Vicksburg MS. A battlefield not to be missed.

On Wed. 11-13-2013 we arrived in Vicksburg. Now over the years I had read about the battles fought in the Mississippi river area. This was one area that Lynn  wasn't as familiar with and the immensity and importance of the campaign was a surprise to her.  Everyone is much more familiar with Gettysburg, Antietam, and Shiloh. The western campaign isn't as well known.

 Grant led the army of Tennessee with the goal of controlling the Mississippi river, and in doing so, cutting the south in half preventing Richmond and Lee's army from getting much needed supplies from Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. For many historians this was the turning point of the war, or as Lincoln said "Vicksburg is The Key, the war can never be brought to a close until that Key is in our pocket."

Don't worry I'm not going to go into the whole history of the campaign. I could because I am so fascinated with this part of our nations history. And this is one impressive park. But I won't. If you're interested you will just have to go there yourself. It is well worth the trip.

The park itself is 1800 acres. That does not include all of the historic points of interest in the city itself. It's 2 tours actually. One of the park, which included most of the major battlefields, an Iron clad with it's own museum, and the National Cemetery. And then there was the city itself, which had mostly all confederate markers and defenses.

It took us 7 hours to go through the park using an audio CD tour that the campground let us use. I also found an unbelievable Web site, Civilwar.org. On there you can download "Battle Apps". These are detailed apps that show you the battlefield and has video and audio files that give more insight into the battle. It also shows you where you are on the battlefield using GPS. If you're a Civil War nut like we are then these are must haves. They have apps for both iOS and Android for about a dozen different battlefields. And they are free. What was nice about this app was that it also had the entire campaign as well as a tour of the city itself. You need to check it out.

Here are some of our photos. Enjoy.

The Illinois Monument which is the largest in the park. Built in 1906 and contains the names of more then 36,000 Illinois soldiers who served in the Vicksburg campaign. 

 The Wisconsin monument. Dedicated in 1911 it lists the names of the 9,000 soldiers who served at Vicksburg.

These two Bronze's flank either side of the Wisconsin monument.  

This was a siege that lasted 47 days. The defenses at Vicksburg could not be broken by Grants troops. 

The Union Ironclad USS Cairo has the distinction of being the first warship sunk  by an electronically detonated torpedo.  After being struck the captain tried to beach the ship on the banks of the Mississippi but didn't make it. It sank in 6 fathoms of water and rested there until it was discovered again in 1956, 94 years later. Salvage operations started in 1959 and were completed in 1964. 

As you can see you can walk inside of the structure. Very cool.

A model of the USS Cairo.

The gates to the National Cemetery.

This is the largest Civil War Cemetery in the country containing the graves of 17,000 Union Soldiers. One thing that I learned back in Shiloh is that National Cemeteries are reserved exclusively for United States personnel. The Confederate soldiers are buried in cemeteries around the city.

The Old Depot Museum had a fabulous diorama of the siege of Vicksburg. It gives you a great overview of the terrain and who was where. 

Now Vicksburg isn't just about the Civil War. There is a good museum about the Mississippi and the role it played in the developing the area. And we met the Bird lady and her bird.

And what would a river city be if it didn't have murals painted on the flood wall protecting the city. This was the best so far and these are just a few of the murals. 

So to sum up. There is plenty to do in Vicksburg even if your not into the Civil War. They also had several antebellum houses. (that means pre-civil war which I did not know) We passed on those and are visiting the ones in Natchez MS. instead. 

Well that's it for now. Next Natchez for a week and then on to New Orleans for Thanksgiving. See you down the road. 

Hot Springs AR.

The 5 days we spent in Hot Springs were great. We were originally going to stay for 3 days but then we extended it. But for only $12.00 a night we couldn't resist staying longer. We stayed at Hot Springs National Park. Full hook up in a beautiful wooded setting. A great place to stay while in the area.

With a nice stream running along one side of the campground. 

We drove up the mountain and got a great view of the whole area. Our first day we hit the main street, Bath House Row. Only 2 are still in use as a bathhouse. One, the "Buckstaff", is old school the way they were in their heyday. Which means a private tub all to yourself, Massage and other services. The other one, The "Quapaw", is more modern. It has 4 public pools, each at a different temperature. Ranging from 98 to 104. They also have tubs for 2 and various other services. 

These are pictures of the "Fordyce Bathhouse" which has been restored and is the visitor center for the National Park. 

This is the "Grand Promenade" which runs behind Bathhouse row and leads to the trails that go up and around the mountain. 

Yes the Hot Springs are HOT.

We went to the Quapaw and it was great. Each tub had a waterfall that fed the pool. Big enough for two people to sit under. While there we met a gentleman from Sicily, Andreos, who happened to own an Italian restaurant in town called Via Roma. We had a wonderful conversation with him and later that night we went to dinner there. It was one of the best meals we have had in a very long time.

Hot Springs had so much to offer besides the bathhouses, beautiful mountains, hiking trails, and museums.  Speaking of museums, the gangster museum was really interesting.  It highlighted the visits by notorious gangsters such as Al Capone and Dillinger. 

To my Sheboygan Friends. Does Al Look familiar? 

 We did walk to the Tower that overlooks the Ouachita Forest and Hot Springs.  Lynn even took the glass elevator to the top!  

The view from the top.

Another highlight was the unexpected beauty of the Garvan Woodland Gardens.  The 210 acre garden which has a glass chapel that is used for weddings.  Really beautiful. If your looking for a place to get married or renew your vows this is the place. 

 Our last day there we found Fat Bottomed Girls cupcakes.  We went in for one cupcake to split and ended up buying 6. Shot the diet. Again! Oh well.

Ok, I did make the wish to be an adult several years ago. Thought about going back to be a kid, but thought better of it. If you get this let us know. 

To sum up Arkansas I would have to say that the natural beauty of the state and the people that we met make this a destination that we will visit again. We got tips for other camping areas that we will visit the next time through in different parts of the state. Next stop Vicksburg MS. and the National park Battlefield. See you down the road.