Natchez Trace Boat Ride

Talk about perfect timing. As Chick and I were pulling into the Southern Family parking lot where we had agreed that everybody would meet, in pulls Pam and David with Eddie and Shelly right behind. I didn’t even have to shut it down. With a quick agreement on the first stop being in Pulaski, we were off.

 

We had the ride planned for a couple of weeks. Pam and David’s daughter was getting married on the May 24th and on the 25th we were off for a ride on the Trace with an overnight stay in Franklin. The wedding went off without a hitch despite the worry over all the things that could go wrong running through Pam’s mind for the last few months and now it was Sunday. David was as happy as a little

girl, we were hightailing it through Harvest, and on the open road.

 

About half way down Hwy 53 toward Ardmore Chick leans forward and I here “we’re gonna have to stop in Ardmore, my foot is throbbing!” She twisted her ankle getting off the bike at Bike Night the previous Thursday  and she needed to put her ankle wrap on.  While we were stopped I realized I had left the hotel confirmation and map back at the house. Not to worry though, Eddie’s got a GPS. Famous last words. More on that later. In the mean time we get back on the road heading toward Pulaski and in no time we’re hitting US-64 on our way to Lawrenceburg.

 

Once in Lawrenceburg we make a quick stop

By - Wendell Rogers - Aka: Rocketcitymadman, Photography by Pam Bodie and Wendell Rogers

A fun group to ride with!

Howdy! How’s it goin? Ok, & you? Fine! See ya! Bye!

Click on any of the pictures to see more pictures from that day.

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to pick up a drink and some snacks for the road. For those who’ve never ridden the Trace you’ll quickly realize there’s no place to stop for drinks, snack, gas or anything else without driving ten to twenty miles off the main road. In the process of getting the drinks and snacks we decide lunch was in order. Eddie does a search from his phone, locates a few places not too far away, and with a few button pushes on the GPS he takes the point with instructions to hit the first non-fast food he comes to. A couple of miles later we come across a Ponderosa and whip in for a nice buffet lunch. The break from the heat was a welcome addition to the meal as well. Afterwards, while some of us were  rubbing

the full belly and the smokers in the group were scratchin’ the tobacco itch, Eddie decides to tuck his shirt back in and about drops his pants in front of the Quick Oil Change next door. I’m thinking to myself, if we have to bail him out we’re  not gonna let him live this down for years. To make a long story short though, he makes a good save on the downfall and avoids the possibility of becoming someone's girlfriend for the afternoon at the county lockup. With the striptease out of the way we mount back up and head out of Lawrenceburg for the last 20 miles to the US-64 exit onto the Trace.

 

By the time we took the exit off 64 onto the Trace  it was somewhere between 1:00 and 1:30. My plan was to stop at the sign and get a group pic but with no place to pull off I opted to skip it. I knew there was a good spot getting on from TN-96. Once we were heading north I figured we’d take a swing by Laurel Lake. It was close and we could take a few minutes to look through my book on the Trace and decide what spots we wanted to visit today and what we wanted to leave for the return, tomorrow. Besides, last year when Chick and I road this same stretch, we didn’t stop and I wished we had. I make the turn and head toward what I thought was the lake only to get lost on a road that was quickly becoming harder and harder to navigate. We ended up turning around and heading back to the

Where’s a cop when you need one?

Resting just outside the Grinder’s Inn.

Hidden Treasures!

main road. I made a quick apology to the group and suggested we make our first stop the Meriwether Lewis Monument.

 

The first main stop along the Trace north of  US-64 is the Meriwether Lewis Site. The Grinder’s Inn, located at this site is where , in 1809, the famous explorer mysteriously died of gunshot wounds. There is a  replica of the Grinder’s Inn and a pioneer cemetery where the grave and monument of Meriwether Lewis resides, north about 100 yards.

 

We made our way over to the Inn once we got parked and signed the guest book while we

read through all the information on display. Out behind the Inn is a part of the old Trace that is clearly marked. It’s pretty neat to stand there and wonder what it was like long before our modern conveniences knowing you had to walk to Natchez, MS. To say life ran at a much slower pace is an understatement.

 

After taking in all that Mr. Meriwether had to offer, we found a shady spot underneath the tall oaks and sat for a while enjoying the scarce breeze that slipped by. Eddie blew a tire on his shoe and entertained us with his Kukla, Fran and Ollie impression, keeping us in a constant state of laughter while David worked some magic trying to secure the luggage on his bike. The luggage strapped to the back of the bike was doing a number on the rack and it was bouncing up and down as they rode. He kept mumbling something about a “damn curling iron”, I believe it was. Anyway, we backtracked out to the Trace and continued north leaving Mr. Lewis to his sleep.

 

Now, I’ve heard some say that the Trace is boring as far as the ride is concerned. I tend to disagree. Yeah, I know it’s not a “Tail of the Dragon” type ride. It’s a little more tame in that there’s more straight stretches than curvy ones, but there are times when I think that’s just what my tired mind needs. To me it’s so relaxing to put the bike on about 50 and enjoy the cool blanket of shade provided by the tall canopy of trees

It’s all good!

along the way; that and the lack of commercial traffic that you have to watch out far in the real world makes for a very relaxing journey.

 

As we trekked northward we passed numerous places where we could have stopped;  Fall Hollow, Devil’s Backbone, a tobacco farm and a stand called Sheboss Place that has an interesting story on how it got the name. The story goes that the owner was a white woman and an Indian man that spoke no English helped her. Passers by would stop and ask him questions. Not knowing any English all he could mutter was “she boss” as he pointed toward her.

