During our 1997 road trip, we drove the entire length of the state of Mississippi, twice, the only way we could figure out how to hit Nashville, New Orleans, and Memphis. I really wish we’d been able to do more, but with the West calling our name, we had to keep moving.

We left Nashville and headed into Mississippi, catching the Natchez Trace Parkway, one of the most beautiful roads I’ve ever driven on, and made a stop at the Elvis-themed McDonald’s in Tupelo. We spent the night in a Corps of Engineers campground (another great discovery of the trip – cheap, never full, and open until 10pm), and the next morning, made our way to Noxapater, Mississippi. When George and I were planning the trip, we decided on Noxapater as a destination completely at random – was it by the old eyes-closed, point at a map and see where you land trick, or maybe by virtue of its amazing name? – either way, we knew we had to go there, and we did. It was a nice little unassuming town with a tiny main street and a water tower with the town’s name on it. We ate at the diner, took some photos, and were on our way, but we felt accomplished, somehow.

We picked up a new tire at the Goodyear outlet in Meridian to replace the one we’d blown in Alabama, and dried out our tent from the downpour the night before. By 5:30 we were in New Orleans, and by the next morning, we were back in Mississippi, heading north toward Memphis. This time around, we took the Interstate most of the way, at least to Jackson, where we cut west to the Mississippi flood plain, stopping in Leland (boyhood home of Jim Henson, thus the Birthplace of Kermit) and heading up to Greenville. Our whole reason for heading that way was a recommendation from Road Food for a spot called Doe’s Eat Place, but when we finally found it, it looked like it had been out of commission for awhile. We were pretty disappointed, and were greeted with a dull drive and more rain as we continued on toward Memphis. We finally ended up camping in Coldwater, at another Corps campground, and had ramen for dinner instead of whatever Doe would have cooked up. We woke up to standing water in the tent, and were ready to head to Memphis and beyond.