Vicksburg, Mississippi

While traveling towards Texas we made sure we stopped in Mississippi and took in a site to visit.  We ended up staying in Vicksburg, Mississippi at the Magnolia RV Park Resort and visiting the Vicksburg National Military Park.  Anytime we can visit a Civil War park, we probably will.

The RV park was clean and had a decent pool which felt great to cool off in.  We would gladly stay there again when passing through Vicksburg.

 

The Union knew it needed control of the Mississippi River in order to win the war and President Lincoln considered Vicksburg to be the key to ending the war, "The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket." 

Vicksburg National Military Park entrance.

In May 1863 General Grant, after many repulsed assaults against the Confederate Army at Vicksburg, began a formal siege and started to bombard the city from both land and river with artillery.

After forty six days under siege, General Pemberton knew the Confederates could stand no more and surrendered on 4 July, 1863.  I was told by a local that Vicksburg did not celebrate the Forth of July holiday for eighty one years until 1945 and it still is not one of their favorite holidays so they hardly do any celebrating for it.

Looking down one of the Union's cannons at Battery De Golyer.

The Union Army's strategy was to concentrate its artillery while the Confederates spread their guns out and so when a Confederate cannon fired its one shot the Union would retaliate with a barrage of artillery which in most cases knocked the Confederate gun out.

Cannons lined up at Battery De Golyer named so for being manned by Union Captain Sammual De Golyer.

Panoramic shot of the battle field between Battery De Golyer on the left and the Confederate lines on the right.

One of the most interesting things here was the sinking of the USS Cairo an ironclad that was stationed on the Yazoo River.  The ironclad ships were the backbone of the defense for rivers and coastal waters.

The USS Cairo was actually the first ship to be sunken by the use of electronic detonated mines.  During one of its patrols two Confederate soldiers detonated two of the mines which tore gaping holes in its hull.

USS Cairo on display.

Tia, Chloe, Avery, Ian, Ethan, and Courtney in front of the USS Cairo.

Courtney, Tia, Ethan, Avery, Ian, and Chloe standing next to one of the thirteen guns on the USS Cairo.

The iron plates that were used to protect the USS Cairo.

The Mississippi River was very important to get shipments to both armies and whoever controlled it at this point, controlled who got supplies.  The ironclad ships were to keep the rivers open for the Union Army.

The Confederates had oversight of the Mississippi River from the bluffs above Vicksburg and could repeal any attempts the Union made to get up or down the river.

The below view is what the Confederates would have seen except now the waters are from the Yazoo River diversion canal rather than the Mississippi River like it was in 1863.  In 1876 the Mississippi river changed its course and now runs at Vicksburg's southern edge of the city.

The view the Confederates had of the Mississippi River back in 1863.

There is so much more to visit at Vicksburg National Military Park to include a sixteen mile self guided driving tour.  To do this park justice it would take you a couple or more days to read every plaque and see every monument that have been placed in the park over the years.

Another fact that is not well know about Vicksburg is that it was a prisoner-of-war exchange point.  April 24, 1865 over 2300 Union soldiers left Vicksburg on the steamboat Sultana heading upstream for home.  While near Memphis, Tennessee the boat exploded and killed over 1800 of them which is still today, America's worst maritime disaster.

There is a cover charge, but it is not much and well worth it or if you have a National Parks Pass, you are good to go.

It is great to be back traveling America and visiting its wonders.  We are so blessed to have this life that God has provided for us and need to remember to give Him thanks for all things, good and bad.  Easier said than done, sometimes.

God bless you all and may He keep you safe!

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Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

States we have stayed in so far.

Finally On The Road Again

We are happy to say that we are back on the road again seeing America.  It feels good to be putting miles under us once again.

We left West Virginia and headed to South Carolina to say a few nights so we could mark it off of the map.  When we first started this adventure we said we had to stay in a state thirty days to mark it off the map, but have amended that requirement.  If we stay the night and get out and see something in the state, then we can check it off.

