Now in Tennessee
From Natchez we went to Grand Gulf Military Park. This is
part of the Mississippi state park system. We intended to spend 2 nights here
then move on to Vicksburg. Since it was so nice we stayed 4 nights. We
basically had the park to our selves so we just drove to Vicksburg each day. Grand
Gulf Military Park played an important defensive roll for the south. There was
a thriving town until a flood of the Mississippi river took 2/3 of Grand Gulf and
washed it away. We walked down a road that was closed to vehicular traffic, due
to flooding to see the swirling waters of the Mississippi. Thank goodness the
park and camper were across the street on the high ground. Down another road
was Fort Colburn. Fort Colburn played a major defensive position against Grant
on the MS. You could look out over the swirling Mississippi River and just
picture the guns trained on the steamboats carrying the Northern troops.
The next day we went to the town of Port Gibson. It is
reported that Grant arrived here and said not to burn it down because it was
too beautiful thus it is know as “the town to beautiful to burn”. We did a self-guided tour checking out the
old buildings on Main St. From there we went for a drive to find the Ruins of
Windsor. Built in 1860 and destroyed by fire in 1890. It is on the National
Resister of Historic Places. Here we met a wonderful couple from Jackson MS and
they too were history nuts. They told us the story of a movie company getting
permission to use the site in a film that Liz Taylor stared in. They also told
us about the best-fried chicken anywhere at the Old Country Store in Lorman MS.
Built 130 years ago, in fact the store is the only commercial building in the
town. They left to go get lunch and we followed suit after exploring the ruins.
At the store it was all you can eat buffet with all the southern fixings along
with the fried chicken. Yum Yum Yum. The best part of the lunch was when Arthur
Davis, owner and cook, came out and sang to the patrons. It was a love song
from the 60’s. He went to all of the couples and sang. Well I wish I had a
camera because when he stood behind David, with his hand on David’s shoulder
and sang to us I have never seen so many shades of red!
Vicksburg-Day one was spent at a museum the Army Corp of
Engineers run. It was all about the river, both natural history and flood
management. It showed how man interfaced with the river from prehistoric times
until today. The city being right on the river needs a floodwall to protect the
lower parts of the city. On the city side there are murals on each section
depicting a piece of history. It was a beautiful walk. For lunch we were told
to go to the Tomato Place and get the best BLT ever. It started out as a farm stand and morphed into a very
eclectic, tiny simple lunch spot. The sandwich was great but the atmosphere was
even better.
Day 2-We got to the visitors center at the Vicksburg
National Battlefield at 9. We watched a wonderful movie about the Civil War in
Vicksburg. We made plans for a guide to take us around the park for 2 hours.
Michael, our guide met us as we exited the movie, we were ready to go. Michael
drove us around the battlefield for almost 3 hours. His stories and
descriptions made the battlefield come alive. His information included lots of
interesting facts about the people depicted in the monuments of which there are
some 1,600. David and I could looked around just take it all in. Michael’s
family at one time used to farm on the battlefields so his history went back to
the making of the park. For lunch we went to an old house dating back to the
Civil War, The Inn On Walnut Hill. Here we had the best-fried green tomatoes
with a superb creamed crawfish sauce.
Leaving GGMP we continued north on the trace stopping when
and where ever there was a stop to take in the history and natural wonders
around us.
Our next home for 3 nights was Trace State Park off the
Trace near Tupelo MS. Here we found two bakeries, Elvis’s birthplace and a
Civil War battlefield. On the ride into town we had the Sirius radio tuned to
the Elvis station to help ease us into the proper mood. After 3 days it was
time to leave MS and travel through Alabama along the Trace to reach TN. The
entire length of the trace has bestowed us with a virtual painters pallet of
colorful wild flowers. It has been wonderful following the spring north. We
have been following the blooming Dogwood trees since Blackwater River State
Park in FL.
In TN our first stop was a private campground in Savannah
called Green Acres. We chose this spot so we could visit Shiloh battlefield and
the Civil war museum at Corinth. The Shiloh visitor’s center also had a
wonderful film about the battle here. Touring the battlefield by car we saw
places you read about in history books like the Peach Orchard, the Hornets Nest
and the Bloody Pond. They were bone-chilling experiences. Walking through the National
cemetery and seeing all of the unnamed graves, over 2,000, this was just the
federal side. While driving through the park there was a marker at a mass grave
where hundreds of Confederate soldiers were buried. Both brought a lump to your
throat.
Well it’s time to move on to David Crockett State Park
nestled in the rolling hills of western TN. It is beautiful here. Our first
afternoon was spent exploring around. After a 5-mile walk, some of it on the
Trail of Tears, we got back to the camp. A few miles of the Trail of Tears goes
through this park. David Crockett was the only congressman from TN that voted
against the Indian Removal Act that would be voted into law and force the
Cherokee to move west.
We are close to the Trace so we spent yesterday driving
north seeing the sights and hiking the trails. David got to cross off one thing
on his bucket list, Meriwether Lewis’s grave. Lewis stopped for the night at
Grinder’s Stand on his way to Washington, DC. Here he committed suicide ending
his life at 35. Other highlights were 2 sections of the original Trace you
could drive on, each about 2 miles long. They were limited to cars only and
once we drove them we could see why you couldn’t take a trailer on them.
Narrow, unpaved and rutted. With the rainy and windy weather that has blown
through here we had to stop and move a fallen tree. We have been lucky in that
the bad weather has always seemed to be all around us, that is up until
yesterday afternoon. At the end of the day the last site we went to was a
waterfall. Well the sky opened up and we got drenched. The waterfall can wait
for another day.
This morning we hiked
another 4 miles. On the way out we were up on the ridge. Coming back we went
down in the hollow along the river where Dave Crockett once lived, both we
beautiful. We saw new birds along with birds we haven’t seen in years so it was
a good morning. This afternoon was spent getting the blog caught up and more
hikes. I think 7 miles is enough for today. We will spend another day enjoying
this place. Wednesday we will leave here and finish the Trace then on our way
to civilization in Nashville TN. We are both wondering how we will handle that.
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| Church in Port Gibson. The gallery is where the slaves sat |
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| Windsor Ruins |
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| The Country Store |
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| Flood Wall in Vicksburg |
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| Mural on Flood Wall |
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| Our Lunch Spot |
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| Illinois Monument at Vicksburg |
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| The Cairo on display at Vicksburg |
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| Our campsite at Trace State Park |
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| Field of flowers along the Trace |
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| Elvis's birthplace |
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| wild flowers |
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| Wild flowers |
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| More wild flowers |
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| Line of battle at Shilo |
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| River Where early Americans had Iron Works |
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| Meriwether Lewis Grave |
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| Overlook on Trace |
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| Hooded Warbler a new bird for us |
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| A hike at David Crockett SP |
