Month: November 2019

Much as we arrived in New Orleans with some storms, we also had to break camp and drive to Biloxi in some weather. We had heavy rain as we hooked up the car and then a down pour just as we arrived in Biloxi. For a nice change, we were in a park that had paved sites and roads.

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We had a short stay planned of only 3 days/4 nights but still managed to do some exploring. We were happy to discover that Biloxi has a completely smoke-free casino so we spent some time doing a bit of gambling (no successes) without the worry of runny eyes or noses! We also discovered a very nice little Seafood & Maritime Museum that had a special exhibit on Hurricane Katrina as well as some well preserved boats from the area.

We also had a chance to enjoy some local seafood and even have a spa day!

After finishing up in Biloxi, it was time to start heading back to Atlanta. We had an 8-day stay planned for a few appointments as well as a baby shower for Chris and Sarah. We also had to get some work done for our tow package so our plan was to camp for a couple of nights near Montgomery, AL. Then we’d move to Pine Mountain, GA for a couple of nights so we could then get up early from there, run to Riverdale (south of Atlanta) for the work to be done, then finish the day setting up camp back in Acworth.

Our stop south of Montgomery was uneventful, no activities planned. We had a nice pull-thru site and it was a very quiet place.

On the road to Pine Mountain, the dogs took more time to get accustomed to riding in the RV. Brandy was much more relaxed and seemed to enjoy sitting behind Dan’s seat while he was driving. Adele would spend time under the dining table and also on the couch but eventually seemed to be envious of Brandy’s spot and even tried to get her to share her spot at one point.

We moved on to Pine Mountain and took time to visit Roosevelt’s Little White house. It’s amazing how small and basic this house is considering it was the vacation home of the President of the United States. This place has remained unchanged from the day he died there in 1945. You can see the chair he sat in when he collapsed and the bed where he was moved and subsequently passed away. The portrait being painted at the time of his death is also on display, still unfinished.

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On November 7th, we again arrived back into the Atlanta area after a nice trip of 47 nights over 1,522 miles. We stayed in 9 campgrounds over the course of this trip. We started with temps over 100 degrees and by the time we were done, we were looking at temps close to freezing.

Below is a visual of the trip.

After our 8 day stay in Atlanta, it will be off to Florida for the winter!

After a busy week in Vicksburg, it was time to head south again, following the Mighty Mississippi down to New Orleans. We decided to splurge a bit for this campground and upgraded to have a site directly on the water, facing a major canal that connects Lake Pontchartrain with the river.

Although near the end of hurricane season, a storm by the name of Olga decided to head our direction soon after we arrived. After dealing with almost 5 inches of rain while in Memphis, we really weren’t in the mood to be in another storm but here we were. Although rainfall was reasonable, wind speeds picked up much higher than we had expected, peaking our around 50 mph. This is the first time that we felt the wind really pushing Lola around and we decided to pull in our slides. Each of our four slides that go out and increase the interior space, are covered with a slide awning that helps keep water and debris from accumulating on top of the slides. The problem is that these can flap around a lot and in the case of high winds, could tear or get damaged, making slide operations a challenge (and potentially leaking). Thus, early in the AM we pulled the slides in and hunkered down in our bed until day break. Luckily, no damage or problems occurred and we can now say we’ve weather two tropical storms (having endured the remnants of Florence last year while camping in Boone, NC).

The next day we drove into New Orleans, checking out the French Quarter and all the regular sites. We also stopped by the very first officially licensed pharmacy in the US, which just happens to be in New Orleans. It’s now a museum and the time that we stopped by they were giving a tour/demonstration. Sticking to the medical theme, we also stopped by the Voodoo museum for a look see.

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The next day Dan wandered off on his own to visit the WW II Museum (formerly the D-Day Museum). He had been warned that it could take multiple days to get thru this 5-building complex and it was a fair warning. He was able to get thru it all in about 8 hours but could have taken way longer. Below are some pics but one thing people may wonder is why there is a WW II museum in New Orleans, of all places. Well, see the plaque below for an explanation.

There is no way to capture in pictures all the information, exhibits, stories, and experiences presented at this museum. There are complete sections dedicated to the Pacific War, the War in Europe, the Africa Campaign, the Homefront, and the Merchant Marine. One building houses aircraft from the war and allows you to view them from various levels and perspectives. It is truly an immersive and stirring experience.