We ended up staying at Cherokee RV Campground in Blacksburg, South Carolina which was a very nice RV park.  There is no playground or anything other than open space for kids, but it was nice, quiet, and the lot we parked in was flat enough.  We would surly stay there again if passing through.

While there we went to Kings Mountain State Park for a visit.  This park sits next to Kings Mountain National Military Park which is a Revolutionary War site.  Both parks offer hiking trails and plenty of history.

The Kings Mountain State Park also has the Piedmont farm which is a replica of an 1800 era farm.

Piedmont farm in Kings Mountain State Park

Another view of the Piedmont farm in Kings Mountain State Park

One of the crops this farm grew was sorghum cane which was used to make molasses or sorghum syrup.  Not to be confused with sugar cane which is a different plant and best know for making sugar and molasses.  To read more on the difference you can go to OChef and read Cane syrup vs. sorghum syrup.

Pan used to boil sorghum to make sorghum molasses

Since sorghum cane handle drought better than sugar cane, it was what was grown in this region and used to make molasses or sorghum syrup.  Its juice would be squeezed out using the below press and then put in a big iron pan, like one above, and boiled off until it became thick.


Press used to crush sorghum cane to extract the juice

Close up view of the press used to squeeze the juice out of sorghum cane

Another crop that was grown in this region, which is no surprise, was cotton.  Cotton was king in the south and was needed to make clothes and linen.

Cotton bale

 Most communities would have a large cotton mill, such as the one on this farm, where cotton farmers would bring their harvest for processing.  This cotton gin would have been power by animals such as mules or oxen.

Gears to a very large cotton gin.

Part of the cotton gin that removed the seeds from the cotton

Another very important type of merchant or skill that most towns needed to survive would have been a blacksmith.   Iron had to be manipulated to put it to use and make tools and the blacksmith was just the person to do that.

Blacksmith shop on Piedmont farm

Once more we are very happy to get back on the road and start seeing America once again.

God had a reason for us to stay put for so long, but now we are back on the move and following His lead. 

God bless you all and may He keep you safe!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

Better Late Than Never

Forgive us followers, it has been forty five (45) days since our last blog due to complacency and rain.  More due to complacency than that other reason.

We are ready to bring in the slides, pull up the jacks, hit the open road, and get back on our tour of America.  Life has thrown us some real curve balls lately, but with God's help and guidance, we are overcoming them all.

We do not want you to think that all we have been doing is holding up in the RV not doing anything. We've just not blogged about it, is all.  Even though the rain has cancelled a couple of our activities, like the outing with the Clendenin Advent Christian Church to the West Virginia Power baseball game, we have gotten out and done some things.

For one thing the kids went to Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Big Chimney Baptist Church and had a blast.  The theme for this year's VBS was "One Nation, Under God" and they had plenty for the kids to do to include a dunking booth and horse back rides.  It also gave Misty and me a few hours alone to ourselves, of which we took full advantage of by going out to dinner and catching a movie.

Tia riding Babe at VBS.

Ian riding Babe.

Ethan riding Babe.  He just finished getting dunked in the dunking tank.

The kids have also been getting closer to nature every chance they could.  Between the frogs that were caught, the raccoon that keeps raiding our trash can, and granddaddy longlegs, they have been busy.

Tia holding a frog she caught one night.

Ethan's frog catch of the night.

Tia showing off her frog she caught.

Ethan and Ian closely examining a frog they caught.

Tia and her Granddaddy Longleg collection.

A baby toad or frog Tia caught at the playground.

Coon tracks leading to our trashcan.

Proof of what's been getting into the trash.

One evening nature really got close to us in the form of lighting striking a tree that was about one hundred yards from the RV.  Needless to say it got our attention.  

You know the saying that when you see lighting, count the seconds until you hear the thunder, and that is how many miles away the lighting is, well in this case there were no seconds in between.

God is awesome with his show of power!

Tree struck by lighting in campground.

A closer look at the damage of a lightning strike to a tree.

We doubt that this tree will survive its lighting strike.

Then there was the Forth of July festivities with the family which included a cookout, swimming, and Tia's birthday party, all rolled into one.  Anytime you mix hotdogs, hamburgers, birthday cake, ice cream, watermelon, and swimming, kids are bound to have a great time.  

