Vicksburg

Vicksburg

The July 4, 1863, Grant victory in the Vicksburg Battle was a turning point in the civil war and Illinois soldiers played a very active roll. This victory gave the North undisputed control of the Mississippi River and split the Confederacy in two. 

The Illinois State Memorial, dedicated in 1906, cost over $190,000. In todays dollars that is more than $4.6 million! There are also many smaller memorials around the battlefield.

On May 19, 1863, an Illinois infantry was running out of ammunition and sent Orion Howe, a 14 year old musician volunteer to run back and get more. He was wounded but made it to General Sherman to ask for the cartridges. This heroic run, while he was shot in the leg, made him the youngest recipient of the Medal of Honor. Orion went on to attend the Naval Academy and have quite a career. 

The Shirley house was built by a salve owner that decided to join Grant and allow him to use his home as Union headquarters. During the night of May 21, 1863, Grant was awaken to the noise of his men tearing the sideboards off the house-unaware that their commander was sleeping inside. Grant was annoyed but when he learned their plans were to use the lumber for a bridge over a trench in front of Stockade Redan he was more than happy to help them. When the house was dismantled, Union headquarters were re-established in tents. 

The Mississippi River is visible from the battle field but during a flood 20 years ago it changed directions so it does not flow by the site like it did in 1863.

The cemetery is enormous.

On our way home we stopped for dinner at Shaggy’s on the Ross Barnett Reservoir. We ate outside on the water and the waiter informed us the weather is warm, 70 for a low,  all winter in this area. We ordered Beach Balls for an appetizer, fried mashed potato balls, delicious! 

Our site was quite large but not level!

Well.....

I am not usually into telling my story but today I was thinking about the last ten years. Ten years ago things seemed normal: the kids were young adults, I was teaching, playing tennis and golf, weighted 110 lbs, and thought I was healthy. Ten years and one month from today I ran out for what I thought would be a quick Dr visit but turned out to be one of the worst days of my life. Within a week I was no longer working, had major surgery, and had started chemo. The prognosis was bleak but the oncologist did say when/if I survived I would have lost weight and I would  have thick, dark, curly hair. He was correct in that I did survive but I gained 40 pounds and my hair came back thin, white and straight! 

Jump ahead 9 years and guess what came back with a vengeance. I have not lost the extra weight form the first bout and I guess it was because I was mad and a bit depressed. The first time Natalie stayed by my side to nurse me and here we were again. Natalie’s friend was in the middle of a huge weight loss and he motivated Natalie and me to begin our weight loss journey. We have both lost more than we ever thought possible and are feeling great.

I am thinking about all this today because Duffey and I visited the Vicksburg Battle Field and unlike our previous adventures, this time I was able to climb all the stairs and walk all the trails without any problems! I should have lost this weight long ago, but I’m glad it is gone now and hope I have years to explore without problems!

Natchez Trace

This was our first day driving on the Natchez Trace which is a very nice, but thin, two lane road. The speed limit is 50mph and the road has no shoulder. There are many places to pull over if you are not in an RV. The pull outs do not have space for cars but a Class C RV about fills the parking spaces.

A tree was down across the road and someone had cut off some of the branches to open one lane. Bicycle riders are along the road and are allowed to use one lane. We were fortunate that the traffic was sparse so it was easy to pass bicycles and get around the downed tree. 

We were lucky enough to arrive at Sunken Trace when there were no cars and we took up all but 4 parking spots. The trail is sunken from all the walking on the wet earth.

We drove less than 200 miles to Timberlake RV Park, Brandon, Miss. It was different because before check in we had to find a spot, let them know the site number, and pay then. All sites are large cement pads and Duf is amazed that they spent all the money but did not make the pads level. 

After settling in we headed to Raymond to find the Civil War battle field and cemetery. In town an elderly gentleman talked to us and he had taught a coach from South Bend that Duffey knew from officiating. Small World! We found the cemetery and were amazed to find some Ainsworth graves in the newer section. 

Finally we found the battle field and walked around to read the markers. The Battle of Raymond was a pivotal point in the most brilliant campaign, by Grant,  ever fought on American soil.

Natchez

This is the visitor center in Natchez and it has free camping for two nights with electric. We did not know this and are already camping down on the Mississippi River watching the badges go by.

 This is a Casino at the bottom of a steep road and on the river.

 We ate at this quaint grill right on the shore of the mighty Mississippi River.

 We sat out on this porch.

 The fried green tomatoes topped with shrimp an a southern sauce was amazing!

 Duf had shrimp and cheese grits.

 I had grilled cat fish topped with shrimp, mushrooms and cheese.

Crazy people

On Burbone Street we observed very young boys, 9 years old, using buckets like drums and playing their hearts out. We felt sorry for them because they were working hard and when their tip bucket was full an older fella came and took the money and gave each boy 5 one dollar bills and told them to keep playing. After they got paid a young girl pulling a cooler came and sold them bottles of water for $2.

 The fortune teller was busy and every scam artist in town was out working the crowd. They know the weaknesses of vacationers. Some used children to pull at the heartstrings, some used intimidation by getting in the vacationeers space, and some used helpers! 

We had lunch at Johnny White's on the upstairs patio so that we could watch all the action on Bourbon Street. There were some locals that were so drugged out they could barely walk. We watched 3 fellas each consume a bottle of whisky within 30 minutes, bother people, and then just get comfy and pass out! All entertaining but VERY SAD.

We ended our day by heading to the river area and watching all the boat traffic. The current is strong and it was mesmerizing watching the ships navigate the sharp curve. 

 This is the fortune teller and her husband the con man!

 We sat up here watching the crazy people.

 How did this guy get the bike to balance!?

Cafe du Monde

Up early to watch a movie about hurricane Katrina and how it messed up this area. The wetlands shrink a hurricane by 1 foot for every mile of wetland. Over the years the wetlands have washed out to giving hurricanes less resistance. The water and silt no longer remain in the area to add to the wetlands so they diminish, but since Katrina scientists realized they needed to keep the dirt in the area, not wash it out to the ocean, to repair wetlands and allow they to regrow. Salt water has also gotten in areas it was not in before and it killed the vegetation that help keep the ground in place. Replanting and using plants that are able to survive in the new conditions has helped hold the soil in place. It is a long road but the rebirth has begun and will continue.

After the movie we purchased shuttle tickets to the French quarter area. Our first stop was  Cafe du Monde for beignets and coffee. The line was blocks long and we had been standing there for about 20 minutes, moving about 5 feet, when a young fellow walked by us on his way to report to work. He looked at me and I smiled and winked at him. After he checked in he returned and took us out of line and right in to serve us! We took our beignets and coffee to go so we could walk over to Jackson Square to eat and watch the people. The young man got a hefty tip!!

At Jackson Square we saw young ladies and boys having their coming out walk around the Jackson statue. They were all dressed up, with one girl crowned queen, but they still squirmed around like kids!

Pilot

Today we drove 5 hours and stopped at a Pilot north of Tallahassee in Marianna. The traffic was not as bad as we feared and was never at a stand still. We walked across the street to  Ruby Tuesday for dinner and then took a bit of a walk around the area. Not much to see here. The Walmart is very clearly marked with numerous signs stating that overnight parking is NOT permitted!

Our only problem was that the passenger window glass came unconnected. Taped it shut—-not really becoming on our beautiful  RV!

In the morning we noticed the Pilot lot was full and half the Walmart lot was also full!