5. USA: Tyler - Vicksburg

Tuesday, June 11, 250 mile drive, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Tyler to Vicksburg, Mississippi. Wednesday, June 12, Vicksburg.

We stop for gas and Delaware Punches in Louisiana -- I haven't had a Delaware Punch since I was about 16!  Armadillo road kill?  We experience a torrential downpour just before we leave Louisiana, and the Mississippi is duly noted as we cross at last our country's dividing point.

Everything in Vicksburg looks overgrown.  Our hotel, the Cedar Grove Mansion, is gorgeous, an old Southern mansion not far from the river, in the midst of an ancient, tired part of town.  The neighbors are mostly black.  Letters from my father are awaiting us at the hotel with four-day-old Las Vegas news and advice on what to do in Vicksburg.  It seems he has joined us in spirit.  The weather remains hot and muggy. 

Our first full day includes a morning drive through the civil war battlefield, following the points of interest with an audio tape.  Cathy and I are awed.  The children appreciate their history for a while, but when we stop are more interested in running down the great lawns than appreciating the historical markers.  Afterwards we visit the local museum with civil war memorabilia.  Upon leaving we are treated to a spectacular thunderstorm.  Thomas is absolutely terrified at the thunder.  Dinner is fried chicken.

The next day we take a riverboat ride on the Mississippi (actually the Yazoo) and see the other local sights.  Among other things, Vicksburg is the home of the first bottle of Coca-Cola.  In the evening we eat at Shoney's, where kids eat free.  Wow!  Afterwards, Cathy and I agree we will avoid Shoney's in the future.

Cedar Grove

Downtown Vicksburg

The Pool at Cedar Grove

The Vicksburg Civil War Memorial

Although the battlefield, the town and the Mississippi are well worth the effort, our hotel is really the star.  One morning we tour the mansion.  Our guide, a lovely young woman who has the most beautiful Southern accent I have ever heard, shows us where the Civil War canon ball remains lodged in the building's wall.   On an afternoon Cathy and I sit beside the pool and drink mint juleps.  The children love the pool, though I am not as vigilant as I should be.  On the second afternoon I look up from my book to see that Mara has just rescued Thomas (who at three cannot swim but of course thinks he can) from under the water—a story that will become a part of the family history.  In the evenings we watch fireflies on the lawns.  All in all our first real stop has been even better than we might have expected.