Natchez Trace Part 1, Tennessee
October 27, 2024
It felt like a long time driving before we finally broke free from the grip of Nashville congestion, but the traffic finally dissolved as we started our slow meandering down the Natchez Trace Parkway. To our delight, we were suddenly transported into fall.
Finally leaving the Nashville traffic congestion!
Ah, a road all to ourselves (mostly)!
Fall has finally arrived!
Our accommodations for the next few days was a free campground at the Meriwether Lewis historic site. It was one of the nicest free campgrounds we have ever been to, and we were fortunate to find an open site on the quiet end of one of the two loops.
The trees kept getting more colorful every day
The weather was exceptionally nice for the first few days--sunny and warm. We took a short hike along the trails off of the campground one of the days.
We walked along a part of the original Natchez Trace. It felt like just a regular hiking trail.
In large part due to our son, Alan, we have taken up a recent interest in disc golf. In the past couple of months, we have visited three or four courses, and found the sport quite enjoyable. It's a nice blend of nature walk, learn-at-your-own-pace-challenge, and treasure hunt (when you can't find the next tee). We found a course (The Farm Disc Golf Course) not too far from our campground on Friday. It was another beautiful day, and the course was pretty nice, except for the parts that were not mowed.
The grounds of "The Farm" were quite nice
This course required more "treasure hunting" than usual to find the tees. Without the UDisc app, it would have been nearly impossible to find them.
It was also hard to find the baskets (Can you spot this one in the middle of the photo?)
Nice tagline for the basket manufacturer-- "Disc Nation: One Nation Under Par"
That's Rick sending a disc down the overgrown "fairway"
Julie shooting close to the well camouflaged basket.
Hunting in the grass for a wayward disc
A pleasant drive along the country roads in the area
Saturday was cool and rainy, but the sun came out again on Sunday. We walked to the Meriwether Lewis monument/grave site that day.
Rainy day, but the fall color was looking quite vibrant out the window
We took another trail from the campsite, this time to the Meriwether Lewis historic site
The monument pillar marking the grave of Meriwether Lewis was broken purposefully to symbolize a life cut short. He was only in his 30s when he died.
A replica of the Grinder House--the inn where Lewis allegedly shot himself in the middle of the night in 1809. Some believe he was under the influence of powerful drugs he was taking to treat a case of malaria he had recently contracted. A minority of others believe he was murdered.
We walked along another chunk of the original Natchez Trace
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