Young Elvis Takes Center Stage:
Elvis is a prime attraction drawing families to Tupelo, to the Elvis Presley Birthplace where visitors meet the child who would become an icon, first in the two-room shotgun house where Elvis was born, and then in the nearby museum, recently renovated and featuring an extensive collection of personal memorabilia in an in-depth exploration of Elvis’s early life and influences. The birthplace is also home to a chapel, a gift shop and a gracious outdoor expanse where an “Elvis at 13” life-size statue depicts Elvis in the last year his family lived in Tupelo, and where a memorial fountain, a “walk of life” and a “story wall” of personal reminiscences pay tribute as they tell Elvis’s story. A truly inspiring new addition, the actual church Elvis attended as a child, offers visitors the opportunity to experience, via a multi-media show, a 15-minute worship service featuring a young Elvis singing “Jesus Loves Me.”
After the birthplace, most visitors want to hit the road with the Early Years Driving Tour, which starts at the Birthplace and leads to sites important to Elvis during his formative years. At Tupelo Hardware, visitors can stand in the spot where Elvis bought his first guitar, and where today, the wide plank floors, tall ceilings and the glass case used to sell guitars in 1945, all together conjure that extraordinary time, place and talent.
Buffalos Make a Big Comeback:
It is another scene not soon forgotten: a herd of more than 100 buffalo, the largest herd east of the Mississippi, spread out over the 200 acres of the Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo. Visitors hop the monster Bison Bus or an open-air trolley to move among these mighty creatures as they graze — a special highlight is the sighting of Tukota, one of only three white buffalos in the country. After roaming the range, bus and trolley, pull into the specially created pens where visitors can safely hand-feed the buffalo with corn and grain. With the largest bull in the Park weighing in at more than 3,000 pounds, these American beauties are handled with care, and so are park guests.
That kind of interaction is the hallmark of the Buffalo Park and Zoo, which is also home to a growing array of exotic animals, including a zebra, lion, tiger, bear, reptiles and what started as a pair of giraffes, but now has become an entire family. Even older kids are charmed by the park’s petting zoo where pygmy goats, miniature horses, sheep and even a miniature cow nuzzle up to visitors.
Families and other large groups also enjoy sleepovers in the park’s “Indian Village,” where visitors can stay overnight among the sounds of the wild and also enjoy trail rides and cookouts.
Museums Rev Up the Fun:
On-the-go families who don’t go in for stuffy museums will love going into all of Tupelo’s attractions that are both fact- and fun-filled. Recognized as one of the finest in the country, the Tupelo Automobile Museum is a massive 120,000 square-foot repository of automotive classics guaranteed to ignite the interests of young and old alike. The museum’s collection of more than 100 cars, valued at a total of more than $6 million, include everything from a 1929 Duesenberg to a 1948 Tucker to an 1886 Benz. Kids are especially impressed by the 1984 DeLorean that looks as if it might take off with Marty McFly any moment in a “Back to the Future” flight; the 1994 Dodge Viper is another cool highlight.
And speaking of cool, how cool is this: an all-access pass to the workings of the human body in a pioneering museum that combines health and science with hands-on excitement for kids from kindergarten through eighth grade. Only the second of its kind in the nation, Tupelo’s new Healthworks! takes visitors on an unforgettable exploration of health and the human body, from the way we think to what we eat to the way our bodies run — legs to noses and everything in between.
What parents need to know is that Healthworks! is a curriculum-based interactive learning center, but what kids know from the moment they enter this smart and colorful world is that Healthworks! is non-stop fun, a place where they can get into the gray matter at the Brian Brain Show before stepping inside Brain Theatre, a giant replica of the human brain where cerebral wonders await exploration. Kids also love hiking up Skin Crawl wall, a climbing wall that covers the fascinating facts about the organ that covers the human body. Then there’s the delicious fun at Decisions Diner, lively leaps at the Fit Pit, riding action at Pulse Racers, and at the popular Grossology, a chance to learn the straight poop, one could say, about body functions in a scientific yet truly kid-friendly way. The guiding philosophy behind Healthworks! is to make learning and great life choices “infectious,” so that kids go away not only informed but transformed for a healthier, stronger future.
From health to history, Tupelo really delivers. With its old-fashioned diner, once a Memphis street car, and its more than 3,000 other artifacts dating back nearly a century and a half, the Oren Dunn Museum steeps visitors in a captivating historical narrative. The Tupelo Veterans Museum pays tribute to the men and women who dedicate their lives to the concept of ensuring freedom for all Americans.
The Natchez Trace
It was a trail first carved out by the mastodons and giant bison of prehistory. Later, the earliest Native Americans — the Chickasaw, the Choctaw and the Natchez — followed the trail to hunt, before the “Kaintuck” flat boatmen traveled it on foot after selling their wares, boats and all, in New Orleans. In those days, with its robbers and hostile Natives, the Natchez Trace was known as “the Devil’s Backbone.”
These days, the Natchez Trace Parkway is known as one of the most scenic, beautifully preserved and historic routes in all of America, extending 444 miles from Natchez to Nashville. Parkway headquarters are located in Tupelo, and here visitors are immersed in the road’s colorful and exciting history through recently redesigned and refined exhibits that combine scholarship with entertainment. At sites like the Chickasaw Village and nearby Pharr Mounds, a 90-acre burial complex where eight mounds spread out in a majestic swath, both kids — and moms and dads — will exclaim “awesome!”
There are also other attractions, as well — camping, birding, hiking, special events and mile after mile of spectacularly scenic road.
Battle of Brice’s Crossroads
With panoramic views surrounded by undeveloped lands, the Brice’s Crossroads Battlefield site offers a feel and an atmosphere that takes visitors back in a very real way to the 11th hour victory of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest’s army over Union General Sturgis, who was trying to protect Sherman’s supply lines from attack.
Today, the site is “considered one of the most beautiful preserved battlefields of the Civil War,” according to Wikipedia, and offers an engrossing and enthralling experience, with walking trails and an interpretive center to deepen understanding and knowledge. Each year, the annual reenactment and day of living history truly brings this exciting battle alive to participants and spectators alike.
Inside the Tupelo city limits, the Tupelo National Battlefield Park marks the spot of another important battle, the Battle of Tupelo, the last major engagement of the Civil War in Mississippi.
Trails, Carousels and the Fine Art of Shopping
Whatever your preference in shopping — power shopper or a picky buyer, out to bag a bargain or acquire the uncommon — Tupelo lays out a wealth of choices in venues so vibrant and charming even non-shoppers surrender with a smile. For who could resist a shopping mall with a full-sized, fully operational carousel and a Central Park Playground as centerpieces? Barnes Crossing turns the concept of “mall” into major enjoyment — it’s the second largest in the state, with the kind of selection and quality brands that mean everyone in the family finds their heart’s desire.
After Barnes Crossing, it’s time to hit the trail — the Tupelo Antiques Trail where treasure hunters can wind their way through one delightful emporium after another, all the way through downtown and into the heart of the exciting Fairpark District. Jazzy, dynamic and alive with urban energy, Tupelo’s downtown district is an uptown feast of chic boutiques, quaint shops and dining choices that run the gamut from trendy to four-star to fun, funky and casual. Downtown accommodations put visitors in the center of it all, including the 10,000-seat BancorpSouth Arena, which hosts high profile sporting events and musical stars like Nickelback and Gretchen Wilson.
Musical stars, classic cars, historical highlights, downtown happenings — there’s something for everyone to enjoy in this warm and friendly city. The city where Elvis was born always strikes the right chord with families.
For more information call 800-533-0611 or visit www.tupelo.net.