Tupelo and the Trace

We stayed 3 nights in Tupelo at the Tombigbee State Park and drove both north and south along the Natchez Trace from there.  We also spent some time at the local CVS Pharmacy trying to get Tom’s Meds straightened out.  This was the first time we have ordered the prescriptions from CVS.  I can tell you it is a PAIN dealing with drugs, doctors and pharmacies.  We have had 3 – count them – 3 insurance companies in less than 1 year to cover our medications, PrimeMail, Medco, and now CVS. I sure hope we are done with switching companies. DO YOU HEAR ME CAL-PERS!

Other than that frustration, we really did have a good time in Tupelo.  We ate out twice, Outback and then Mt. Fuji, one of the best Sushi restaurants we have eaten in.  My Tempura Shrimp, Cream Cheese, Avocado Sushi was not only delicious, but a work of art.  All the chefs are from New York and really know their business. Our waiter, Don, made our experience perfect.  I know, why Sushi in Tupelo? We Sushi Lovers say, “Why not?”

 

We went to the Visitor Center for the Natchez Trace and saw a movie on the history of this path that had been used by wildlife, Indians, Traders, and then Boatmen.  I bought a book on the Underground Railroad put out by the US National Parks.  Since reading the books, Redfield Farms and Harriet Tubman, both on our Kindle, I wanted to learn more about the Railroad and our Quaker History.  We left as they were closing and the Ranger was lowering the flag. 

There was still lots of daylight left and our friendly Ranger had suggested driving a little north on the Trace to see the graves of the Unknown Confederates.  This was a short five minute walk on the Trace and well worth the stop.  We started on pavement, but it soon was just dirt like the original Trace. 

One of the things we had noticed, is the large numbers of fallen trees that remain to decay. We are reminded of the movie, “Life in a Log”, that I used to show many years ago in my former life as Humane Education Director.

We found the 13 graves of the Unknown Confederate Soldiers.  It is a mystery who they were or when they died; Shiloh’s wounded in 1862, or perhaps they served under General Nathan Forest in 1864, maybe they were guarding the Tupelo Headquarters of the Army of Tennessee near the end of the War.

Their markers face the Natchez Trace so all that pass by will read and remember.

We drove back to the park just about sunset.  There is a beautiful big lake in Tombigbee Park and we drove over the dam to enter the park, Tom noticed the sun just about to go down.

We pulled into a driveway just beyond the dock you see in the picture above at the right.

Tom always says, “I love our camera”.

There is a 18-hole Frisbee (or disc) golf course at the park and they sell some amazing discs. They are rated just like golf clubs and they use different ones for different distances.  The course even has Par ratings~!

These are some the the beautiful discs.

Our last day in Tupelo we drove north to the Brices Crossroads National Battlefield Site.  It was another one of the major battles in Mississippi.  We were surprised as we drove over 5 miles that the lines of the Confederates stretched opposite the 5 miles of lines of Union soldiers fought back and forth sometimes in hand to hand combat.  In the end the Confederates prevailed losing only 495 to the Union’s losses of 2,610, but in the final end… they lost the War.  We study history so we won’t repeat the same mistakes.  Right?

As we were getting DA PAD ready to leave Tupelo the next morning, Tom called me to see a strange event occurring in front of the Jeep.  There was a beautiful red Cardinal jumping from the edge of the passenger side of the Jeep, looking in the right rearview mirror, fluttering its wings, then flying to the mirror on DA PAD, fluttering its wings, then on to the driver’s rearview mirror of the Jeep and again fluttering its wings.  It did this dance routine 6 or 7 times.  I tried to get a picture through the sun screen on the front window, but it just didn’t show this narcissistic bird very well. Tom pulled back the shade and I sort of got this picture, but then he got embarrassed and flew away.  Tina the Turtle, watching from the dash, was awestruck by the entire display.

So we also left our $14/night, full hook-up site and flew off down the road again.