Texas, San Antonio - Monday, October 24, 2016 - Travelers World RV Park

Since we left Bonita Springs, MS about a week ago we’ve had some enjoyable travels.  We were headed west through Mississippi when we saw the exit coming up for Vicksburg and started talking about how good the fried green tomatoes were the last time we were through Vicksburg so we decided on an unscheduled stop.

We booked three days at the Ameristar Casino RV Park.

Just after we arrived this place filled up with an RV caravan, it was a good thing we got here when we did.

The first night here we took the free shuttle over to the casino and played for quite a while and felt lucky we just lost $20.

The next morning we walked down to the casino area and took some pictures of the bridge and river.  The flag flying in the breeze always brings a smile to my face.

The tug boats were out working.

Rusty’s Riverfront Grill was our destination on our last day there.  The sun wasn’t shining on the front of the building so the picture isn’t the best one.

These tomatoes are amazing!!  They are supposed to be appetizers and the last time here we split a plate and each had a shrimp po’boy sandwich.  This time we knew better – we each ordered a plate and considered it our entrée.  There is nothing at all healthy about eating these, the tomatoes are deep fried, topped with lump crab meat and a cheese sauce.  Not something you want to eat every day, but once every couple of years it’s a real treat.

From Vicksburg we decided to head south to take I-10 on west.  When we got down to I-10 which was just inside Louisiana we remembered a casino campground that was just a ways back into Mississippi on I-10 so we headed that way for the night.  We stayed one night in Bay Saint Louis, MS.  We decided we were having a real hard time getting out of Mississippi.  I'm usually so intrigued by just looking at the Mississippi I forget to take a picture, did get one decent one this time.

As we were coming into Louisiana they were burning the sugar cane fields.  This is a picture out of my side window.  We could see the smoke from the fires in several areas.  As I understand it it is illegal to burn the cane fields now but the fines are so low the farmers feel it is worth the fine to get rid of the leaves from the cane so it is easier to harvest.

We stopped at one of the few rest areas along I-10 in Louisiana to have lunch.  From where we were parked I could walk underneath I-10 for some pictures.  This is looking back east.

This is looking west.

Not too far down the road from where I was taking pictures underneath I-10 there is water under the road.  I think this stretch of road is called the bridge over the basin, most of it is through water.

I love this bridge, it looks like you are just going to drop off the other side.

I-10 through Louisiana is a really rough road, not so much from potholes, but it is made of concrete and just beats on you.

Before we made our way through Houston we decided to stop about an hour and a half away in Vidor.  Greg had picked the Boomtown USA RV Resort as our stop based upon the information he saw on the Good Sam website.  Good Sam needs to update their pictures and description.

This is a picture of the office.  This is the only picture worth taking.  Our site had full hook ups and it was off the highway (barely) that's all I can think of to say nice about it.  I-10 runs right by it and traffic runs on that road all night long at 75+ miles per hour.  We won’t be making a return trip.

Welcome to Houston.

The Houston skyline is awesome.

Tonight we are staying at Travelers World in San Antonio, TX.  The office looks pretty plain Jane but this is a really nice park.  It is right next to an extension of the River Walk that is downtown so you can go walking, jogging or bike riding along a very nice paved trail.  We are only here for one night this time (we were here for two weeks in 2013).  We decided to take the city bus into town to have dinner on the River Walk.  The bus stop is just across the street from the RV Park.  We managed to figure out where we needed to get off and found our bus to bring us back home when we were done.

The River Walk is just an amazing place.

This was our view on the patio of the Original Mexican Restaurant.

Once again we were saying “we should have split a meal”, we brought home lots of leftovers for later.

Mississippi, Vicksburg - Sunday, May 10, 2015 - Vicksburg National Military Park

By the summer of 1862 only Vicksburg and Port Hudson, LA blocked Union control of the Mississippi river.  Vicksburg was the stronger and more important port.  President Abraham Lincoln called Vicksburg the “key”.  He believed “the war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket”.  So today we are visiting where the siege of Vicksburg took place.  The temperature was in the high 90’s and the humidity was also in the 90’s – not what we are used to so we faded fast today.

