Vicksburg, Mississippi day 1

For the first time in a long time Colin had a four day weekend from school . . . thanks to not having to use any 'bad weather' days that were built into the school calendar!  I knew we just had to go somewhere.  So as soon as he got out of school on Thursday we hit the road heading towards Mississippi.  We spent the night in Shreveport, Louisiana.  There was nothing exciting to report . . . I did pull into a gas station to fill up and was the only vehicle that had all four regular sized tires; every other car had at least one of those donut spare tires. 

We woke early the next morning for the quick drive.  We stopped as soon as we crossed the mighty Mississippi River.

It was a quick stop for a free state map and then on to the main stop . . . Vicksburg National Military Park. 

Colin was so excited when he saw these everywhere he turned . . .

. . . they were literally every where you looked!  I have not clue how many were out and about . . . hmmmm sounds like a good The Amazing Race task!  I think this was when he realized this wasn't your typical 'boring' museum . . .

 I don't know how the soldiers back then survived . . . the terrain had to be a challenge!

It was a perfect day for exploring; not many other visitors so pulling to the side to snap photos and get out to explore was great!  I honestly don't have much knowledge on this war since in our house we always talk about WWII, but now Colin seems interested in the Civil War too.  My favorite stop was the U.S.S. Cairo Museum!  I had absolutely no idea they used boats during the Civil War . . . what an amazing find and piece of history!  It was so large it was hard to get a good photo of it!

Talk about 'rustic' . . . I just can not imagine!  We spent several hours just driving around and this was my favorite stop.

This was the Illinois Monument . . . just so massive and the inside was beautiful.  The first thing you see are the steps . . . all 47 of them.  This was an important number; do you know why?  There is one step for each day of the Siege of Vicksburg!  I know this because of the Junior Ranger booklet . . . I swear those things are so educational and the why we always do them . . . I learn too!  Anyway, just inside is this beautiful mosaic on the floor.



And on the walls were bronze tablets with the names of all 36,325 Illinois soldiers who participated in the Vicksburg Campaign.  We continued through with more stops . . .

. . . and Colin continued to work on his Junior Ranger booklet.  Before we left we had to stop and visit our ancestors . . .

We were amazed that we had spent 5 hours driving around and had not seen the entire park!  The park was closing so we left and headed for dinner at Rowdy's.  The catfish was yummy!  We checked into the Hampton Inn right across the street from the military park . . . it was the nicest Hampton Inn I have stayed at; they were so friendly and had an excellent evening reception with snacks and drinks all for free!