Travelin' The Great River Road

Yesterday was a travel day. We drove from Vicksburg, MS up to Robinsonville, MS (just below the MS/TN state line) where we're now staying in the Sam's Town Casino RV Park (the third largest gambling area in the USA). We can see two different casinos from our RV but we don't plan on donating money to either of them.

This morning, we drove along the Great River Road to Helena, Arkansas (known as the Main Street of the Blues) where we toured through the Delta Cultural Center (with historical displays of the lives of Delta inhabitants) and radio station KFFA, 1360 AM, where the King Biscuit Flour Hour (a famous live blues show) is broadcast.

Then we drove down to Clarksdale, Mississippi where we toured the Delta Blues Museum. It was suggested that we have lunch at the Ground Zero Blues Club that was just around the corner from the museum. Located in a very dilapidated part of town, it didn't look very attractive as you can see in the first picture but we went inside anyway. The inside was awesome! There were people's autographs and 'art' (drawings) covering everthing (walls, tables, chairs, columns, floor, you name it) and there were guitars (including one made from an old 5-gallon gas can) and other blues instruments hanging everywhere. This place is owned by Morgan Freeman and features live blues bands almost every evening. We enjoyed our lunch and won't soon forget this place.

Vicksburg, MS

We visited the Vicksburg National Military Park and hired a NPS guide to show us around the enormous park (over 16 miles of roadway). He drove our car and gave us a complete, detailed story of the entire Civil War battle as it unfolded throughout the area. There were numerous monuments, statues and plaques throughout the park with most of them sponsored by the Federal states (they did win after all).

Near the end of our three-hour tour, we stopped and looked at the U.S.S. Cairo - an ironclad ship that was sunk during the war and was recovered from the Mississippi River in the 1970's (almost exactly 100 years after it's sinking). The original guns, engines, and most of the hull were used to make the reconstructed ship. The tour was very informative indeed.

Natchez Trace Parkway

Today's travels took us along the Natchez Trace Parkway (which Susan described as the Blue Ridge Parkway without the mountains). It runs 444 miles from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN but we only did the first 87 miles so we could go to Vicksburg. It was a nice 2-lane 50 mph road with scenic spots along the way. There were a few sites we couldn't see due to narrow roads or low bridge clearances (we were driving the RV). Our favorite stop was at the Sunken Old Trace which is part of the original early 1800's road that has been preserved. Talk about a worn down path...

Natchez, MS Day 2

We spent today touring old homes in Natchez. The first three that we saw were only open for the town's annual Spring Pilgrimage event. They were Magnolia Hall (1858), Shields Town House (1860) and Airlie (1790) - each distinct in architecture and setting but all of them showing the opulence of the wealthy people of the times. After a delicious lunch at the Magnolia Grill located in Nachez Under the Hill (e.g. right on the Mississippi River), we drove out to see Mammy's Cupboard - a most unusual building indeed. From there, we toured Longwood, the largest octagonal house in America, which was started in 1859 by a wealthy cotton planter, Haller Nutt. Construction was stopped in 1861 due to the start of the Civil War and it was never completed. A most interesting place to see...

Natchez, MS

Despite the colder weather, we decided to start heading north today and will spend the next few nights in Natchez, MS. The RV park we're staying in is literally right on the Mississippi River and we have an awesome view of the river and Natchez from our site (here's Susan in front of the RV enjoying the view). After getting settled in, we went to the Natchez Visitor's Center and got tickets to their Spring Pilgrimage (tours of old homes only open once a year) - which we'll do tomorrow - and tickets for a horse-drawn carriage tour of historic Natchez that we took this afternoon.

Livingston, LA again

We liked Lakeside RV Park that we visited a few weeks ago so much that we decided to stay there again. Today, we drove back to the Great River Road area to visit some more old plantations. Our first stop was at the Laura Plantation, a Creole plantation dating back over 200 years. Our hour-long tour really covered a lot of the Creole history of the area.

A few miles down the road we visited Oak Alley Plantation that got its name from the twenty-eight evenly spaced oak trees planted in the early 1700's in two rows leading to the Mississippi River. These three-hundred year old oaks were simply awesome. The beautiful house was built in 1837 by a rich Creole sugar planter to take advantage of the view provided by the oaks. Again, we learned more about the history of the Creole people. We even sipped on a mint julep while sitting on the veranda. When in Rome...

On the Road Again

On Wednesday, 4/1, we decided to head North a bit so we went to Waco, TX for the next stop. The weather North of us didn't look good, so we decided to alter plans and go back South again. After a overnight rest in Willis, TX, our next stop was in Beaumont, TX. We visited a nice botanical gardens near the campground and did a little mall-walking. No pictures this time...sorry. This morning, we drove back to Lakeside RV Park in Livingston, LA (where we stayed a few weeks ago). Tomorrow, we hope to go see some more old homes and plantations in the New Orleans area. Then, on Monday, we'll start following the Mississippi River north for a while. Stay tuned...