Across Mississippi - Up the Natchez Trace

Our next stop was Oxford, MS, the home of Ole Miss University, where Eli Manning played his college football (as did his father Archie) and home to best-selling authors John Grisham and William Faulkner. We did a drive-thru of the campus, which was rather quiet due to it being summer. The town square was reminiscent of many small, southern towns – the court house with statue of Civil War hero, shops, restaurants, and cars parked around all four streets. The hot spot to eat was Ajax Diner, on the square – we got the last 2 seats at the counter. The day was pretty much uneventful, and that was OK – better than the night before in the Holiday Inn, where the fire alarm accidently went off at 2:00 AM.

Leaving Oxford we traveled through Tupelo, MS, where we got onto the Natchez Trace heading toward Lawrenceburg TN for the Berry family reunion. The Natchez Trace is an historic route connecting Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN, which means it also served as a connection between the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers. Early users were Native Americans, and later users were European and American explorers and traders. Tupelo, of course, is the birthplace of Elvis.