Memphis TN to Madisonville LA

[Cruzr]

I'm going from Memphis TN to Madisonville LA this weekend. Anyone know of any interesting routes betweeen here and there? I'm taking off work Friday so I have all day long to wander south and I-55 is pretty boring....

 

[feelergaugephil]

go down the other Interstate, Not 55, the other one that comes down to I12, i know what you mean, 55 is BORING!!!!

 

[8trackmind]

Well...How did it go? Anything interesting happen? :-s

 

[Cruzr]

I'm on I-55 for 90% of the trip and on I-12 for about 20 miles.

I've looked at the map and there might be a few interesting routes but I might wait for a riding partner before wandering around rural Mississippi alone.....might not be the best idea. I mean, who the hell would want to live in Mississippi?* (Before anyone gets their panties in a wad, I lived in MS for 27 of my 37 years. It's a joke people.)

 

[Cruzr]

Well...How did it go? Anything interesting happen? :-s

No. Nothing intersting at all. Quite uneventful. Which is probably good. I did chat with a couple of guys at fuel stops who used to ride when they were younger. I think they meant "before I got married". But for the most part, it went well. It was a very long ride, though. Bike did great and the weather was pretty good. Not too cold and no rain! \\/

 

[8trackmind]

No. Nothing intersting at all. Quite uneventful. Which is probably good. I did chat with a couple of guys at fuel stops who used to ride when they were younger. I think they meant "before I got married". But for the most part, it went well. It was a very long ride, though. Bike did great and the weather was pretty good. Not too cold and no rain! \\/

Well, thats about as good as it gets. :-D

 

[Cruzr]

Just getting to ride - that's all that matters! If the weather is good and I can get there on my bike, I'd rather ride! :grin:

 

[MissFabulous]

Hope you're taking lots of pictures! Must be nice to be out in some nice warm weather - have a safe ride back!

 

[Cruzr]

Well, I'm not sure "warm" is quite right but "not cold" is a true statement. I have some pix of the kiddos on my bike that are cute! I'll post them when I get home!

 

[Cruzr]

Because I am now THE COOLEST aunt on the planet....

Because I am now THE COOLEST aunt on the planet....

My 9 year old niece on my bike (aka Piglet - the bike's name, not my niece!)....

My 4 year old nephew on Piglet....

 

[Cruzr]

The journey home begins.....

The journey home begins.....

Trip update! Monday, November 21, I rode 517 miles from Madisonville LA to Nachez MS then Port Gibson MS over to Jackson MS then back up to Memphis.

I left Madisonville and headed to Hammond LA for fuel. After filling up and resetting my tripometer (is that a real word?) I started north on Hwy 51. Hwy 51 runs parallel to I-55 and it used to be the main road to travel the length of the state of Mississippi, I'm told by my elders. I discovered that Independence LA is obviously heavily Italian judging by the fact that everything in town, including the water tower, is painted red, white and green!

When I got to Amite City, I hopped on I-55 planning on getting off at Osyka MS. My bladder decided otherwise and I stopped in Kentwood LA - childhood home of the newly single Britney Spears and home of the regionally famous Kentwood Bottled Water company. After a nice conversation with BJ - a Harley dude - from Monroe about riding, I looked at the map and saw I could catch the same highway from Kentwood, so off I went!

I travelled through timber land and saw mostly logging trucks along this path. My goal was to get to Liberty MS, home of the southern humorist/comedian Jerry Clower. I stopped in Liberty for fuel and didn't see one reference to Jerry Clower anywhere. And he talked about growing up in Liberty in his act for years....and moved back to Liberty which is where was living when he passed away. Oh, well.

I set off for Woodville (still in logging land, obviously) to catch Hwy 61 North. Woodville was actually a cute little town! I hopped on Hwy 61 heading north to Natchez.

This is a shot of Hwy 61 North....

And this used to be Mammy's Cupboard....

 

[Cruzr]

Natchez MS

Natchez MS

Natchez is named for a tribe of indians called the Natchez. As soon as I rolled into town, I saw a sign for a Natchez Indian Ceremonial Center and Mounds. I followed the signs to the musuem (free!) and read about the history of the Natchez Indians as reported by the French settlers and then discovered by various excavations of the site and the mounds.

