Vicksburg, Mississippi

 

As I mentioned in my last post we stopped in Vicksburg, Mississippi for a few days as part of our southern swing.  We left Vicksburg yesterday, Tuesday, and are now just down the road a bit in Vidalia, Louisiana.  We did some sightseeing while in Vicksburg as it is the site of one of the most important battles of the Civil War.  But before I get to that I have to mention our meet up with a former co-worker of mine.

On Monday afternoon a motorhome pulls into the space next to ours and, as I usually do, I look out the window to watch them set up.  As I see the guy setting up his utilities I say to myself that he sure looks like Dennis Wilson and then I notice the license plates on the vehicles are Indiana, which is where Dennis lives.  He then turns around and my observation is confirmed, it is Dennis and his wife.  I go outside to say hi and learn that he had read my blog and Facebook check-in and decided to stop in Vicksburg on their way back to Indiana from Texas (they are snowbirds).  What a surprise.  They stayed a couple of nights which allowed us to spend some time catching up. 

As for Vicksburg, the town touts a historic downtown area which is nice but so many of the shops are vacant.  It appears the town is trying as it is a nice area, but they need to get the businesses to come.  There are 5 casinos in the area, plus the military park, so I would have to believe that they do get a fair amount of tourist traffic.  We drove the town then headed to the military park. 

As background, Vicksburg was where an important Civil War battle was fought by General Grant of the Union and General Pemberton of the Confederacy.  The defeat of the Confederacy in this battle allowed the Union to take control of the Mississippi River and cut the confederacy in two.  The military park is one of the most organized ones we have visited. The tour road takes you first through the Union lines with the areas of encampment clearly marked with markers explaining who was there.  You then end up on the Confederate side of the battle lines with their markers.  You get a great appreciation for the field of battle, the terrain, and how close they were.  Throughout the park are markers and monuments for tribute to the various units that fought and died in the battle.  Very interesting place to visit.

Entrance to the park.

This is the largest monument in the the park.  The Illinois monument.

A restored Civil War gun boat, the Cairo.  The display includes many pieces actually from the sunken boat.