The kids having fun swimming with their cousins during the 4th of July.

Tia, the birthday girl, coming up after being under water.

Ian with some hang time while jumping into the pool.

Our latest adventure was blackberry picking here at Lazy K.  The RV park is full of trails that have blackberry bushes growing all along them.  After getting permissions from the park owner if it was OK for us to pick them, we set out with me warning the kids, that in order to get the good berries, you had to get a few scratches.

Getting ready to go pick some blackberries.

Kenny, the owner of the RV park, told us where he picked almost three gallons of berries the day prior too and advised us where he had not picked yet, so we had a better chance of getting plenty of berries.  It was good advice and we got into the thick of it, literally.

Ethan going into the bush looking for the best blackberry.

As in any group of berry pickers, you have the devoted ones who will do just about anything to get the berries and then you have the less devoted, who love eating the berries, but are not as keen about picking them.  This was no different in our group.

Blackberries!

Chloe, Misty, Tia, and Courtney picking blackberries.

Tia reaching for a blackberry.

Courtney saying something when we just staring picking.

Ethan picking his first blackberry of the season.

Bush that Kenny picked from the day before, so not as many ripe berries.

Ian trying his had at picking berries.

Tia showing me her first berry picked.

Family fun picking blackberries.

Tia getting a brier in her flip flop.  Not the best thing to wear when picking berries.

Nice, juicy blackberries.

Of course, yours truly, knows that in order to get the ripest, juiciest, sweetest blackberry, you have to sacrifice some blood, sweat, & tears.  I held back on the tears, but the other two were given freely.

My battle scars from berry picking and I've just started.

Ethan was my second with the next best devotion to the cause and was the one who went into the thickest cover to get the bestest berries.  I know bestest is not really a word, but who cares.

Ethan getting deep into the bush to get the best berries.

Ethan picking berries well inside the bush.

Avery was also a very good berry picker and picked more than anyone else, excluding me and Ethan.  The girls did pretty good and Misty, who is afraid of snakes, did not really pick much at all, but Ian was the worst one.  If he had to make a living as a blackberry picker, I'm afraid he would starve to death or at least, not make a very good living.

Speaking of snakes, while I was deep in the bush Misty says, "Don, don't move, I heard something move and I think there is a snake right next to you!",  well I look expecting to see a snake ready to strike, but instead see a baby bunny rabbit.  She is so scared of snakes, that anything she hears in the weeds has to be a snake.

I guess you had to be there to think it was funny.

Avery with his berries.

Ian with his berries.  He did have a few, but combined them with some in another container.

All in all though, we only picked for about thirty minutes and came up with about five quarts of berries, more than enough for a blackberry cobbler.

LivelyRV picking blackberries.

Courtney showing off what she has picked so far.

Tia's berries so far.

Now we are getting into the berries that no one has picked yet.

More and more ripe blackberries to pick.  We had to wade deep into the bushes for these.

Starting to get berry overload, there are so many.

Blackberries in paradise!

Tia, Dad, Chloe, Avery, Ethan, Ian, and Courtney with our harvest.  Notice my bleeding arm.

Tia, Misty, Chloe, Avery, Ethan, Ian, and Courtney showing off their berries.

Our spoils from the battle with the bush.  We only picked for about 30 minutes or so.

Avery posing with our berries we picked.

More than enough berries for our blackberry cobbler.

We soaked them for a while to get the worms out, which there were a few, but not many.  I always tell Misty that the worms add protein, but she is not impressed.  I'm sure I have eaten my fair share of worms in my lifetime since I will eat a few berries when picking.

Worms in the berries.

A worm trying to escape.

We have also spent time visiting family and friends while in West Virginia and have had a great time doing that.  

So those are a few things we have been up to the past few months.  We hear the west calling and will get there soon enough, but life keeps tripping us up and slowing us down.  We just need to trust in the Lord and do His will and all will be good.

God bless and may your path be clear of any obstacles.

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

States we have visited and stayed in so far.