The view from the bridge is awesome!

crossing the bridge and pulling off at the stop on the other side. We spent a few minutes there before taking TN-96 into Franklin. I mentioned earlier that I had left the hotel information back at the house but wasn’t too concerned about it since Eddie had a GPS. Well a GPS unit is about as useless as tits on a boar hog when the battery dies. To make another long story short we wondered in and around Franklin for about thirty minutes before we happened upon the road taking us to the hotel but not before David took advantage of the opportunity to jab a stick or two up Eddie’s tailpipe over the GPS. It was all in fun and Eddie took his whupin’ well but I chuckle every time I think about coming to a stop light and hearing from behind me, “Sure would be nice to have a GPS!”

 

We check in with the plan to meet and head for supper. I’m ploppin’ my rear down on the bed and hadn’t even got the “ahhhh” completely out and I hear, “the toilets broke”. It turned out to not be such a bad thing since we got a Jacuzzi room for no extra charge out of the deal. This made Chick a very happy camper and believe me she made use of it later that night.

 

We pulled out of the Quality Inn heading west to a place that Pam and David had tried last year when they were here for a

The ride was full of views such as this!

of them riding the wind.

 

When we pulled away from Baker Bluff the afternoon sun was getting lower in the sky making the decision to pass by what was going to be the next stop and save it for tomorrow, an easier one. We slipped passed the Gordon House on our way to the Double Arch Bridge crossing TN-96, and the next 30 miles tuned out to be some of the best riding that the trace has to offer. It’s full of gentle sweeps and some cool curving bridges that blend into the roadway flawlessly. The scenery along the way is easy on the eyes and makes for a very relaxing ride. In what seemed like only a few minutes time we were

There’s a curling iron in there somewhere!

“I can’t believe you brought that curlin iron”!

Just passed Jackson Falls we stopped at a place called Baker Bluff Overlook. If you blink you would miss it, and in the process miss one of the most beautiful landscapes in the area. Standing there on a grassy spot just over a wooden fence you’re looking at a valley about 100’ down and onto a working farm with rolling hills and green pastures. The breeze coming from the valley below rose up the hill in front of us, washing our faces as we sat there in the shade. Moments before we decided to push on we were treated to a awesome areal display put on by several turkey buzzards riding the thermals above our heads. Pam and I fired off a few shots with the cameras and was able to capture a couple

The Baker Bluff Overlook

bike rally. The Chop House was a little “Ruby Tuesdays” type restaurant that was just what the doctor ordered. With dinner behind us we set out to hit K-mart so David could get some jerryriggin supplies to see about beefing up the luggage situation on the bike. It turns out that the two screws holding the backrest on had all but backed out and by the time they got the bag off the bike the luggage rack was almost touching the back fender. David kept saying, “damn, a couple more threads and all my problems would have gone away”. Of course he was saying that as he put a little bit of distance and couple of us between himself and Pam. K-mart was a bust and good ole Walmart came to the rescue.  Some yellow shop towels, a pool noodle and a set of allen wrenches later we headed for home away from home. We called it a night with plans to be up and on our way to breakfast by 7:30. Thus ended day one. Good night, Johnboy!

 

I rolled over and looked at the clock; 5:00. I tossed and turned all night with my hip throbbing and decided I’d had enough. I made quick effort of the 4 cups of coffee in a couple of shots and was out the door looking for more long before the rooster ever cracked an eyelid. The trip down to the breakfast room was a bust. I guess the cook hadn’t cracked an eyelid either. After a few minutes of standing outside the room I decided to watch a little TV. While out trying to find more coffee I noticed the clouds above showing some signs of rain but the weather for the

Ride to eat; Eat to ride!

day called for it to stay north of us and all looked well. Yeah right. It didn’t take long for the Beverly Hillbilly reruns and the infomercials to get old and I was out the door a second time. This time David was up and out by the bike. We stood there for a while shooting the breeze and was joined by Eddie shortly after that and before long Karen was hitting the ice machine. The troops were starting to stir, David had the luggage secured and by 7:30 we were on the road heading for the Trace and the “Loveless Café” for  breakfast. Oh, we stopped on the access road from TN-96 and got that picture by the sign that I wanted, by the way.

 

The Loveless Café sits at the Northern terminus of the Trace and the little five mile ride was an early morning treat  that gave us just enough time to work up our appetites. We get there, get our name on the list and explore for a little while. Before we know it we’re sitting at our table and enjoying an excellent breakfast. This was the first time for all of us at the Loveless and we really enjoyed it. Yeah it’s a little pricey but if I wanted cheap I would have stopped at the U-Totem and got a frozen biscuit. I bet lunch and dinner are great to. With our belly buttons pushing on the back of our belt buckles we took about an hour to walk it off and finish exploring all the shops and tourist stuff, and of course, the girls had to get the usual

View to the west from the double arch bridge!

tee-shirts as proof of visit.

 

I’m not sure what time it was when we finally left the Loveless and got back on the road but the skies to our south were clear and inviting. With a short stop at the double arch bridge to get some photos and video of all of us crossing it, we hit the twisties again and made our first official Trace stop of the day at the Gordon House.

 

The Gordon house sits at mile marker 407.7 and is one of the oldest remaining structures on the Trace today. It belonged to a couple that operated the ferry crossing the Duck River nearby. Karen stayed back at the

You did get my curlin iron off the counter?

I hear they have a good breakfast!

restroom building while the rest of us made the quarter mile hike to the ferry crossing. Her ankle was doing good so far and she didn’t want to push it. By the time we got back to the restroom building we were all drenched in sweat from the humidity. The temps were already climbing and getting higher by the second. While we were sitting there a real nice cool breeze raced through the covered area where we were sitting which in retrospect was an omen of things to come. We drank the remainder of our soft drinks, rinsed out the bottles and filled them with cool water from the fountain before leaving for Fall Hollow.

 

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