Travels of Geo Nova: Now in Tennessee

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.