Mueller's Conquer Vicksburg

After spending our first night at the Ameristar Casino RV Park, we decided we needed to see what make Vicksburg interesting. And what better place to start than the Vicksburg Visitor Center, just a couple of blocks from where we were staying. Did I mention that Marianne is a big fan of visitor centers? Yup, since see volunteers at the California Welcome Center in Oceanside she now has large amount of empathy for "her people".

We received all information we could possibly need to spend an entire day in the area. Including where to eat, what to see, and the Miss Mississippi contestant parade would be happening through the downtown area tonight. This is no two-bit contest, no! It's the pageant to see who goes to Miss America from Mississippi and Vicksburg has been host the event for the past 18 years! Can't wait!

Since we don't get start started too early (you've been following us, right?), and after shooting pictures of a couple of bridges over the Mississippi River with trains, trucks and barge traffic to make it interesting, it was time to grab some lunch.

Looking from across the Mississippi River from Mississippi to Louisiana
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In a Facebook post, our friend Mark Booth recommended that we just had to eat at the Walnut Hills round table, so after orienting ourselves to the downtown Vicksburg area, we headed to this unique restaurant located in an antebellum home just off the downtown area for lunch. For $20/person we got all the food we could eat including okra, shrimp creole, fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, biscuits, coleslaw, creamed corn, green beans, rice, black-eyed peas collard greens, a drink, and cheese cake for dessert. And it was ALL delicious. Thanks Mark for turning us on to this, and the visitor center lady for reinforcing that decision.

Walnut Hills Restaurant
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After the\at scrumptious lunch we went to visit the Vicksburg National Military Park. A huge memorial dedicated to the thousands of soldiers who participated in this turning point of the Civil War. The park includes 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of historic trenches and earthworks, a 16-mile tour road, a 12.5-mile walking trail, two antebellum homes, 144 emplaced cannons, restored gunboat USS Cairo, and the Grant's Canal site, where the Union army attempted to build a canal to let their ships bypass Confederate artillery fire.

In the beginning of 1863 the Union forces under the command of Ulysses Simpson Grant (I'll bet you were all wondering what the U.S. stood for in Grant! But did you also know he was born as Hiram Ulysses Grant? Simpson was his mother's maiden name), held the high ground and attempted to rout the Confederate force commanded by John C. Pemberton. Each assault launched by Grant was repulsed by the Rebs which led to gruesome losses on the Yanks side and severe criticism of Grants tactics. Since attacks were failing, Grant laid siege to the city which lasted for seven weeks. Just before Grant was going to launch another assault, Pemberton surrendered his starving, weakened troops to Grant on July 4, 1863. So, Vicksburg was never captured in battle, a fact that they're very proud of here.

Vicksburg National Military Park
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The surrender of Vicksburg was overshadowed by Confederate General Robert E. Lee's loss at Gettysburg in Pennsylvania (July 1-3, 1863). But both of these events became the major turning points in the Civil War. Grant's success at Vicksburg gave President Lincoln the impetus to appoint Grant as the newly formed commander of the Division of the Mississippi in October 1863, and then after the battle of Chattanooga, Lincoln appointed him as Commander of the Union Army in March 1864, a position which had previously been held by several disappointing generals. Grant goes on to defeat Lee in just over a year, and from March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877 becomes a two term U.S. president.

On a side note, Grant was the first president to have both parents living at the time of his election. His father Jesse Root Grant died on June 29, 1873, whereas his mother Hannah Simpson Grant died on May 11, 1883. To date, the only other presidents to enter office with both of his parents alive are John F. Kennedy and George W. Bush.

U.S. Grant
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Also on the park grounds is the partially restored remains of the U.S.S. Cairo, and ironclad ship with the distinction being the first U.S. ship in history to be sunk sunk on by a torpedo/mine.  This occurred on December 12, 1862 of in the Yazoo River, a tributary of the Mississippi River not far from Vicksburg. With a crew of 173, the ship sank in 20 minutes without the loss of one single life  One hundred years later, It was recovered successfully in 1964 and put on display in its own museum on the park grounds.

U.S.S. Cairo
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Back at the trailer, we recuperated from the heat, and rested before we headed out back into downtown Vicksburg anxiously anticipating the Miss Mississippi parade.

The parade proved to be interesting, getting so see all the pretty contestants one of whom will become Miss Mississippi and then on to the Miss America pageant. Just think - if Miss Mississippi wins, we will have been some of the first people to see her!

Miss Mississippi Contestant Parade
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After the parade we walked by the shoreline photographing boat traffic, the murals, kids playing in a fountain park and then over to a restaurant where we had fried pickles for a night cap.

Vicksburg at Sunset
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High Temperature: 96°
Miles Driven: 32