 

 

The Vicksburg National Military Park is now a part of the national park service.  Our senior park pass got us in for free, that is one of the best investments we have made.

The visitor’s center has a short audio presentation that gives a good rendition of the battle.  It also has several displays of life during the time of the battles.  And, of course, books and souvenirs that can be purchased.

The drive through the park included a lot of beautiful memorials from the Midwest states.  The Union forces that fought here must have been made up mainly from the Midwest, especially Illinois.

Minnesota

Indiana.  We counted at least 4 more Indiana monuments

Illinois.  We lost count of the smaller Illinois monuments.  This large monument was dedicated in 1906 at the cost of $190,000.  That would be $4.6 million in today’s dollars.

Wisconsin

The park is beautiful and well-kept but in a more natural state than the well-groomed Gettysburg Park we toured previously.  The roads meander through the park, we wondered if this was the original road for this area.

The Battery DeGolyer was where the Union’s 8^th Michigan Artillery hammered the Confederates directly across the field.

 

 

This is the only area in the park where there is still a clear view between the Confederate and Union camps.  The rest of the park has grown up into wooded areas.

The Shirley House is the only surviving wartime structure in the park.  During the siege it served as headquarters for the 45^th Illinois Infantry.  It has been restored to its 1863 appearance but it wasn’t open so we could tour inside.  The house is located on Jackson Road which was a critical link between Vicksburg and the capitol of Jackson.  Although the Shirleys had 25 slaves, they were Union sympathizers.  Their teenage son joined the Union forces when they were on his doorstep and fought against the Confederacy.

A large rose garden flanked the walk up to the house.

 

 

This large memorial is dedicated to the service the Navy provided during the siege of Vicksburg.  Grant’s troops were moving on Vicksburg over land from the east while the Navy bombarded her from the north and west.

 

 

The U.S.S. Cairo Museum is an open air museum.  The Cairo was commissioned by the Union on January 16, 1862 at a cost of $101,808.  On December 12 of that year it was part of a mine sweeping expedition on the Yazoo River when suddenly explosions tore holes in the boat.  It sank in 12 minutes into 36 feet of water.  No lives were lost as the crew was rescued by nearby vessels.  Historians can’t determine if there were torpedoes (called mines today) detonated from the shore or if there was a line of torpedoes that were detonated when the Cairo ran into it.  This was the first armed vessel in the history of warfare to be sunk by an electronically detonated torpedo (mine).

 

 

This is a model of what the Cairo would have looked like in its prime.

The pilot house was salvaged in 1960.  The rest of the Cairo was finally brought up in three pieces on December 12, 1964.

 

 

The cannons on the Cairo now are all of the original cannons.

The cannon wagons on display outside are replacements.  This is one of the original cannon wagons.

Over 6800 artifacts were brought up and cleaned for display in 1963.

This front shot shows how the restoration was completed on the main deck but below that the original wood was pieced back together.

Going aboard

Lots of beautiful woodwork went into the restoration.

These boilers used a ton of coal an hour.  The maximum speed of the Cairo was 9 mph.

 

 

The restored paddlewheels.

Looking up into the pilot house where the pilot steered and the officer on duty kept an eye on the river.

 

 

Orders to the engine room to change speed were sent using this signal board.  A horseshoe was nailed to it for good luck.  Wires ran from the signal board in the pilot house to the signal bell in the engine room.

Over 17,000 Union soldiers are buried here – 13,000 of them unknown.  Many of the Confederates who died in the siege are buried in Vicksburg’s Cedar Hill Cemetery.

The unknown soldiers are marked with numbered stones.

Others have headstones.

Throughout the cemetery large trees stand guard over those buried here.