It’s not unusual for us to go to Tupelo, but we always go for a reason, and do pretty much the same things while we’re there. In all of these years, we’ve never taken a regulation day-trip to Tupelo.

So yesterday we did.

Just before we took off, Mr. Big Food got some leftover turkey gumbo out of the freezer to thaw for supper.

On our way to the town of Elvis’s birth, I finally got a photo of something I’ve been meaning to for a couple of years. It’s one of the most Mississippi things I’ve ever seen. Way out in the middle of nowhere, just on the side of the road.

BBQ Drive Thru. And I’m not kidding, it’s been there since at least early 2021.

Got to Tupelo and found a new restaurant for coffee, went to a new bookstore. By new I mean it only had new books so we didn’t spend much time there. Then headed to the famous Tupelo Hardware Store. Tupelo has apparently become a destination–as we were leaving the hardware store (wonderful selection of knifes) a tour group came in. People were wearing name tags! The sign in front of the store relates a tale.

Young Elvis’s mother took him to the store to get a bike. He however took a shine to a .22 rifle. Mom wasn’t going to buy him a gun, so they compromised on a guitar. True story.

Lunch and then from there to the Tupelo Buffalo Zoo. We opted for the driving tour.

But chose to not get a bucket of feed. The animals, however, were unaware of this choice and so just trotted up to the truck to see if we had anything to share.

It was great fun. We were initially surprised because we thought the animals would be at a distance. I would do it again. Worth every penny of the $17 admission. Baby buffalo are very cute.

From there we went to the seafood market where Mr. Big Food had even more fun. Headed down to West Point and then came home the back way through a line of terrible thunderstorms. I even had to pull over once. And then the highlight of the day.

Fried oysters and gumbo while we watched Elvis in King Creole (1958). Symmetry.