I really liked the sign at the entrance.

And of course the place itself.

Then I slept at a Love's.

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