Blogs from Mississippi, United States, North America - page 2

MONEY There is a little place called Money, Mississippi in Carroll County. It is not very much of a place but it was where girl named Bobbie Gentry hailed from. Bobbie was gifted songwriter and she had a fine singing voice. One of the songs she wrote and sang is called Ode to Billie Joe: “It was the third of June, another sleepy dusty delta day, I was out chopping cotton and my brother was bailing hay. And at dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat, And mama hollered out the back door, y’all remember to wipe to your feet. And then she said I got some news this morning from Choctaw Ridge. Today Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge.” The song maunders on ... read more

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 thought at first that the American Queen wasn’t an actual steamboat with a real paddle wheel as its only means of propulsion but it turns out I was wrong. It is all of those things. It is called a boat not a ship because it was built for the river with a flat bottom and very little freeboard. Built in 1995 it is 418’ long, 95’ wide, weighs 3500 tons which makes it the largest steamboat in the world. The interior design imitates the old 1930s boat Delta Queen with a Ladies Parlour (great for doing my blog as it is quiet and has a bay window looking out over the river) designed around an old fireplace. Opposite is a Gentleman’s Card Room full of stuffed animal heads. These lead into the Mark Twain Lounge, ... read more

Den Morgen verbrachten wir noch in Hot Springs, Arkansas, the boyhood home of President Clinton, wie am Ortseingang steht. Seit Beginn des 19. Jahrhunderts sind die heißen Quellen bekannt. Heute gibt es 47 Quellen, die täglich 3.8 Mio Liter Wasser leifern mit einer Temperatur von 62 Grad. Die Geschichte des Ortes ist sehr unterhaltsam, so war das Arlington Hotel sehr beliebt bei Al Capone. Auch war hier eine Hochburg von illegalem Glücksspiel, erst 1967 griff man mit harter Hand durch. Bandenkriege forderten Todesopfer- schwer vorstellbar heute, wo HS ein schläfrige Ort ist. Nur die Art Deco Gebäude sind hinreißend, reichen aber offenbar nicht aus, um hier einen beliebten Badeort zu schaffen. Wir besichtigten ein Museum in einem ehemaligen Badehaus. Den Rest des Tages waren wir auf dem MR. Das Aufregendste war die Überquering des Mississippi. Der ... read more

I probably started out the day with a bad attitude, and sure hope it didn’t show to my travelling girlies. We had such a long way to go today, and I was not looking forward to the drive at all. 250+ miles over hill and dale and ‘hood and vale. It took us pretty much 7 hours, with 2 lengthy stops. Some of the roads in MS are wonderful, and others just plain suck. The interstates suck, full of potholes and varying road surfaces. The State and County roads are mostly ok, but their speed limit can range from 45 to 65. I don’t do 65 at all; I would be airborne over the bumps. I was point person, Kim next, Ginnie tail gunner. I am very surprised how hilly central MS is. Beautiful rolling hills, ... read more