Vicksburg, MS - April 2013

There was nothing going on this weekend so we decided to hit the road for a little mini-break.  John had never been to Mississippi so I took him to Vicksburg.  It's a straight shot on I-20.

 

Welcome to Mississippi!  John at the visitors center.

The Mississippi River Commission building constructed in 1894.  The commission was established in 1879 to facilitate improvements to the river.

I'm not sure what this building is but it looks intriguing, doesn't it?  I wanted to go up those stairs and see what was in there but alas, John said no.

We got to go to the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum this time.  The significance of the museum is that this is where coca-cola was first bottled.  Prior to this, you had to have a soda fountain to sell coke because it only came with the syrup. In the museum, they have all kinds of memorabilia.

When you walk into the museum, they have this fantastic picture of Vicksburg in 1894.

They also had this wonderful courtyard in the back.  It was really peaceful back there.

The building to the left is an old soda shop.

In the soda shop building, they had an old soda fountain along with explanations of how it worked.

In the office portion of museum, they had this roll top desk.  I love this desk.  I hope to find one sometime that I can actually purchase and use.

The Old Depot museum.  This depot sits right on the train tracks that run parallel to the Mississippi River.  I was kind of excited to go in because I thought it would have a lot of historical information about the city and the building itself.  Instead, they had several very elaborate train sets and a diorama of the battle of Vicksburg.  Nice but not what I was expecting.

The old bridge and the new bridge across the Mississippi.  Louisiana is on the other side of the bridge.

As I said, I was here last year with my mom.  So I was pretty familiar with the area.  I took John to Grand Gulf Military Park.  The city of Grand Gulf suffered many indignities.  They was a epidemic of some sort that reduced the population.  Then, of course, there was the Civil War.  Then the final indignity was when the Mississippi River decided to change course and wipe the town out.  When you drive through the park, there's this cemetery that really old but very beautiful. 

There were several of these plaques along the way describing what took place during the war.  This particular plaque was in the cemetery.

Another view of the cemetery.  It was incredibly peaceful there.  All the trees were covered in Spanish Moss.

Across the street from the Military Park is a tiny little road that ends at the Mississippi.  This is the place my mother loved so much the last time.  If we'd come last weekend, we wouldn't have been able to come here because the rain had flooded it out.  The bench mom & I sat on didn't fare so well.

Some of the outbuildings at the Grand Gulf Military Park.

This Spanish Moss is brutal.  It takes over everything.  We were driving along and saw this bus covered in the stuff!

From Grand Gulf, we drove to Port Gibson, the town that Ulysses S. Grant declared to beautiful to burn.  This is the Claiborne County Courthouse.  The rest of the town has not fared well.  There are only 1,500 people that live here.  John & I couldn't figure out where these folks grocery shopped or even ate out.  There are about 5 or 6 churches on the main street but only a convenience store where the residents can buy stuff.

From Port Gibson, we drove out to the Windsor Ruins.  There's a great Wikipedia entry detailing the history.  But basically, this fabulous house was built before the Civil War.  During the war, it was occupied by Union soldiers.  At some point, a visitor dropped a cigar butt into a pile of lumber and the whole thing burned to the ground leaving only this skeleton of the house behind. 

Back in Vicksburg, we went to this place called Walnut Hills for dinner.  It was really good.  John had grilled salmon and I had stuffed redfish.  The restaurant was an old house.  It was built in 1880.  John was taking a rest on the porch that spanned the front of the entire house.

John on the porch of the Walnut Hills restaurant.

The next day we spent some time driving around town.  This is a view of the Mississippi from one of the side streets in town.  One thing we found was that Vicksburg was very hilly and very green.

We also went the the National Military Park where the battle of Vicksburg was fought.  In the visitors center, they have a short film that's really very good.  They also have a few exhibits that I thought were interesting.  After the visitors center, you drive through the park. 

All the blue signs describe the Union movement.  At the entrance to the park you pass a sign saying that you are now entering Union lines.  I didn't notice that the first time.

