WENT NORTH FOR A RIDE

It was a great day for a ride, clear with a high of 25C so that is what we did. We headed north on highway 61 then ventured off on to some secondary roads. We ventured through some very barren areas with swamp (bayou) on both sides. I was fine with not seeing anybody or housing as long as the road was hard topped. It was going fine while driving on top of levee but then we hit a detour and this took us on a narrower road but still hard topped. The road started getting more and more broken up and then down to one lane. We stopped to check our location with the gps and while checking I could see traffic in the distance and it was confirmed by the gps it was highway 61. This was good news but we had to get over to it by following the current road we were on. So we just took it easy following the so called road and drove right through the middle of a farm with the farmer watching us. Finally we reached highway 61.

The Yazoo River is where the gunboat sank.

Heading back to Vicksburg see saw a highway sign for Cracker Barrel and decided to try it out as we have never ate at one before and have seen the restaurants throughout our journey. We enjoyed the food and were both surprised on how fast it came to us.

While approaching the Cracker Barrel, Cathy spotted an outlet mall across from it. So guess what - yes, we spent some time looking through the stores.

We saw these kids in the back of the truck going through town. (no seat belts)

We returned back to the coach and relaxed having a drink and enjoying the sunshine.

That was it for the day...         

HAPPY EASTER

Happy Easter to everyone, hope you have a great day. Today the weather was wet with rain turning into a thunder storm early afternoon. It quit late afternoon but is still cloudy. The high reached 22C.

We called over to the Casino and requested a shuttle pick up which took us over to the Easter Brunch Buffet they were having. It was a very nice meal and after church was out a line up quickly grew. We managed to get a window seat that over looked the river and watched a couple of tug boats hard at work pushing their barges up stream against the strong current.

The shuttle

The guys on the front working on Easter.

When we arrived at the casino there was a truck and this car parked with dents all over them. The driver said it was damage from a hail storm 3 weeks ago in Jackson.

When we returned we relaxed and watched some movies and checked the weather for our future travels.  

We tried to phone my sister as she was having the family Easter, but when there was no answer we remembered it was being held yesterday! Oops! Sorry.

Till tomorrow...

WE HAD AN AMERICIAN HISTORY LESSON TODAY

Today we rode over to Walmart to pick up a few supplies and then left to go through the National Military Park here in Vicksburg. The skies were cloudy and the forecast indicated possible rain showers in the p.m.  We made it half way through the park when it started a lit drizzle around 1:30. From then on it continued on and off for the rest of the tour. We ended up getting damp but it could have been a lot worse. So we made the best of the rain by wiping down the bike and giving it a cleaning. It still reached 21C with the sun returning again around 5.

A brief History Lesson.

To have control of the Mississippi River during the Civil war was crucial for the movement of supplies and troops. Vicksburg was held by 50,000 Confederates and President Abraham Lincoln knew it was critical for them to overtake it to win the war and ordered Maj. General Ulysses S. Grant to do so. After a couple of failed attempts and afraid of losing his command he tried a gutsy plan of having gunboats come down the river and lay cannon fire on the city adding to his cannon fire from the land. Being cut off completely from supplies and food the Confederates were getting sick and weak. After 46 days of siege Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton discussed the terms of surrender with Grant on July 4, 1863. This victory along with Gettysburg was the turning point of the war.

Looks all clear to me.

We found the tour interest and the museum had great displays including a gunboat recovered from the Yazoo River.

This ship weighed 512 tons was 175 ft. long, 51 feet wide and had a draught of 6 feet and carried 158 sailors and 17 officers.

We had this unit park beside us today. On the side it says - Wake up "LiL Snoozy".

All for now...

A DAY OF RIDING

It was going to be a very nice day with a high of 25C so we decided to check out some scenic roads in the area. We head to the east and picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway. This road stretches 440 miles (710km) from Natchez Mississippi to Nashville Tennessee being created by the Native Americans. It was a well maintained road with a speed limit of 50 mph and only had stop signs posted at the exits. So I ran with the cruise control on and just enjoyed the view. Heading south we followed it to the south end - Natchez (60 miles) where we had lunch and explored the historical markers and looked at the old architecture. 

 

We are still finding trees with Spanish moss on them

 

This was Cathy's lunch - Fried Crayfish Nachos, she says it was OK, but wouldn't order it again. I am always amazed at what Cathy will eat.

Natchez, with a population of 18,500 was a Confederate town and was named after the Natchez tribe. It reminded us of New Orleans French Quarter as it was founded by the French too.    

It had an interesting round design.

Municipal building

Refurbished bank built in 1889

The town's center park had this Confederate monument. The soldier, like many others across the south faces north towards the opposing army.

This bluff along the Mississippi is at the end of the main street. There was a barge going by on the river and the road goes down to a casino.

Had to post another t-shirt .

Till tomorrow..