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Even though we were in New Orleans in October, we still wanted to explore the world of Mardi Gras. So, that’s what we did – we visited Mardi Gras World! Here is where most of the floats are designed and constructed for the various parades each year during Mardi Gras. We were able to see how they are constructed and several of last year’s floats. An interesting fact is that they save most of what is made and then repurpose the figures and forms the next year.

Much like the area around Natchez, the New Orleans area has its fair share of plantations. We had heard a lot about a different view of the world of plantations at the Whitney Plantation. This plantation/museum is focused on providing a view of those where were enslave and endured a horrible world at the hands of plantation owners in order to allow these places to thrive.

Since those who were enslaved were considered property, the state of Louisiana fully documented selling and trades as well as births. This created a very large amount of documentation regarding the enslaved population within the state which included birth dates, dates of changes in ownership, deaths, names, etc. Due to a considerable amount of research, the Whitney Plantation has been focused on sharing this information and pull back the veil of romanticism that surrounds the plantation life. Thru artwork, memorials and displays, we were able to learn much more about the lives and deaths of thousands upon thousands of individuals. Below are some of the pictures we captured during out tour.

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We enjoyed our time in the area and learned a lot. We also took time to enjoy ourselves by just chilling, taking things in and enjoying the moment.

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After a week in New Orleans, it was time to turn east along the Gulf Coast – next stop, Biloxi!

After a few days in Little Rock, it was time to head back over to the Mississippi River as we followed it south towards the gulf. Our destination was Vicksburg where we’d stay for a week while we explored the area along the Natchez Trace. We camped at the Ameristar Casino campground (because it was cheap) but never actually even made it over to the casino.

Our first day, we explored around Vicksburg itself. Our first stop was the Lower Mississippi River Museum (it’s free!) where we learned about how the river has changed and shaped the landscape over the years. For instance, at the time of the Civil War, the entire city of Vicksburg sat on a bluff overlooking the river. However, in the 1870’s flooding caused the river to change it’s course and much of the city is no longer on the shore of the river.

We also took a tour of a river tug that used to work the river.

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Next, we moved up the street and visited the Beidenharn Candy Company. This is now a museum dedicated to the history of bottling Coca Cola. You might wonder why this museum is in Vicksburg when everyone knows that Atlanta is the home of Coca Cola? Well come to find out that Mr. Beidenharn was actually the first person to actually bottle the beverage. Before then, the syrup was sold by Coke and then it was mixed at soda shops with soda water and served by soda jerks. Mr. Beidenharn figured out a way to put the syrup and then the carbonated soda water into glass bottles and then sold them in the surrounding area. Thus, he became the first official Coca Cola bottler.

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This operation was done by hand and since the mixture was under pressure, the operator had to deal with exploding bottles as part of their job. Thus you will note in the picture above, the use of a mask to protect the worker’s face.

There are many planation homes in this area of Mississippi and we decided to visit a more unique home. We took a drive south to Natchez to visit Longwood. The timing for this home was very inopportune in that it was begun in 1858, just three years before the Civil War. It was planned to be the largest brick octagonal home ever built, having 3 main floors, each about 10,000 square feet. Artisans were brought in to help build the huge brick home which included making all the needed bricks on site. Unfortunately for the owner, the exterior was just being completed as war broke out. The family rushed to complete the ground floor which was actually below the main floor and was initially planned to be the gentleman’s “man cave” of the time. Instead, the entire family moved into this bottom floor. The spoils of war meant that the family business never recovered after the war and the home was never completed beyond the ground floor. As stipulation when the home was handed over to a non-profit, it was agreed that the home would remain as it was during the war, leaving the unfinished floors as testament to the waste, lost dreams and destruction that was left by the war.

In the pictures above, the living quarters were actually below the front porch and had to be reached by a side entrance. The brick and wood seen inside is original from the 1860’s and is how the home was left. No pictures were allowed in the ground floor living area but it was dark with low ceilings, nothing like the grand open rooms of the upper, unfinished rooms seen here.

