Few things would be classified as unusual about the Comfort Inn in Jackson, Miss., but this was one of them -- a bird cage in the lobby. Photo by Glenn.
Another state, another state capitol. This is the seat of Mississippi's government, located in the heart of Jackson. The building was completed in 1903 and today is used only by the state legislature. The judicial branch has a building across the street from where Glenn is standing. Photo by Roni.
This is a replica of the Liberty Bell -- one of 53 in existence. It sits in the plaza leading to the capitol's front steps. Photo by Glenn.
The Mississippi capitol is 402 feet long and 180 feet tall at its dome. The grounds surrounding it are compact, planted with a variety of trees including the magnolia, which is the state tree. Photo by Glenn.
An hour or so later we have arrived at Vicksburg National Military Park. If you like history and memorials then you'll quickly fall in love with this place. This is the first monument we encountered on the 16-mile drive. It commemorates one of the Union infantry divisions from Illinois who fought in the 1863 Vicksburg campaign. There are literally hundreds of these monuments throughout the park. Photo by Glenn.
This is a Union cannon row overlooking one of the battlefields. Photo by Glenn.
Ben has decided to sketch some of the sights around the park. He is busily drawing a cannon. Photo by Glenn.
Glenn relaxes on one of the benches near the cannons. Photo by Roni.
This is the only house that survived the Vicksburg battle. The Union troops used it as a command post. Photo by Roni.
This is the large temple erected by Illinois to honor its soldiers who fought at Vicksburg. Visitors are allowed to walk inside the rotunda. That's Ben to the right. Illinois seemed to have a large presence in the park, but bear in mind that President Abe Lincoln was an Illinois native. Photo by Glenn.
Here's a closeup of one of the walls inside the Illinois temple. The names of soldiers who served in every company are engraved on metal plaques. Photo by Glenn.
Look who came to visit while we were inside the temple. These butterflies are fairly common around the South, but apparently they can't tell the difference between a flower and our rental car. Photo by Glenn.
Ben does his best to sketch our visiting butterfly, which was in no hurry to flutter away. Photo by Glenn.
Here is David Dixon Porter, who commanded the Mississippi naval squadron for the Union under Ulysses S. Grant during the Battle of Vickburg. His statue is one of four that stands at the base of a huge obelisk. Ever wonder what it would be like to be immortalized in bronze? Here is Glenn's idea. Photo by Roni.
This is the USS Cairo, a Union warship that was rescued from the Yazoo River 100 years after it was sunk. The ship has been partially restored and visitors can walk its main deck to see how cannons were placed, among other things. This wouldn't have been a fun place to work in the war. The hull was 2-inch-thick plates of iron reinforced with wood. Inside the temperature was generally around 130 degrees, and the constant firing of cannons was a good way to damage one's hearing. Photo by Roni.
This is the cemetery, located directly across from the USS Cairo visitor center. A road takes you on a tour around the graves. This is about halfway through the 16-mile drive and we are running late because we keep stopping to look at the sights. Photo by Roni.
Here's an interesting monument. This one honors slaves who assisted the Union soldiers in fighting the Confederacy. Photo by Glenn.
This is the Texas memorial at Vicksburg. Most all the states that had soldiers in this campaign later erected large monuments in this park. Most you can see from the road, but there are a few that can only be seen if you hike into the woods or hills. There are 1,365 memorials of all types erected throughout the park. Photo by Roni.
We wrapped up the day by attending the greyhound races at Southland Greyhound Park in West Memphis, Ark. The track was conveniently located across the freeway from the Holiday Inn where we were staying. This is the outside all lit up, reflected off the roof of our rented Dodge. Photo by Glenn.
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Missin' Mississippi
Thursday, September 23 (Day 7) — We were faced with a decision this morning as we prepared to depart our hotel in Jackson -- whether to blow off Mississippi as quickly as possible and just take I-55 to Memphis, or explore a bit and see if we could find the beauty in the state that had managed to elude us yesterday. We chose the latter option, or perhaps I chose it. Roni has basically left this phase of the journey in my hands as it was my interest in seeing eastern Arkansas that got us here to begin with.
We enjoyed a continental breakfast of fruit and bagels in the Comfort Inn dining room, then collected our bags and checked out. Our first stop would be the state capitol building, which according to something Roni had read or heard somewhere wasn't worth bothering with. I don't know where her source got their information, but I found the seat of Mississippi government to be quite attractive. It is a stately domed structure with classical Roman architecture that sits on a fairly compact lot. Certainly not as sprawling as the capitol in Baton Rouge. We came at it from the back, but easily walked around to its front while Roni shot photos from all angles. There is a large statue dedicated to the women of the Confederacy, and a replica of the Liberty Bell that Ben wanted desperately to ring. I wanted to venture inside, but given our goal of making Arkansas by late afternoon and Ben's cantankerous mood, we elected to bypass any more exploration of Jackson or the capitol.
Heading back to the freeway, we connected with I-20 west and made the hourlong trip to Vicksburg. For the first time on our journey we encountered rain. It wasn't too bad, just a few sprinkles that moistened the dirt on the window enough to be annoying. The Weather Channel has been warning of possible thunder showers all week because the remnants of Hurricane Ivan are still milling about the Southeast. It was cloudy and muggy throughout the day. I think the heat alone would prevent me from ever wanting to make this part of the country my home. The entire drive over to Vicksburg I was wondering if I had made the right choice. I wanted to get to West Memphis, Ark., in time to catch the greyhound races that started at 7:30 p.m., but Vicksburg held a lot of promise for sightseeing with its plantation homes, historical downtown and Civil War battlefields. It really looked like the only chance Mississippi would get to redeem itself from a tourism standpoint.
