Those 70ish Girls

This post is a snapshot in time. I’m getting behind and it’s already past my bedtime. I have included lots of pictures to take up space.

Sunday, we left wherever we were and drove to wherever we are.

Sunday

Here we have some pics of the drive along Trace Natchez Parkway. The road has an interesting history. It was traveled by highwaymen and Presidents. It’s a beautiful and peaceful drive, so we took our time making our way from Meridian to Vicksburg. 

Around noon we pulled into a roadside park and made some sandwiches for a picnic lunch.

The leaves haven’t turned as much here as they have in some of the colder climates.

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Vicksburg

The Vicksburg Battlefield Tour

“See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key. Let us get Vicksburg and all the country is ours. The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket.”

President Abraham Lincoln

It took three months of continuous fighting before Vicksburg fell to the Union Army in the Civil War. 

Most of the battles during the siege of Vicksburg were fought on the grounds inside the Vicksburg National Military Park. A few were fought on land given to the city, but the battles fought there are marked as well. 

Below: The Shirley house, which was sometimes referred to as the Southern White House and a picture of the view looking across the battlefield…beautiful country.

We stood on the same ground as the soldiers fought on as we followed the story on a CD we purchased at the visitor center. It directed us to pull up to one of the locations on the map and listen to the description before getting out of the car to view the place where it had happened.

There are sixteen tour destinations but you can go at your own pace. You can also hire a guide or download the tour on your cell phone.

The Illinois memorial was one of the most impressive. Below is the rotunda of the memorial.

The cemetary

The cemetary within the park

We stopped to take a picture of this little fawn that was  standing on the roadside inside the park between the 3rd and 4th stations. A little later, we left to grab some lunch and when we got back, the little one was laying on a narrow spot beside the road.

We knew he must be hurt, as he had been in the same location for almost an hour. We watched as he got up and crossed the road. Nothing appeared to be broken, but his hip looked like it was badly bruised. It could be he had fallen down the steep hill to the inside of the winding road.

We called the visitor center and they sent a park ranger out right away. She said she was going to leave the fawn alone now that he was off the road . There were no animals in the park that would harm him and his mother would most likely find him soon.

Below: The fawn runs off. At least he’s no longer close to the road.

Below: Kip talks to the ranger and another, older fawn we saw a few minutes later.

We’re going back to finish the battleground tour and see the historic downtown area today. Then tomorrow we head for the homestead. Below are a few shots of our rv park (location.) We’re right across from the Mississippi River.