We also stopped to see the USS Cairo.  It was one of the "iron clads" that fought in the Civil War.  It was sunk in the Yazoo River and then recovered and restored in 1956.

Ahoy matey!  Long John Chaney behind the cannon.

The Hotel Vicksburg built in 1928 is now an apartment building.  It's right on the cusp of downtown.

As we were driving around, I saw this house that seems to have been built in a ditch.  There were "grooves" or ditches like this all over town.  The houses would be at street level and then have an extension in the back that went down to the floor of the groove. 

This is a view down one of the side streets that led into a neighborhood.  Most of the houses that were in the neighborhoods we drove through were really run down.  What was really strange to me was that in the middle of these run down neighborhoods were bed and breakfasts that were supposed to be very fancy (according to their websites).  Had I booked a room there I would have been upset as they were rather run down themselves.

We stopped on the way out of town to get a soda and this was the view from the back of the convenience store.  Beautiful!

Another view of the two bridges.

Well, it was a short trip but a fun one.  Goodbye Vicksburg!  We'll be back....

March birthdays 2013

It's that time again to celebrate all the Chaney/Windsor birthdays that occur in March.  We have Dad, Michele, John and Brendan.  Mom cooked a fabulous chicken parmigiana dinner.  We had spaghetti, garlic bread and salad.  It was delicious.

We all watch as Dad opens his birthday card.

 

Brendan and Grandpa.

Dad and Michele.  Michele is sporting new hair.  Looks good!

Paul was telling us about what he wants to do in the Navy.  Gunner's mate.  Sounds pretty cool.

John with his Uncle John.

Mark watching the insanity that is a Chaney family gathering.

James and Michele.

Mom brings out the birthday cake.  Dad and Michele requested carrot cake.

The birthday kids.

Mom lights the candles.

 

Make a wish!

John, Dad and Michele.

 

What??

We had a lovely dinner.  Happy birthday to John & Brendan, who are officially teenagers now.  Happy birthday to Michele and Dad.

Dane's 5th Birthday - April 2013

It's Dane's 5th birthday (already??) and we all met up a Chuck E Cheese's to celebrate.

When I got there I found Dane and Dixon in a big truck.  Dane was driving and the truck was all over the place.

Grandma possum and Aunt Del.

Suppertime!  Dixon with his Grandma having some pizza.

Dane's birthday cake.  Dane just got his yellow belt in karate.

This little cutie is one of Dane's friends.

Grandpa with Dixon.

Dane whacking the sharks.

More tokens, please.

Dixon wants in on the gaming action.

Dane waits patiently for Chuck E. Cheese to come out before he can cut his cake.

Grandpa, John, Johnny and Aunt Del chatting while they, too, wait for Chuck E. Cheese.

Bailey, Dixon and Aunt Chantal munching on some pizza.

I was poised and ready to take photos as soon as Chuck E. Cheese made an appearance and Dane saw me and gave me a smile.

Here he comes!  It's Chuck E. Cheese!

Dane gets crowned the special guest.

Chuck E. Cheese gets a big hug!

The birthday star in his crown.

This must be a yellow belt pose.  Pretty sharp.  Now you know why he got the yellow belt!

Dane making his wish before he blows out the candles.

Dane and Chuck E. Cheese.

 

Dane and his friend get in this chamber with masks on....

...then tickets start blowing around and they have to get as many as they can until the blower stops.  Dane stepped out of the chamber and he had tickets falling out of his shirt.

Miss Phyllis.

Melissa and Dixon reading a story while Dane opens gifts.

Dane and his birthday friend.

The guys.  Mike and Johnny, Robert chatting with John and Ed just hanging out.

Aunt Chantal takes Dixon to ride on the rocking horse.  It was going so slow that I think Dixon fell asleep.

Beautiful Bailey.

Now here's a little video of Dane dancing with Chuck E. Cheese while we all do the birthday song...Chuck E. Cheese style.