The barges were huge and sometimes we saw 2 tugboats together pushing the barges down the river.
One reason for getting to Vidalia early before the rally began was to drive part way up the Natchez Trace Parkway. What a disappointment! We drove up some of it on Sunday afternoon...It is a scenic drive and there are some posting's along the way of the route. We had planned on driving a good part of it on Monday but after driving a few miles on Sunday we changed our minds.
Monday we drove up to Vicksburg, Miss. to visit the Civil War Historic Site. This is the site preserved where the Battle of Vicksburg took place in 1861-1865. It is a gorgeous place and so much history took place there. Larry bought a CD which we used in the park and explained each memorial and historic site as it occured. We all really enjoyed the day. The drive was a 16 mile drive but it took us about 3-4 hours driving and stopping to see everything.
The above pictures were from the Historical site of a cannon and the only Kansas memorial at the site. The site is a very very hilly site and we wondered how they fought with so many trees and hills to manuever the cannons around.
The above pictures were some of the cannons around and a tunnel that they dug so as not to go over the hills to be seen. The boat was built to sail up the Miss. River to bring supplies and was shot on its side.
We also stopped at a Coke museum in Vicksburg. It was in a small building that house a working Coke fountain and memorabilia.
Tuesday morning we decided to drive south into Louisiana and view some Antebellum homes and cross a ferry. So that is what we did......
These homes were fantastic and just beautiful. The first one we toured was called Greenwood Plantation. It had 28 columns around it. The orginial owners were plantation farmers and were first cousins! Their dads were brothers and decided to keep the plantation in the family. They had 4 children. When we got there we were greeted by a lady who gave us the most mesmerizing talk about the history of the plantation. We could have listened to her all day... The house was spared in the Civil War but burned later. The only thing left standing was the columns. Someone bought it and restored it to what it is today. A man bought it and then refinished it and is living in the 3rd story of the house. It is his business to have tours and he had a bed and breakfast adjacent to the house. The house had been in the movie "The North and South". We all just loved that house and the history behind it. The drive up to the house was so beautiful with the trees and moss hanging from the trees.
Next we went to another Plantation house called the Audobon Historical Site. This home was where Audobon painted pictures of birds. The house had many original paintings there. There was even a turkey living on the grounds that strolled to greet visitors!
Audobon was hired to tutor the daughters of this house. He painted birds and also tutored the girls. He decided he would ask the master of the house for his pay. And the Master gave it to him. He also asked the Mistress of the house for pay... She found out that her husband paid him and fired him on the spot. His room was a very small room which was originally a kitchen. The house was of the Carribean architecture with the louved slats on the front of the house for breeze.
I'm not sure you can tell what the one picture is with the big wooden "fan" hanging from the ceiling. Most of the houses we were in had these huge wooden fan things hanging. We were told the younger male slaves would stand in a corner and move with a rope the fan over the dining table while they had guests. The chandeliers were beautiful along with most of the furnishings.
Our rally was fun and we got to visit with several people from Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas. We had a Joker tourneyment one afternoon.
A Pet parade Saturday afternoon. That must be something some of the rallies are doing but so many of our group do not have pets anymore.
Thursday night of the rally we had our meal in the Vidalia Convention Center and were entertained by a Catholic Church from Vidalia. This was a small group of the choir that sung for us. They were fantastic! Such gospel singing! We had never seen anything like that before! I told Bill I could just imagine sitting around a slave campfire listening to them sing.... it was that good!
Saturday morning we decided to take a trolley around Natchez and see some of the sites. It was a great ride and the tour guide was great! We really enjoyed the ride and time it took. We then drove back to one of the house and toured it. It was under some construction and so we couldn't see all of it but it was as large as the first house we saw. Natchez has over 600 Antebellum homes in the area.
We left early Sunday am heading North. The weather was great all the way. We drove from Vidalia to Jonesboro, Arkansas the first day. We spent the night in a Sam's club parking lot.
After arriving at Carthage, Missouri the next day we parted with Larry/Sherry as they were going on to Wichita for the weekend.
Bill and I decided to stay in Carthage at Coachlight RV for the night as the rain was beginning to come in. We really just relaxed the rest of the night. Saturday it was still raining so we decided to spend another night and go to Topeka on Sunday. The weather was much better Sunday as we drove home.
We got to Topeka around 2 or so and came to Lake Shawnee.
Until next time!
BJ
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