Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center (Tupelo)

The Natchez Trace Parkway (NTP) runs approximately 444 miles from Natchez, Mississippi northwest to around Nashville, Tennessee.  Our route runs northwest and crossed paths with the NTP just outside Tupelo, Mississippi.  There is a visitor center for the NTP there, so while we wouldn't be traveling on it, we wanted to check out the visitor center.

The Visitor Center shows a 15-minute film narrated by Amy Grant that describes the history of Natchez Trace including how it nearly disappeared until the Mississippi Daughters of the American Revolution took on the project of preserving the trail and placing historical markers along the route. 

I was able to collect my first passport stamp cancellation for my National Parks Passport book.  That was pretty exciting for this gal from Florida!  I will have to remember to do that in other places as well.

The guidebook says to allow 15-45 minutes for a visit to the NTP Visitor Center in Tupelo.  In our case, it was right at 45 minutes by the time we used the restroom, watched the movie, and DH looked at the books for sale.  He was able to use his Senior Pass for the National Parks for a 10% discount.

We left the Natchez Trace Parkway Visitor Center headed for Olive Branch, Mississippi for the evening.  We stayed at a Holiday Inn and Express near the highway.  We had a late lunch at Cracker Barrel in New Albany, MS.  There was a Dairy Queen just next door to the hotel, so we went there for ice cream sundaes.  The weather was turning cooler, so we grabbed our jackets from the car.  It was also supposed to be raining the next day, so I had my raincoat and umbrellas easily accessible.  

The hotel had good work space for me to work on blog entries and my Smash Book.  And of course add the sticker for Mississippi to my Bucket List 50 States Bottle.  

~ Cindy D.