Armadillo sighting!

Thursday, January 16, 2014
Tupelo, MS – Today was the complete antithesis of yesterday’s highways and turnpikes.  A beautiful ribbon of parkway through forests and fields carried us southward from the Music City through Tennessee, a 30-mile stretch across the northwest corner of Alabama and into Mississippi.  Not a sign of a transport truck, interchange cloverleaf, golden arches, or four-lane madness!

The Natchez Trace, as this parkway is called, follows a transportation corridor that has existed from the time of the early natives and the animals they hunted. It connects the Mississippi town of Natchez, near the Louisiana state line, at the south end, with Nashville at the north end. Mile markers along its 444-mile length highlight historic events, such as battlefields or native ceremonial mounds, or natural features, such as waterfalls or panoramic views.  The winding road is only two lanes wide, and the speed is limited to 50 miles an hour, so it was a wonderfully peaceful trip today.

Our first stop this morning, after our trek through the turnpike insanity around the heart of Nashville, and before entering the Trace, was at the Loveless Café, an iconic restaurant where the stars of TV, movies and country music have come to eat the country ham and heavenly biscuits since the early 1950s.  The entrance area walls are plastered with autographed photos.  We recognized Ernest Borgnine and Robert Ulrich among the many.  Our plan had been to have a quick coffee, but the tasty aromas and tempting menu persuaded us to go whole hog, so to speak, and try some of the tasty fare with a second breakfast!  It was worth it!

We enjoyed reading about the Trace’s milestones in our guide, including stories of Davy Crockett, and descriptions of the hundreds of species of birds and wildlife.  Five deer grazing on a grassy knoll perked up their ears and turned tail and ran as we approached, and we caught sight of a couple of others loping across the highway a few yards ahead of us further down the road.  There were very few cars in either direction.

When we entered Alabama, I said to Val that this would be where we’d see the armadillos that were mentioned in the list of wildlife.  Sure enough, a mile or so further along, we saw a little grey mound on a hillside – a real, live armadillo!  Later on I spotted a second one nibbling the grass on my side of the highway.  I couldn’t believe our luck!

Just on the outskirts of Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley, we turned off to see the Parkway Visitor Center, where there were displays of the flora, fauna and Trace history, as well as a little gift shop.  We struck up a conversation with a gift shop volunteer, who told us she went to grade school with Elvis Presley.  Her name was Shirley Hubanks (before she married) and she told us about signing Elvis’s school yearbook and getting him to sign hers.  She told us about what Elvis was like, and about seeing him perform at Lake Tahoe when he got famous. It was great hearing her stories, told in a wonderful southern accent!

[Posted a day late. No wi-fi at our RV park!]