We had been in town less than a couple of minutes before we came upon the entrance to Vicksburg National Military Park. Great! A Civil War battlefield. We'll cruise in, snap a few pictures, then hit the road again -- or so I thought. The park is essentially one giant cemetery strung out across 16 miles that you can drive up to 25 mph but usually take at a much more leisurely pace. From the first monument to Union troops erected inside the main gate, to the final memorial near the exit, we were enthralled for over two hours. This place is a testament to the siege on Vicksburg in 1863 that lasted 44 days and during which thousands of men died. The locations of troop positions are painstakingly documented on blue signs that appear throughout the park. There are granite monuments contributed by each of the states that fought the war, some fairly basic to others extremely detailed. You can't see everything from the road, but what you can see is impressive. The tour takes you first along the Union front line, then returns you to the visitor center on the Confederate side. In the middle is a display of a Civil War naval ship that was sunk in the Yazoo River but not discovered until 1964. It has been partially reconstructed to its original appearance and now sits under a giant white canopy in front of an interpretive center. The center includes a gift shop, where we bought what turned out to be the only Mississippi postcards we would buy.
After finishing the battlefield tour it was nearly 2 p.m. and time for a good lunch before hitting the road. We drove out to the waterfront where the Horizon Casino advertised an all-you-can-eat buffet. My appetite had returned and I was there with it. Unfortunately, the buffet closed at 2 p.m. to prepare for dinner service, so once again we wound up leaving town with empty stomachs. Not to worry, though. We would just drive up the road for a couple of miles until we linked up with Highway 61 and it took us to where the food was. Another hour or so later we were still looking for a meal. Highway 61 may not be the tree-lined boulevard that I-55 is, but it is monotonous in its own right. The towns along the highway are far and few between, and those that qualify as real cities are woefully lean on restaurants or any other services for that matter. Yes, there is cotton. Lots and lots of cotton. We passed what must have been tens of thousands of acres of ripe cotton fields between Vicksburg and the Tennessee border. The harvest is just beginning, and we saw everything from cotton gins to balers at work in the fields. There is also a fair amount of cotton lost on the side of the road by delivery trucks or blown there from the fields. It drifts across the pavement like soap suds. I stopped the car on the shoulder long enough for Roni to retrieve one of the wayward bolls. It feels exactly like what gets stuffed in the top of a prescription medicine bottle.
We did finally stop for food and gas at a town whose name escapes me at the moment. There was a Bumper's Drive-In that looked quite a bit like the Sonic we ate at in Louisiana yesterday. The menu items were a bit different, but it was still fast food served at the car window by a waitress. I guess drive-ins may be a dying fad in other parts of the country, but they are hanging on here in a big way. The Bumper's we ate at was very busy for a Thursday afternoon, indicating that it is popular, or the only fast food place for miles around. The Burger Kings and McDonald's of the world have all but bypassed the Mississippi Delta region.
It didn't take long to realize that we had essentially had our fill of Mississippi. After lunch the only other stop I made was at a truck stop near Cleveland so we could use the restrooms. I bypassed Clarksdale and the casino town of Tunica to the north, which got us into Memphis, Tenn., by 6 p.m. About 20 minutes later we were on I-55 again crossing the border into Arkansas. To my utter amazement and delight, the Holiday Inn Roni had booked last night is located directly across the freeway from the Southland Greyhound Park. But we almost wound up not staying there. Roni was eager to do the laundry and had booked the Holiday Inn precisely because they advertised a washer and dryer. However, the clerk at the front desk told her the washer had been broken for a week and still wasn't repaired. After she calmed down, Roni agreed with me that it didn't make sense to cancel reservations now just because of the washer. Besides, we could always hand wash anything we absolutely needed and stuff in it the dryer, which still worked. The problem resolved itself after we checked in to Room 133 and brought in our bags. The laundry room is right across the hall from our room, and someone was standing there washing clothes. Guess the washer wasn't so broken after all.
At 7:30 we checked out the greyhound races. It was the first time any of us had seen the dogs race, and we didn't know quite what to expect. Ben would rather we have passed on the races entirely, but he finally reluctantly agreed to come along. The first thing we learned is that kids aren't allowed in the upper viewing area because that's where the gambling takes place. Instead, a security guard directed us to the family area on the lower level with its obstructed view of the track. Booo! We watched the second race of the night which was about the duration of Ben's attention span. He and Roni went off to the video game lounge while I walked outside to the track to view the third race from closeup. I had expected the dogs to be noisy while racing, but you can barely hear them as they chase after the mechanical object that resembles a bone flying around the ring ahead of them.
After the third race (I had gotten my taste for it and was satisfied) we went to dinner at the Perkins restaurant adjacent to our hotel. Afterward, Roni did the laundry while Ben and I played card games. Tomorrow will be the day I have been looking forward to for months, when I get to explore the area of eastern Arkansas and Memphis. I can't believe our vacation is at the halfway point. It seems like we have been gone for so long, yet not long at all. We all agree that this trip has so far exceeded our expectations. I'm hoping the next seven days will as well.
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