A short detour
When we
made our preliminary tour plan, before leaving Denmark, we thought that we would
drive from Bowling Green, Kentucky to Florence, Alabama and then continue to
Jackson, Mississippi and further on to New Orleans. As we were now already in
Tennessee we changed our plan, so we would go from White House, Tennessee to Tupelo,
Mississippi, and then spend the night there. Then we would continue along the
Natchez Trace Parkway to Natchez and then from there to New Orleans. However, no
interstate leads directly from White House to Tupelo, or even in that direction.
And no interstate meant no Welcome Center!! (A somber fanfare would have been in
its place here :-)) We could take I-65 down to Alabama and drive west to Tupelo,
but that would have been too easy Therefore we decided to
drive to Nashville and then take I-40 west to Memphis.
From here we would change to I-78 southeast to Tupelo. As it later showed even
this plan changed a bit.
Breakfast
at the hotel in the White House consisted of a cookie, so we chose to eat
elsewhere. We found a place in a small village just outside Nashville, where we
had a really good breakfast before we continued toward Nashville. The highway
goes straight into the city and a little downhill, so we could really enjoy the
city skyline. That is, we enjoyed it until we were overtaken by a pickup truck
with a loose dog on the bed. It seemed a little dangerous at 80 mph, but later
we met more trucks with dogs and the dogs apparently enjoyed it. In Nashville we
changed to I-40 and continued west towards Memphis, a trip that almost was
completely uneventful, except that it rained pretty much when we crossed the
Tennessee River, so we couldn't really enjoy the magnificent scenery. Along the
way
Dorte mentioned that in her opinion we could not pass Memphis without a visit to Graceland.
When
we reached Memphis, we had no trouble finding Elvis Presley Boulevard and
Graceland. Of course we had to stand in line for about 45 minutes to enter. This
happened on the opposite side of the road from Graceland. On that side, beside
the ticket office you can also visit a museum with Elvis' cars and planes, and
the inevitable souvenir shop. At the entrance we were handed a small digital
audio player with headphones, and then we got on a bus to the opposite side of
the road. We spend a couple of hours walking around the open areas of the
premises, and also made time to look at the tombs of Elvis and his relatives.
When we had seen enough, we went back to the car, and drove south once more.
Instead of taking
I-78 to the southeast though, we decided to take I-55 south. We visited the
Welcome Center, and for the first time were offered free drinking and muffins as well
ast he service we were used to from other Welcome Centers. After our visit here,
we continued south on the interstate for about 40 miles to the small town of
Batesville. Here we left the freeway to refuel the car, and to call home and
tell the family that we were still alive. When we were about to go on, we saw a
sign for Sardis Dam. We thought the name sounded interesting, so we decided to
see this dam.
It turned out to be quite nice, as
was the lake that lay behind it. When we had seen enough, we continued south
until we intersected with U.S. Route 278. Here we turned east toward Tupelo. The
first long distance to the town of Oxford, the road ran almost in a straight
line and for sure it was the longest stretch of straight road, we had experienced at
that time. In several places you could see the road almost 6 or 7 miles ahead.
Oxford is home of Old Miss, the state university of Mississippi, but we didn't
not stop for a visit.
Just after Oxford, we
passed Denmark, one of the 18 townships in the U.S. with that name.
We didn't stop here either, but continued to
Tupelo, where we found a hotel. After moving our luggage to the room, we went
out to buy a few items at a nearby supermarket and to get some dinner. Then we
went then back to the hotel. We were to tired to visit the Elvis Presley
birthplace, even if it was just a little down the road from the hotel.
The visit to the Welcome Center (and Graceland) was about 170 miles longer than the more direct route from Whitehouse to Tupelo, but it was well worth the trip.