I had to start this out on day 2.5. After we left the mine we headed to Hot Springs for a minute, then started heading East. It was late in the day and we weren't sure where we were going to stay for the night. Off we go.
A couple hours drive and we found ourselves leaving Arkansas and entering Mississippi...and that's when the detours started.
Natchez Trace Parkway
The Natchez Trace is a 444 mile scenic roadway that runs through 3 states. It was first used by American Indians as far back as 1-200 AD (as you'll soon see). Here is a map of the Natchez Trace from the National Parks Service. //:# (!pinmapple 31.550857 lat -91.356684 long d3scr)
Not really sure how we made it on here other than we saw a Brown Sign. We rode it from Tupelo up into Alabama. Here are a couple of the spots along the way we stopped at.
Twenty Mile Bottom
Pharr Mounds
We crashed out in Mississippi for the night and continued East in the morning. Our destination for the day would be the Georgia Guide Stones.
If you don't know the story behind these, here is an excerpt from Georgia Encyclopedia.
One of the most intriguing granite monuments ever erected stands in Elbert County, near the South Carolina border. The Georgia Guidestones dominate the highest elevation in the county, which is located in the northeastern Piedmont section of the state. Known to some as the American Stonehenge because of their striking resemblance to England's famous monument, the Georgia Guidestones were unveiled on March 22, 1980.
The monument is written in 8 languages and stands over 19ft tall. I wish I could upload all the pics I got here but there are too many. You can watch videos on YouTube that will show everything much better. Here are a couple cool shots I got.
There are so many cool things about these. Not only is it in 8 of the major languages it's also in Babylonian cuneiform, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
That slot you see in the middle stone actually orients the monument with the summer and winter solstices. You should check these out if you ever get a chance!
That's it for today. Keep an eye out for the next days of our adventure.