Blogs from Mississippi, United States, North America - page 13

June 24 Friday - Morning Up drinking my tea and doing a little homework while thinking things over. The plan for today is to head directly south on Hwy 1 out of Forrest City Arkansas and head down Scenic Route 1 through The Francis National Forest in Arkansas and cross over into Mississippi at Helena. Then alongside the river in Mississippi on Hwy 1 to Vicksburg. About 200 miles but on slow back roads. I hope they are still there after the flood. I guess I will find out. Vicksburg Arrived in Vicksburg about 5 PM after a long drive on back roads. I took the scenic route to Vicksburg and it took me from about 10 AM till 5 Pm with a short break for lunch. That is about a 7 hour drive for 232 ... read more

I hate to sound repetitious, but DARN, IT’S HOT!!! Saturday night we ate at a Mexican restaurant with Linda and Phil, then back to the air conditioned lounge at the marina to finish our visit. It was great spending time with Linda and Phil, all four of us talking fondly about Sara and Trevor. They are, after all, Sara’s O-Dock parents. Sunday morning it was back on the river on our northward journey. We managed to make 70 miles and a lock before dropping anchor in the same spot where we had spent 2 nights back in November. Definitely a different weather pattern this time. Then it was cold and rainy, this time hot and not. It was a bit cooler than the last few days, I guess due to overcast skies. We swam a bit, ... read more

May 16, Monday Vicksburg to Jeff Busby Campground. Morning entry: In Vicksburg drinking my tea and thinking things over. Looks like the weather will be great today only getting into the 60's here in Vicksburg. After loading up I'll probably drive down Confederate Avenue to the river and have another look at it, then head East towards Jackson then up the Natchez Trace to Jeff Busby Campground to camp. I won't have Internet there and will see if my cell phone works there or not. That's about a 150 mile drive for the day which is more than enough to suit me. Of course there are things I will stop along the way and see. Looks to be a great day for touring. The high is expected to be in the 60's and tonight at Jeff ... read more

May 14, 2011 Saturday Decided to stay another day in Vicksburg so went by the office and paid for another day. Did some more reading on Grants Vicksburg campaign and took another look at the map of the battlefield that I had. On my tour of the battlefield I had missed the "Texas Lunette" which is the defensive position that the 2nd Texas volunteers had fought from with some members of Waul's Texas Legion as well. Being from Texas that was of particular interest to me. The Texas troops were used on both sides of the Railway Redoubt with parts of Waul's Legion as the reserve on the South side of the redoubt while the 2nd Texas Volunteer infantry were the main force on the Second Texas Lunette on the North side with some artillery support ... read more

May 12 Thursday Been a long tiring day today. Very hot and humid. Stayed at the Rocky Springs campground off the Natchez Trace about 30 miles southeast of Vicksburg last night. A nice campground and free. Today drove into Vicksburg and checked out the river and some murals on Levee Road alongside the dikes that hold the river back. I was very impressed with the murals. The river is flooding and hopefully next week when it gets at its maximum the murals won't be washed away. Here is a web site on the murals. The one about "Teddy's bear" is my favorite. http://riverfrontmurals.com/ It was very hot and humid today. Traffic was very light. I guess because media coverage of the flood gives the impression that Vicksburg is flooded which is not the case. Some of ... read more