This is STOP 4, the 6th day of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop in Chattanooga, TN.
The Drive from Chattanooga, TN to New Albany, MS
The original plan for today was to drive the northern third of the Natchez Trace Parkway. This 444 mile roadway stretches from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS. It is not only a National Scenic Byway, it is one of 31 All-American Roads. The Parkway roughly follows the Old Natchez Trace, an Indian footpath and animal trails dating back to the 1700’s. In the early 1820’s, it served as the return route home for traders that had floated down the Cumberland, Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to Natchez.
The weather is laced with rain showers and we’ve driven this stretch of the parkway back in 2019. We would need to do some back-tracking up to Nashville to catch the beginning, so we decide to just take another route and catch it about halfway into the first third of the Parkway. After almost a week on the road of 1 and 2 night stops, we are feeling the need to settle some place for a little longer, however, we have one more one night stop before that happens.
The non-interstate roads are fairly scenic and have little traffic. We are in a location following the Trail of Tears, the route many Indian tribes took when the US government forced them from their ancestral homes in the Southeast to areas west of the Mississippi River (primarily in Oklahoma). The entire Trail of Tears encompasses 2200 miles of various trails through 9 states.
We finally reach the Natchez Trace Parkway and it really is a lovely, peaceful drive. The maximum speed limit is 50mph. We are fortunate to learn today, that there is a section of the Parkway that is closed around Tupelo we will need to avoid tomorrow.
We also reach two milestones today. We cross from the Eastern time zone into the Central time zone and we pass the 1000 mile mark.
Shiloh National Military Park
The Shiloh National Military Park encompasses the Shiloh Battlefield, the Shiloh National Cemetery, Shiloh Indian Mounds and the Davis Bridge Battlefield. The Battlefield commemorates the April 6-7, 1862 battle that produced 23,746 casualties, (the largest engagement in the Mississippi Valley campaign during the Civil War) and one of the first major battles of the Civil War.
At daybreak, Sunday, April 6, the Confederates led by General Albert Sydney Johnston stormed out of the woods and assaulted the Union troops led by General Ulysses S. Grant around Shiloh Church. Grant and his nearly 40,000 men. The Confederates slowly gained ground, forcing Grant’s troops to give way, grudgingly, to fight a succession of defensive stands that settled into an impenetrable oak thicket. The battle survivors named this area the Hornets’ Nest because the constant sound of bullets whizzing by sounded like buzzing hornets. The Confederate Army became disorganized and Johnston suffered a bullet wound and bled to death. General P.G.T. Beauregard took over command. Overnight, Union reinforcements from Ohio, under the command of General Don Carlos Buell, arrived in the Tennessee River area named Pittsburg Landing. Unaware of the new arrivals, the Confederates planned to attack Grant’s troops, but it was 54,500 Union that began the attack on the barely 34,000 exhausted Confederates. With control of the nearby Corinth railroad junction in doubt, the Confederates retreated. The Union army chose not to pursue them. The Civil War would last through 4 more Aprils.
Union efforts to recover the Mississippi Valley stalled in the late summer of 1862, and Confederate leaders launched counteroffensives at every opportunity. Confederate troops under Major General Earl Van Dorn boldly attacked the heavily fortified Union garrison at Corinth but were defeated. The loss of this last Confederate offensive in Mississippi seriously weakened the only mobile Southern army defending the Mississippi Valley. This permitted Ulysses S. Grant to launch a relentless nine-month campaign to capture Vicksburg and recover the Mississippi River.
The Concord Inn – New Albany, MS
This is our first stay at an AirBnB on this trip is the Concord Inn. We not only have a full kitchen, we have a swimming pool and laundry facilities! We brought a lot of food that doesn’t require refrigeration, but we need to stop at the local grocery story for just a few items. The town of New Albany is small – no restaurants to speak of (we did see a Subway), but we are ready to NOT eat out. If we DID want to eat out, there are two towns within a 20 minute drive that offer many choices (the towns of Ripley or Baldwyn).
Our lodging is a cute apartment in the pool house and it is truly an amazing find. The pool house is located on several acres and the main house looks like it may primarily be a wedding venue, but we are the only ones there. There is an idyllic pond well in view of the back patio and the side of the pool house. We are greeted by a sweet old black lab and an annoying cat with a strange eye. The dog does a meet and greet and goes back into his space in the garage, but the cat pretty much never leaves our side. It jumps in the car as we are unpacking and tries desperately to get into the pool house (it gets in once).
It is about an hour and a half before sunset, so we throw in a load of laundry, change into our swimsuits, turn on some music and head to the pool to wind down and catch the sunset. It is 86 degrees outside and we’ve worked up a little sweat from carting in all our gear – the pool feels so refreshing. We talk about what a great find this place is and how we wish we were staying more than just the one night. We joke what a “great campground this is”, further solidifying our decision NOT to travel by RV in retirement. We note we will definitely return to this place on a future trip for at least 3 nights.
With the sun nearly down and hunger taking over, we go back inside and put together some delicious chicken nachos. We flip on the TV and settle in for the rest of the night.
Our Verdict
This is a wonderful lodging option along the Natchez Trace Parkway, even though it is about 25 minutes off the Parkway. If this pool house is available, we would recommend at least 2 nights to just bask in all it has to offer.
Next Stop
And now – time to hit the road again and continue driving on the Natchez Trace Parkway to land in Vicksburg for 3 nights.
This is STOP 4, the 6th day of our ten week cross country fall adventure in 2021! Here is a link to our previous stop in Chattanooga, TN.
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