Natchez Trace

Tuesday October 25
Nashville was good to us last time we were in town and we planned to make a return visit to I dream of Weenie but their operating hours didn't coincide with our time table. Someday I want to come back and spend time floating in and out of the honky tonks and bars listening to the music. Today, we passed through town and instead of taking the freeway around, the GPS plotted us through town to the end of the Natchez Trace National Park. The trail starts in Natchez and ends in Nashville. The Parkway ends (or begins for us) in Pasquo.

Tennessee Titans Stadium

70S took us through Vanderbilt University, past beautiful mansions and old plantations plus newer developments of well maintained homes. It was a nice scenic drive through old Nashville. We made a stop at the grocery store in Pasquo and then boarded the Trace.

Borrowed from: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/b5/4f/87/b54f87a71b242785d63d295c53a11a71.jpg

 We were greeted by cones on the Trace. They were working on repaving and we had to cross over to the other lane. Many of the cones were in our lane and made squeezing between them and the shoulder really tight. I ended up knocking a few down with the camper. Becky asked if I was doing it on purpose. I'll never tell......

Borrowed from: https://www.nps.gov/natr/learn/news/images/TN-100-East-ramp-closed.jpg

 Birdsong Hollow is spanned by one of the most photographed bridges on the Trace. The double arch bridge.

 While Becky fixed some lunch, I rolled out on the bridge and took some pictures.

There are a lot of stops marked with an arrowhead sign that says, historical marker half mile ahead. All these are marked on the park pamphlet with a brief description of each stop.

There was a whole herd of deer but we only captured this one.

Meriwether Lewis died along the Trace. After his historic trip west with William Clark he was awarded the governorship of the Upper Louisiana Territory. Some of the bills he submitted for the western exploration were called into question and he was traveling to Washington, along part of the trace, to defend them. He would be personally liable for those bills if the government denied them. At a placed called Grinder's Stand he died from gunshot wounds. Many experts believed those wounds were self inflicted.  

 This monument stands over his burial plot. Your eye is immediately drawn to the broken column. It was purposely designed to symbolize a life cut short.

 A replica of Grinder's Stand. It can easily be understood how depression could grip the good governor in light of the crushing debt he would owe if the government denied his bills.

 As the sun was dipping lower, we left the trace and headed for Davy Crockett State Park. Becky was excited to be staying here where Crockett, who settled the area, owned a powder mill, grist mill and distillery. His operations were destroyed by a flood in September 1821 and he moved on to West Tennessee. Crockett was one of Becky's childhood heroes.

Iris gets into the Buckeye spirit.

 We stayed in the Campground 2 in spot 107. It is a place we would like to return to. The site was level and paved extra wide with a nice raised fire pit. The bath house was easily accessible as most state properties are. The park is close to Nashville and other attractions.