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Along the Trace there are points of interest every few miles. Some a just signs explaining what used to be there and some things that are still there.
This is Mount Locust Inn, built around 1780. Mount Locust is the only remaining example of a frontier "stand" or inn on the Natchez Trace. Stand were located at 10 or 20 mile intervals, or about one days' walk apart. For approximately 25 cents weary travelers could enjoy a supper of "mush and milk" and the priviledge of sleeping on the floor in a room jamed to the rafters with saddles, baggage, and other wayfarers.
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We stopped and were given a tour by the ranger.
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A dusty road winding through deserted fields leads to the eerie Ruins of Windsor, the remains of the largest and most spectactular antebellum mansion ever constructed in Misissippi. The house was designed by one of the country's most celebrated architects at an 1860 cost of $175,000. The mansion escaped destruction at the hands of federal troops on three separate occasions during the Civil War, but burned to the grounds at the hands of a careless smoker in 1890. Twenty-three towering columns are all that remain of the once opulent mansion. The white dot between the columns is Judy.
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Rocky Springs was a prosperous community of the 1800's that thrived as a center of agriculture and commerce. The cotton that made the town rich, however made the soil poor. Gradually the earth became depleted and eroded, and by 1930 Rocky Springs was a ghost town. Today only a church, a cemetery, and a rusting safe once filled with treasures remain of the once-bustling community. Judy is checking out the safe.
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There a several cypress swamps along the Trace that have boardwalks. At this one we met a young man who was also biking the Trace. He, however, started in New Orleans and was doing 90 miles per day. He works at a National Park out west and has biked all over the US.
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