Day Eleven - Tupelo MS to Xenia OH

We awoke Thursday morning to the sound of heavy rain as storms rolled through northern Mississippi. By the time we showered, ate breakfast, packed up, and checked out, the rain had stopped, and clear skies were visible to the west. Our plan for the day was to drive the northern part of the Natchez Trace. Before doing that though, we stopped by The Elvis Presley Birthplace.

Of course, there was the house Elvis was born in...

...the actual building where the Presley family attended church services...

...the Memorial Chapel...

...the Fountain of Life that illustrates the years of Elvis’ life with thirteen upper waterspouts representing the years that Elvis lived in Tupelo and 29 lower spouts symbolizing Elvis’ life in Memphis...

...and, of course, the outhouse :-)

After completing our brief tour of the Elvis Presley Birthplace, we headed west through downtown Tupelo and entered the Natchez Trace Parkway.

After stopping at the Visitor Center and Parkway Headquarters, some of the sites we visited along the Parkway included Twentymile Bottom Overlook...the Parkway runs through the middle of the picture...

...the Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis & Clark fame) Monument...which is the actual gravesite of Lewis, who died "mysteriously" in this spot in 1809...

...Fall Hollow...

...and Baker Bluff Overlook...

We exited the Parkway at the Northern Terminus at TN Hwy 100 and began our Interstate travels again around Nashville, through Franklin, Bowling Green, Louisville, and Cincinnati. Our decision to push on brought us home a little after 11pm.

The purposes of this Spring Break Road Trip have been accomplished, plus a few bonuses along the way. We got to spend a long Easter weekend with Darren, enjoyed visiting with family and friends in MO, KS, and TX, and crossed off 2 of the 3 remaining states on Barak's list of 50. Now that Louisiana and Mississippi have been visited, only Alaska remains.

Thanks for following us along our journey.