Tupelo and the King

We moved on from Clarksdale to Tupelo to visit the birthplace of the King, Elvis, and collect another park service stamp.  A heads up to RVers.  Even though route 278 is a US highway there are several bridges with low weight limits.  We crossed them as we were to the point of no return, but I would not travel this road again.  It may be time to get a trucker's atlas.

Tupelo has made its native son the centerpiece of its local tourism.  One of many artistic guitars in Tupelo that honor Elvis.

Tupelo Hardware Co. is where Elvis' mother bought him his first guitar for his 10th birthday.  He wanted a gun, but settled for the guitar.  The rest is history.

Statue of 13 year old Elvis with his guitar.

The home where he was born is on its original site that is now Elvis Presley Park.  It is a small, two room "shotgun" house. You could shoot a shotgun through the front door and it would go straight out the back door without hitting anything.

The front room was the bed - living room and the back room was the kitchen with a wood stove, an ice box and wash tub.  Very humble beginnings.  The guide had wonderful stories from people who grew up with Elvis.

Yes, Elvis went here.

The Assembly of God church that Elvis attended as a child.  He loved the music here and took guitar lessons from the minister.  The church, that had been a home for several years, was just recently restored and moved to the park.

WOW, in the gift shop you can even buy Elvis PJs.  This was a very interesting stop and gave just another perspective of a great musician whose life ended way too soon.

We like to collect National Park Service stamps so we went to the Tupelo National Battlefield, the site of an 1864 Civil War battle.  This is a picture of the entire site, there was no stamp.  Still an interesting stop for Civil War buffs.

 

When we left Tupelo it was back on the Natchez Trace Parkway heading north to spend some time with friends in Tennessee.  These are Indian burial mounds along the trace.

The trace is a two lane road from Natchez to Nashville.  There is very little traffic and  no commercial traffic is allowed so it is a great relaxing drive.

 With the recent tornadoes in Oklahoma we did not like the look of the sky.  Fortunately, it was behind us and we made it to Tennessee with a tailwind and only a few sprinkles. WHEW!!