Blogs from Vicksburg, Mississippi, United States, North America

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

Geo: 32.3501, -90.8815A beautiful day, but a bracing -2 deg C when we started out. Very unusual for the South, where mild winters are the norm.Really interesting battlefield tour today, recounting the 47-day Siege of Vicksburg. The Confederate defeats here and at Gettysburg, both in early July 1863, are considered pivotal events in the course of the Civil War. With the fall of the heavily fortified and defended Vicksburg, the Union gained control of the Mississippi River and denied the South this critical supply route.... read more

Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. Driving to Mississippi from Louisiana we weren't sure which way to go, so many interesting things to do in Mississippi, and so many talented Musicians came from here. And also very historic, we decided to follow the Natchez Trace Pathway. It starts in Natchez, on the border of Louisiana and Mississippi and runs through Mississippi and Alabama and finishes in Nashville Tennessee. The Natchez Trace Parkway stretches for 440 miles, or 700 Kilometres, it is a National Park, it averages about 200 metres wide.At different places along it you can see the old Trace, a pathway which was made by Indians, then by Trackers and Traders which came from the north and would walk home from Louisiana after sailing their goods down the Mississippi. The Trace became less popular when the ... read more

October 3, 2014 (Friday) I turned on the TV when I woke up this morning to check on the weather. Rain was supposed to be moving in and I wanted to get down the mountain before it started raining. They said rain should be in the area in an hour so I jumped out of bed, took a quick shower, finished loading up the car and was down the mountain in 40 minutes. I stopped at the condo office checked out and started heading down the road to home. When I left the condo office the GPS tried to take be back over the bad road I came in on Monday. I ignored the GPS. There was no way I was going back over that road. It started raining on me about 20 minutes down the ... read more

In Vicksburg, MS -- Kota waoke up at 10:40AM wanting to go to the pool. :-) We all made the pool and then Aleta went to the casino while Shelby, Dakota, and Briar went to the Vicksburg Military Park (renamed to be politically correct, I guess). Aleta made her donation and returned to the motorhome. Shelby, Dakota, and Briar enjoyed the park, the cannons, the monuments, the Cairo ( an ironclad which was raised from the river. Had supper from Subway. Kids went back to the pool, Briar rode his bicycle in the park.... read more