We left Uncle Orville and Aunt Lucille after a dinner of fried catfish, baked potatoes and hush puppies at Big John’s steak and seafood house. We were determined to make Tuscaloosa, Alabama by the end of the drive so that our mileage to the end of the rainbow at Round O SC would be less than 400 miles. More on that later.
When leaving Louisiana and entering Mississippi you cross the mighty Mississippi River. As we were just discussing, after the many trips we have made down I-84 and the Columbia Gorge any other river is just a river. This is strange in a way since the Mississippi is the life line of Middle America. It also might be because we may have seen it for a grand total of 30 seconds and then never saw it again. The first town on I-20 in Mississippi is a town called Vicksburg. It is the site of a 43 day siege during the Civil War in 1863. The Union army led by General Grant had marched 180 miles in 20 days while still fighting and inflicting devastating casualties on the army of the Confederacy, led by General Pemberton. The Union victory assured control of the river and the state, and severed the Confederate states in half. There is a 16 miles circular loop with more plaques and statues than a person can count. Like the average tourist, we had two cameras clicking, trying to capture every little piece of information. This proved absolutely futile, since we only had 2 hours and 20 gigs of storage space. It is another site that needs more time to fully explore, and to just walk through the monuments, as well as the cemetery there. Much like the first time at the Whitman massacre sight in Walla Walla Washington,
this is a site where history should be felt and not seen. The cemetery was like seemingly all cemeteries in the Southeast. All the cemeteries we saw were not only neatly manicured, but all the gravesites had what looked like fresh flowers on them, something that is not done in our area on Memorial Day. It is a part of the “yes sir, no maam” respect that the southeast is founded upon. 
In the middle of the tour we stopped at the Cairo museum. The Cairo (pronounced like Karo syrup not the town in Egypt) was an ironclad ship that was one of seven that the Union built to try to wrest control of the Mississippi River form the Confederacy. It was sunk in the Yazoo River by rebel forces using what were called remote controlled torpedoes. We now call them mines. This was not the wireless remote that we channel surface with, but rather a wired device that a soldier hiding in the brush would use to detonate the torpedo. During the 1960s an engineering using a compass found the gunboat sunk in the mud in the riverbed. After several tries it was raised in 1964 and partially restored.
When leaving Louisiana and entering Mississippi you cross the mighty Mississippi River. As we were just discussing, after the many trips we have made down I-84 and the Columbia Gorge any other river is just a river. This is strange in a way since the Mississippi is the life line of Middle America. It also might be because we may have seen it for a grand total of 30 seconds and then never saw it again. The first town on I-20 in Mississippi is a town called Vicksburg. It is the site of a 43 day siege during the Civil War in 1863. The Union army led by General Grant had marched 180 miles in 20 days while still fighting and inflicting devastating casualties on the army of the Confederacy, led by General Pemberton. The Union victory assured control of the river and the state, and severed the Confederate states in half. There is a 16 miles circular loop with more plaques and statues than a person can count. Like the average tourist, we had two cameras clicking, trying to capture every little piece of information. This proved absolutely futile, since we only had 2 hours and 20 gigs of storage space. It is another site that needs more time to fully explore, and to just walk through the monuments, as well as the cemetery there. Much like the first time at the Whitman massacre sight in Walla Walla Washington,
this is a site where history should be felt and not seen. The cemetery was like seemingly all cemeteries in the Southeast. All the cemeteries we saw were not only neatly manicured, but all the gravesites had what looked like fresh flowers on them, something that is not done in our area on Memorial Day. It is a part of the “yes sir, no maam” respect that the southeast is founded upon. In the middle of the tour we stopped at the Cairo museum. The Cairo (pronounced like Karo syrup not the town in Egypt) was an ironclad ship that was one of seven that the Union built to try to wrest control of the Mississippi River form the Confederacy. It was sunk in the Yazoo River by rebel forces using what were called remote controlled torpedoes. We now call them mines. This was not the wireless remote that we channel surface with, but rather a wired device that a soldier hiding in the brush would use to detonate the torpedo. During the 1960s an engineering using a compass found the gunboat sunk in the mud in the riverbed. After several tries it was raised in 1964 and partially restored. 
Addendum: When we think of the Civil War we think of the Southern States as the Confederacy and the border (Mason-Dixon Line) states and New England as The Union. After reviewing our pictures and processing Vicksburg later we found it rather striking that the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota were among the Northern combatants. While talking with my sister's family, obviously of southern heritage, it became quite clear to us how the vast difference in industry and the sheer amount of states supporting the Union made all the difference.
After leaving Vicksburg we set on I-20 at warp speed with the intent to reach Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to make our last leg of the journey less than 400 miles. As we continued through Mississippi in the dark we noticed this weird white substance on the banks alongside the road. After several miles we realized that the substance was snow! Here we were 3500 miles from home wanting to find warmer weather, and we run into snow in the Southeast. I guess timing is everything. Unfortunately our stamina proved not to be as great as we desired, so we called a halt in Livingston, Mississippi. This is where we stayed in what we somewhat jokingly called the Bates Motel. The Navigator told us there was a Comfort Inn at this exit, and since they were on our approved list we pulled off the freeway to get a room. There were three cars in the parking lot, and looked so dark we thought it was closed. Ron went in to check and there was a desk clerk on duty and an open motel. The whole thing was so totally creepy that we were both nervous in the shower, just waiting for that butcher knife. Just another story to tell of life on the road!
After leaving Vicksburg we set on I-20 at warp speed with the intent to reach Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to make our last leg of the journey less than 400 miles. As we continued through Mississippi in the dark we noticed this weird white substance on the banks alongside the road. After several miles we realized that the substance was snow! Here we were 3500 miles from home wanting to find warmer weather, and we run into snow in the Southeast. I guess timing is everything. Unfortunately our stamina proved not to be as great as we desired, so we called a halt in Livingston, Mississippi. This is where we stayed in what we somewhat jokingly called the Bates Motel. The Navigator told us there was a Comfort Inn at this exit, and since they were on our approved list we pulled off the freeway to get a room. There were three cars in the parking lot, and looked so dark we thought it was closed. Ron went in to check and there was a desk clerk on duty and an open motel. The whole thing was so totally creepy that we were both nervous in the shower, just waiting for that butcher knife. Just another story to tell of life on the road!
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