May 20 - 23, 2019: Nachez Trace Parkway and
Vicksburg, Mississippi
Our next stop was to go from Texas, across Louisiana, and into Mississippi to catch the beginning of the Nachez Trace Parkway. We did not stop to spend the night in Louisiana, but drove across the entire Northern part of the State. As we come out of Florida next Spring, we will stop in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Crossing Trinity River and Sabine River both in Texas. Both road and bridges are in Texas, just a good example of the diversity.
Goodbye Texas, hello Louisiana!
Another flooded area, this was a great picture because of the reflection you cannot tell where the trees and land end to meet the water
Goodbye Louisiana, Hello Mississippi!
With the recent storm, this is a lake that has flooded over - the water looks pretty high.
Crossing from Louisiana across the Mississippi River into Mississippi
Same storm, now this is a flooded area in Mississippi
One of the things we wanted to do on this leg of the trip is drive the entire Nachez Trace Parkway. Craig rode his motorcycle on part of this Parkway back in 2011 when he retired and said - "we need to do the full length!" If you are not familiar with this Parkway, it starts in Nachez, Mississippi and ends in Nashville, Tennessee, crossing part of Alabama. The Parkway is 444 miles long, 50 mph, and has no street signs, buildings, etc. It is truly a scenic drive and takes you back through time with many historical sites, markers, and pathways.
We are driving the entire Trace (as the locals call it) and will be splitting it up between days and blogs.
Dang, I missed the pictures of Mile Marker 1. This is also an example of the type of signage (if any) can be found on the Trace
When there is an exit off the Trace, this is how they are shown. Usually, the town is 1-2 miles off the Trace
This is an example of how roads come into the Trace and their signage
This is a perfect example of the road, treed on both sides, the rolling hills
Parts of The Trace actually have farming. This is soybean and we have seen Hay. There are no roads to access the fields from the Trace, so they must do it from behind the rows of trees.
At Mile Marker 54.8 we stopped and boondocked for the night and stayed at Rocky Springs Campground
There are 22 sites in the campground, 1 other camper was in residence. We had a ton of peace and quiet. Although...since we had no power, it was hot and muggy and...there were a LOT of bugs. Other than that, it was a gorgeous area to camp!
Craig chilling in the heat and reading a book. There is a small creek behind him.
Along the Trace, we wanted to drive into Vicksburg, Mississippi and visit the Vicksburg National Military Park. Wow....what a humbling experience. This was one of the decisive wars in the Civil War.
There are over 1,325 monuments throughout the park commemorating both sides, the States, Calvary, divisions, etc. These are just a few of them.
Did I just find a Moon descendant? Not sure, my Uncle Durell is going to look into it. I was surprised to find this and then actually find the headstone vs. just a marker!
Illinois monument listing EVERY person from their State that served. Had I known about my Moon descendant, I would have tried to look for him on this wall. However, I didn't find his information until after we had visited the monument.
Inside the Vicksburg National Military Park there was also the USS Cairo Museum. The USS Cairo was one of 7 ironclad gunboats during the Civil War. This is the only one that exists.
Since it was so hot and humid, we decided to spend the next night in the town of Vicksburg at the Magnolia RV Park. The air conditioning was a nice welcome!
And...of course, I had to try some local food. We ate at the Gumbo Pot and it was awesome! I had a combination meal of seafood gumbo, chicken and sausage gumbo, crawfish etouffee. Craig had a pulled pork, bacon, and sausage sandwich. And of course...we had a white chocolate bread pudding for dessert! All of it was AWESOME! Craig thought he was funny by putting the rabbit face on me with his phone : )