After the tour of the home and a stop for lunch in Natchez, we hopped onto a portion of the Natchez Trace Parkway. This road traces the route people took in the early 1800’s and runs from Nashville to Natchez. In those days, boats only traveled downstream on the river and thus when cargo was delivered at Natchez, workers would have to walk back to Nashville for their next run. This created a sort of walking “highway” complete with rest stops, stores, etc. along the way.

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Of course, you can’t visit Vicksburg without visiting the neighboring National Military Park. Vicksburg was the site of a key siege during the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln himself noted that Vicksburg was the key to controlling the Mississippi and the North needed to hold that key. After several attempts to take Vicksburg by force, the North determined it would be better to put a siege around the city instead and wait them out. The South, in the mean time, had also realized the need to hold Vicksburg at all costs and invested months of work in building up fortifications along an 8 mile line around the city. The siege lasted 47 days with the South surrendering on July 4, 1863, the same day the battle of Gettysburg ended with retreat for the South.

Since the battlefield was made up of siege lines with little movement, the battlefield remains have been retained well in some areas. In addition, due to the help of veterans from both sides, the lines have been clearly marked so it is easy to travel along both sides of the siege and get the visual perspectives of the combatants.

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Continuing the Civil War theme, we also visited the ironside ship, the USS Cairo. This ship was built in 1862 and attempted to run a blockade of the river at Vicksburg. Even though the ship was well armored above the waterline, there was little in the way of protection for it’s hull and it was sunk when it hit mines laid in the river by the South. The ship remained hidden in the river muck for 100 years before it was located and it was eventually salvaged and a museum was established with its remains set up for viewing. They have done a wonderful job of placing the planks, machinery and other parts as they would have been before the ship was sunk. Included is much of it’s boiler system, the paddle wheel mechanisms, much of the armor including railroad rails added by the crew for extra protection, and part of the hull including the rudders.

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Our final tourist activity was to visit the McRaven house. This house was built over three eras with the first portion constructed in 1797, the 2nd in the 1820’s and the final section in the 1840’s. All three sections can be seen and it is interesting to see how they built onto each preceding home. This is also known as the most haunted house in Mississippi but we can’t say that we saw or felt anything while visiting.

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Obviously there was a lot to do in the Vicksburg area! We really enjoyed our time in the area but after a week it was time to follow the Mississippi farther south to New Orleans.

We were excited to extend our westward journey over to Little Rock, Arkansas, if for no other reason than to be able to claim one more state where we have camped! We traded in our site on the Mississippi River out in the country for a campsite on the Arkansas River right across from downtown Little Rock. It’s a small city campground that is mostly paved and gravel but suited us just fine for a short 4-night stay. The dogs seemed to like the location based on the expressions on their faces.

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We had three things to see during our short stay:

• The Clinton Presidential Library
• Little Rock Central High School, scene of the Little Rock 9 and the struggle for school integration
• The Purse Museum. Yep, that’s right, Little Rock has one of only two Purse Museums in the whole world!

We chose to visit the Clinton Library first as it was a rainy day and this would be a good activity to stay out of the rain. Regardless of your political views, we think these libraries are very interesting, lots of artifacts from the time he served and detailed history lessons of what happened during the time. They have created an exact duplicate of the Oval Office as it looked during Clinton’s time, unfortunately they do not allow photos since they want to sell pictures instead. But we did get pics of the duplicate of the Cabinet Room and several other interesting areas, as shown below.

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There was also a special exhibit at the Library regarding trash that is filling our oceans. An artist has taken some of that trash and turned it into art while also spreading awareness of the damage done to wildlife and the environment from various materials.

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On a clear day, we drove over to the National Park Service Visitor Center near the Little Rock Central High School. We were lucky enough to be able to join a tour that took us around the campus (still being used today) as well as go inside the school. We heard about the struggle to allow equal access for African Americans to the same level of education and how local, state and federal governments were involved in both fighting and supporting that integration.

After a good dose of history, it was time to visit the Purse Museum. This includes a collection from one person of purses that represent every decade of the 1900’s. From beautiful, to useful, to outlandish, it was an interesting walk thru time.

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Our last night, the pedestrian bridge across the Arkansas River lit up in pink in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness. A beautiful send off from Little Rock.