This is what typical Natchez dwellings looked like:

And below is a picture of one of the mounds. One of the purposes of the mounds were to elevate the houses of the chief ("the Sun") above the other buildings. The elevation was not very high. This location seems to have been used only for ceremonial purposes and wasn't inhabited all year-round:

It is the off season and I would imagine that the Spring Pilgrimage is quite the "to-do" but I was less impressed with Natchez than I thought I would be. I rode past Dunleith Plantation, which was quite impressive! Natchez is known for it's beautiful antebellum homes. If you click on the link above to the Dunleith website, the picture you see is quite authentic - it really does look at amazing! I'd be surprised if it looked that good when it was inhabited!

I wanted to find "Natchez Under the Hill". Back when Natchez was a busy river port, there was an infamous area known as "Natchez Under the Hill" where all the saloons, brothels, and other seedy establishments were, in essence, tucked away from the more genteel society of Natchez. I found Silver St, which is the infamous street, and discovered an Isle of Capri Casino and one restaurant and then casino parking. Again, not what I expected.

I found another road that led down to the river - a quite steep one, at least for me on a bike!

Here's the steep street (somehow the grade of the slope seems much tamer now than it did then....):

And a shot of the Mississippi River:

I looked around for something "authentically Natchez" for lunch to no avail. The restaurants open at 5 pm for dinner. I ended up at Sonic for a burger. Woo hoo. Maybe next time I can spend more time looking around the town. From what I saw of Natchez, I think I still like Vicksburg MS better.

 

[Cruzr]

The Windsor Ruins

The Windsor Ruins

Leaving Natchez on Hwy 61, I had planned to head north to Vicksburg. Along the way, I saw a sign for the Windsor Ruins. The Windsor Ruins are what's left of a plantation house that was built for $175,000 and then accidentally burned to the ground on Feb 17, 1890 (79 years to the day before I was born!). The house survived the War of Northern Aggression (aka the Civil War) only to be accidently destroyed by fire by a party guest (or that's how the story goes).

The house was built by Smith Coffee Daniell II in 1861. He died 2 weeks after the mansion was completed, leaving his wife and kids to try to run the place. (Insert sexist man-bashing comments here.)

The ruins were donated by descendants of the Daniell family in 1974 to the State of Mississippi.

While all drawings, photographs, plans, etc for the house were destroyed in the fire, a drawing done by a Yankee soldier under Gen. US Grant's command in 1863 showed that the house looked something like this (the Mississippi River could be viewed from the room on the top of the house, the cupola):

What remains:

 

[Cruzr]

Rodney Rd to Port Gibson

Rodney Rd to Port Gibson

I left the "starting-to-get spooky" Windsor Ruins and headed to Port Gibson on Rodney Rd. Rodney Rd is about 10 miles of TWISTIES. There is not one single straight-a-way for about 10 miles. The road just twists and turns through Claiborn County until you arrive in Port Gibson. I did catch a glimpse of the nuclear reactor at Port Gibson through the trees but I didn't stop to take a picture. There were twisties to be twisted! :-D

The interesting part of the trip ended in Port Gibson. I was still quite far from Memphis and just ready to get home, so I made a beeline for Jackson and jumped on I-55 and hauled my butt HOME!

I was quite chilled to the bone when I got home and I'm still tired from the ride but it turned out to be a nice adventure and since I didn't have any mishaps or close calls, I'd say it was a great day! \\/

 

[Peppermint Patti]

Great pics and stories Cruzr.
Thank you sooooooo much, I feel like I was there with ya' !!!!
Great photos and text...the kids are darling too.
I bet they are crazy about you...having and auntie the RIDES is cool....very cool...

 

[Cruzr]

Thanks, Patti! The kids are great and we always have a good time together! Glad you enjoyed the pics!

 

[Peppermint Patti]

Great gike also, did I mention that?
Gotta give it to those Hondas...really put together well.

 

[Cruzr]

Yep, she'll ride and ride and ride! I'm really glad I didn't have any mechanical probs! She held up just fine! I really LOVE my bike! And she's comfortable!

 

[Boondocks]

Thanks for the interesting report and pictures, Cruzr.

Having been born and living in New Orleans for 25 years, it was nostalgic to hear the names and accounts of the places you visited. I have been to most of them at one time or another. It brings back memories.

 

[Redman]

Nice pics and description.

I too was in Nachez once, and enjoyed some of the same scenes that you posted.

Rode the Naches Trace, which is a National Park scenic/historical road. It goes from Nashville TN to Nachez MS. Isnt as scenic as, say, Blue Ridge Parkway, but is similar in that is limited access, 35-45 mph, no comermcail traffic and almost no crossroads. Was reading your descriptioon looking to see if you had concidered going on that. But, it isnt a road to take if your are trying to get anywhere in any time, because it goes to mostly nowhere and takes a long time to get there.