Day 13: Glasgow, KY to Belmont, MS
Saturday Nov. 01, 2008
After another yummy breakfast at the Hall Bed and Breakfast we got back on the road around 10:00 am CDT. We started going north though, because we wanted to see Abraham Lincoln’s Brithplace, a National Historic Site which was closed when we drove by it 2 days previous. This time when we got there it was open. And we walked around the grounds. There is a very imposing Marble Memorial which looks almost like a mausoleum but instead of harboring a sarcophagus, it contains a symbolic, 3/4 scale replica of the log cabin of where Lincoln was born. And of course there are lincoln logs to play with in the visitor center.
We got gas and a carwash after we left the park around noon. Retracing our steps going north cost us about three hours, but we’re glad we made the detour. We crossed the state line around 2:00 pm CDT. And had lunch at Wendy’s about 30 minutes later just north of Nashville. It was almost 4:00 pm when we circled the Tennessee State house in Nashville, and almost 4:30 pm before we made it to the beginning of the Natchez Trace Trail, National Parkway. The Parkway is 444 miles long, and at the north end, it starts with a pretty spectacular overlook.
At mile 438 is Birdsong Hollow, and what you’ll see there is the Double Arch Bridge, an award winning, awe-inspiring crossing of the valley with clean lines and smooth curves.
We stopped at a few other points of interest before darkness overtook us 50 miles into the parkway at Swan View overlook. The deepening reddish-purplish sky overseen by a crescent moon made for a beautiful family portrait. We watched bats flit around and then continue on the parkway in darkness. We stopped at the Meriwether Lewis National Monument where the famous trailblazer died and was buried. In the darkness of night we saw the broken column monument, and then went in search of our hotel and dinner.
75 miles and 2 hours later we checked into the hotel in the small Mississippi town of Belmont, and the same named hotel. The local recommended restaurant had just stopped serving dinner when we tried to eat there, and had to settle for Sonic. Daily total: we drove 315 miles
See the Photos
We got gas and a carwash after we left the park around noon. Retracing our steps going north cost us about three hours, but we’re glad we made the detour. We crossed the state line around 2:00 pm CDT. And had lunch at Wendy’s about 30 minutes later just north of Nashville. It was almost 4:00 pm when we circled the Tennessee State house in Nashville, and almost 4:30 pm before we made it to the beginning of the Natchez Trace Trail, National Parkway. The Parkway is 444 miles long, and at the north end, it starts with a pretty spectacular overlook.
At mile 438 is Birdsong Hollow, and what you’ll see there is the Double Arch Bridge, an award winning, awe-inspiring crossing of the valley with clean lines and smooth curves.
We stopped at a few other points of interest before darkness overtook us 50 miles into the parkway at Swan View overlook. The deepening reddish-purplish sky overseen by a crescent moon made for a beautiful family portrait. We watched bats flit around and then continue on the parkway in darkness. We stopped at the Meriwether Lewis National Monument where the famous trailblazer died and was buried. In the darkness of night we saw the broken column monument, and then went in search of our hotel and dinner.
75 miles and 2 hours later we checked into the hotel in the small Mississippi town of Belmont, and the same named hotel. The local recommended restaurant had just stopped serving dinner when we tried to eat there, and had to settle for Sonic. Daily total: we drove 315 miles
See the Photos