“Sean I’d say the best one came from Tupelo, Mississippi…” The Proclaimers
After leaving Columbus-Belmont State Park in Kentucky, Betty & I had a pleasant drive through western Tennessee, and have spent the last few days in the State of Mississippi. Interstates and back roads have all been in good shape, and we are most happy that our old coach has provided a smooth ride with no mechanical issues. Yeah!. The weather has been great, without a hint of rain (or snow!) along the way. As the Proclaimers earlier highlighted – We are truly on our way from misery to happiness today!
Keeping with songs from The Proclaimers“Sunshine on Leith” album, Betty & I had to check if the best one really did come from Tupelo, Mississippi. We found a pleasant campsite (#17) in nearby Tombigbee State Park and set out for Elvis Presley’s birthplace. Here’s a little of what we found:
This small State Park is a short drive from Tupelo, MississippiOur full-service site (#17) provided a restful night.The main purpose of our visit was to check out the birthplace of “The King of Rock & Roll”.This humble two-room home actually looks a lot better than it did when Elvis lived there.Here is a pic of the young Elvis, with the rundown shack in the background.Betty couldn’t resist giving the young crooner a pec.We drove past the downtown Tupelo hardware store where Elvis got his first guitar. He wanted a gun, but his mother thought it would be too dangerous.While driving around downtown Tupelo, we were stopped at a red light when a train whistle started to blow. Lights flashed but no security arms dropped to block traffic. I wish I had gotten a pic of the locomotives crossing diagonally over the busy intersection, but we were too shocked at the time! While waiting for the train to pass, I did get this pic of a “Canadian Pacific” car (far right), although the logo is hard to read. In the end, the train came to a stop – blocking the intersection, and we turned our Smart around and took another route back to our campground.
For those who watch HGTV’s Home Town series, we couldn’t help but make our next stop Laurel, Mississippi. Our first free night there was spent at a Harvest Host site – Panels Up Solar, with our second free night at the Veterans Memorial Museum, another Harvest Host participantin Laurel.
Betty & I had a nice walk around downtown Laurel. We saw no high-rise buildings in the town.And had an enjoyable dinner at Cafe La Fleur, in preparation for our upcoming visit to The Big Easy.While we didn’t see Erin & Ben, we did drive by many of the houses they might have renovated. I say “might have” because we were too cheap to pay for a guided tour of homes featured on the show. lol. The town is much larger than we had imagined, with many attractive homes that would have predated the HGTV home renovation series.We did get a pic of one of the local signs designed by Erin, and actually paid for ice cream from the Laurel Creamery, across the street from this pic.Our motorhome clock showed the temperature at 32c (the outside reading of 29c was from a guage in storage) so we were justified in buying the ice cream. lol.As mentioned, our second free night in Laurel was spent in the parking lot of the Veterans Memorial Museum, where we felt very safe and welcome.I’m sure our veteran friends and former campground neighbours – Brian & Henny – would have appreciated the large collection of military artifacts on display.Before we left, Betty said Tanks!
We are now about as far south in Mississippi as one can go, without falling into the Gulf of Mexico. Betty & I are staying six nights in beautiful Buccaneer State Park, with the intention of catching some rest, resolving previously mentioned communication and banking issues (my cell phone is now working; we have good internet connections; and the bank says it has re-activated my debit card), spending some time in nearby New Orleans, and finishing off our Mississippi River trek by driving to the point where the “Mighty Mississip” enters the Gulf of Mexico.
The road taken followed the edge of the Gulf, before we turned into our campground.We are surprised to find the Park almost deserted. Maybe others know something about the upcoming weather we don’t?We have a large site (#9) with nice shade trees.Betty and Charlie have been able to relax and restore in this well kept, quiet state park.
Whether or not you think the best one came from Tupelo, Mississippi, Betty & I have enjoyed our visit to this state, and hope you are also having an enjoyable time, wherever life finds you!
