Photo Friday: Tupelo, Mississippi

One of the perks of being a writer with a focus on the South is all of the fun and bizarre places and events I get to see. It’s the small towns and the festivals like the Tupelo Elvis Festival in Tupelo, Mississippi that I went to a few months back. Sometimes I just have to laugh about my life, surrounded by men of all ages and nationalities in sequined costumes performing the songs of Elvis Presley.

It was a small group of writers on the trip, only three of us, so we had so much flexibility in exploring the small town. Our journey had a heavy emphasis on Elvis, as this is where “The King” grew up.

My guide brought us first to his Elvis Presley Birthplace, a landmark on the outskirts of town that includes historical buildings and a museum about the musician. If you’ve been to Graceland, this is another important place for fans to visit, as the town is where his story begins.

You can visit the place where he went to dine on “dough burgers,” sit on the front porch of his home and visit Tupelo Hardware Co, the store where he bought his first guitar, changing his life. And if you visit during this one week of the year, you can see “tribute artists,” or performers who dress in his likeness and play his songs.

This is the biggest competition around, apart from Elvis Week, held annually in Memphis. Groups of older ladies bring their matching t-shirts and know all the tributes by name.

But I was surprised to learn what else Tupelo had to offer besides Elvis. I visited the Tupelo Automobile Museum, which is one of the largest in the country. It boasts everything from a 1900s motorized wagon to a fresh off the nearby assembly line Toyota Prius.

What started a man’s personal collection has become a museum with over 150 cars, now run by his wife Jane Spain. The museum includes cars owned by Elvis, Liberace and B.B. King as well as an original Delorean.

It also has the Fair Park which has fountains for kids to play in and hosts concerts. During Elvis Fest, it’s ground zero for many of the performances. Tupelo is also the headquarters for the Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs nearby. There are also walking trails that run between town and the birthplace, the path that Elvis would have taken.

I also spent some time exploring the shops in downtown Tupelo, including Reed’s department store where Elvis bought his Sunday best. At About the South, I found home decor and gifts for friends back home.

And you can’t go to Mississippi without eating well. Grab a dough burger in Elvis’s booth at Johnnie’s Drive In, the Bayou chicken at Fairpark Grill, fried catfish at Papa V’s 204 and sit on the patio with a glass of wine at Park Heights Restaurant.

My visit to Tupelo and stay at the Hilton Garden Inn was hosted by the Tupelo Visitors and Convention Bureau.