Barbara and Neville by the entrance to the Natchez Trace Parkway just outside of Natchez.
Barbara and Neville by the entrance to the Natchez Trace Parkway just outside of Natchez.
Ranger Eric Chamberlain at Mount Locust.
Mount Locust Inn. Ranger Chamberlain was born in the room on the left. Barbara, Neville and Ranger Chamberlain are on the porch.
Neville with Deborah Purviance, daughter of the owner of Oak Square B&B.
Last Modified on 5/9/98 at 4:14:13
Day's Narrative: The night before we arranged to meet at 7:30 the next morning outside the motel room. When I got up at 6:30 it was raining. Well, I thought to myself, it will certainly clear up by the time we finish breakfast. We went to breakfast at Clara Nell's Deli where they served expresso coffee. During breakfast we met two bicyclers from Cincinnati, Tim Jeffries and Larry Noertker, who were just finishing their ride on the Trace (no photo). We talked with them for a long time about the Trace Parkway and other important bicycling subjects. When we went back outside to drive to the motel it was raining even harder. Oh well, this would be a wet riding day. At the motel we got another cup of coffee while waiting for the rain to let up a bit. After 20 minutes or so, when it was obvious that it wasn't going to let up soon, we got on the bicycles and rode off into the rain on US 61. The semis we kicking up lots of spray as they passed -- which was actually worse than the rain. It's like taking a shower in sand and water. A few miles down the road we turned off onto to the Natchez Trace Parkway and left the big trucks behind. We immediately stopped at the Parkway sign and took the obligatory bicycles-with-sign-picture. Further on we stopped at Mount Locust, the site of an old inn on the Natchez Trace. The park ranger there, Eric Chamberlain (photo), gave us a tour of the old inn. He then told us he was born there in 1940 and lived there until 1944. The property has been in his family since it was built in the latter part of the 18th century. We had a long conversation with Ranger Chamberlain, and then went to view his family's cemetery on the back part of the property. By this time the rain had stopped and riding was a lot more fun. There was no place to eat until Port Gibson, we were told, so we snacked on Power Bars and the bananas we had brought along. It was a pleasant ride from there to Port Gibson. Port Gibson boasts that U. S. Grant said it was "too pretty to burn." It is a beautiful town of about 1800 inhabitants. There is one restaurant, three barbecue places and lots of churches. We met the daughter of the owner, Deborah Purviance, (photo) as we arrived, who helped us find our rooms and Connie. We immediately went to find something to eat for lunch (at 3 p.m.) and then came back to our rooms for showers and naps. After the naps we went back to the barbecue place and had more barbecue for dinner. Since it was so good, and because we weren't able to eat lunch on the Trace Parkway yesterday, we bought sliced beef brisket barbecue sandwiches to take with us tomorrow. This place really has good barbecue, as you may have guessed. If you are every in Port Gibson, it's just across from the Piggly Wiggly supermarket. I believe the name is "Pappy's Barbecue," but there's no name on the building. They have one table under a tin roof, if you want to eat there. Tomorrow we plan to ride to Jackson. The weather is supposed to be better, with the rain leaving the area. We'll see about that. © Ray & Connie Poore, 1998
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