In 1863 Vicksburg was under siege for 47 days from the Union Army lead by General Grant. On July 4 the city finally surrendered marking a turning point in the Civil War. One of the reasons they didn’t have a hope was the fact that they were bombarded with cannons from gunboats on the river. These were incredible floating iron structures. The Cairowas sunk in 1863 by a mine remotely detonated by hand, and a hundred years later was raised. It is now on show at the Vicksburg National Military Park. Vicksburg is in a strategic position on the confluence of the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers. However it has lost this somewhat after the Mississippi changed course and cut it off. It has had its fair share of disasters with a major flood in 1927 and ... read more

I knew that the American Queen had Hop On Hop Off buses at all stops along the river. What I didn’t know was that they brought their own to every stop. Three branded buses follow the boat (it is a boat not a ship) wherever it goes to provide this service. It’s a pretty slick operation. Our first stop this morning was an example of a small mid western town, with churches, Town Hall, Courthouse and very pretty houses lining the streets. We’re still in Louisiana. The highlight was a visit to The Myrtles Plantation and a guided tour through what is purported to be the largest haunted house in the south. The whole experience was made more real with actors in costume telling their tales in each room. It is all Chloe the house slave’s ... read more

Oak Alley is a beautiful antebellum (pre civil war) mansion built brick by brick, by slaves in 1805 to house the family of Jacques Roman, part of a wealthy land and slave owning family. Together they owned on average 892 men, women and children as slaves with about 200 of them on the Oak Alley estate. This is known because their names are all recorded as business transactions. Situated on the western bank of the Mississippi about an hour’s drive out of the city it is famous for the alley of magnificent live oak trees leading up to the house. Crossing one of the bridges we could see how high the river is. We’re lucky to be visiting it from New Orleans as the tour being run on the first day on the boat has been ... read more

Today Nicholas turns 12. We were with him last year in Poland for his 11th birthday the same day that Elliot was born. He turns 1 today and is nearly walking. Nicholas chose a Japanese Hibachi restaurant for dinner which was very entertaining. A chef cooks the food in front of you including a mountain of rice, which Nicholas loves. Prior to dinner we met Aidan out at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum not far from the city. The boys were at a holiday camp there where active marines take them for, among other things, physical exercises. On show was the 5000th B17 bomber. It looked shiny and new so I don’t think it was used. A couple of days earlier Kim took us all out to Old Fort Jackson closer to the mouth of ... read more

After an excellent flight on AirNZ 28 straight to Houston we were assailed by very, very warm temperatures, such that you duck from air conditioned building to car to building again, spending as little time as possible actually outside. The reason for staying a couple of nights here was to visit the private Menil Art Collection. Unfortunately a couple of things we went to see such as the Rothko Chapel, the Dan Flavin building and the Contemporary Gallery were closed. However the building complex alone, including the Cy Twombly Gallery, was well worth it. Set in an outlying suburb covering a number of blocks, the manicured and we’ll watered lawns contrasted with the stark white low modernist buildings. Covered walkways surround immaculate gardens. The inward sloping roofs ensure that rain is directed onto the gardens. A ... read more