2022 Travel Log #2 Central MS

After leaving North MS, our first stop was the small town of Yazoo, MS. The famous MS author, Willie Morris (My Dog Skip, Good Old Boy...), was born there. The little downtown strip of buildings was really neat, but as with most rural towns, there were many vacant buildings. There was one really neat store with the kindest man running it. There, Johnny finally decided to buy one of those Ridge wallets. He had been wanting to touch one/try it out and the nice man gave him a full demonstration with his own--even handing it over (money and all) to Johnny, telling him to put it in his pocket. So, operation: get some steps in was accomplished in Yazoo!

We were hoping to catch part of a hiking trail, but we mapped and went to the wrong side of this refuge area.

Johnny's favorite part was riding down this gravel road. He had just recently bemoaned the fact that the gravel road that was near our house in Blue Springs was no longer gravel (he discovered that last week). I should have taken a picture when the gravel road turned to mud and we were fishtailing through the mud. He said we were fine, that we had plenty of hands to push us out if we got stuck. Did I mention we are in a car????"

After the exercise in Yazoo, we landed in Vicksburg, MS for the night. Here are some Vicksburg adventures.

Along the river, they have a wall of painted murals. I didn't include pictures of all of them, just some of my favorites.

Jackson wants to fish in every body of water we see, so he cast out into the Yazoo river in town.

We learned a lot today as we visited several museums.

At this one, we learned all about the MS River and toured a decommissioned tug boat that once worked on the river.

One of the most interesting things I learned was regarding the differences in efficiencies among hauling via trucks, trains, and barges. Check out these numbers! Of course, it works great--as long as there is enough water in the river and shipping yards aren't back logged.

This museum was a take on diversity among the people groups in the area and persons of interest from Vicksburg. It is just getting started and is currently in the process of setting up an exhibit from the Smithsonian.

This small museum was the Biedenharn Candy Company. Mr. Biedenharn operated a candy store/soda fountain that was started by his father. While serving fountain Coca-Cola (the only way it was sold), he reasoned that it could be bottled just like the soda water was. This resulted in the first bottling plant for Coca-Cola. He was obviously a very visionary business man as he also helped turn a crop dusting business into what is now Delta Airlines!

There was an excellent folk art store/gallery near the Coca-Cola museum. I didn't want to snap a picture in there because I didn't want them to think I was trying to steal ideas for art. I liked a few of the signs: Be Nice or Go Home and one that read: Don't let your alligator mouth overload your hummingbird butt and of course the picture that accompanied the signs were great. There were several watercolor prints by an artist, and I loved his story. He was in prison and the warden noticed his artistic ability and encouraged him. His work is beautiful. I did take a picture of the sign for the store, Attic Gallery.

After visiting multiple museums, we went over to the National Military Park. In case you don't know, Vicksburg MS is where the Civil War ended. As Abraham Lincoln stated, "Vicksburg is the key."

I love when we get to see glimpses of the boys' imaginations. These times of play are getting fewer and fewer...

While we are on these trips, if someone see something and they want to stop...we stop. Jackson wanted to stop in at an antique mall he spotted so we turned around and went back to it.

Johnny got intrigued with the building across the street.

While browsing the store, Johnny played us some background music on the baby grand.

While not often, they occasionally remember to shoot a picture of me!

Here are some pictures of the MS river as we were getting ready to cross the bridge into Louisiana.

On the LA side, you could see the large sandbars from the lack of water that we have been seeing on the news.

And of course, Jackson wanted to fish in the river. In true Johnny fashion, we road several side/back roads to try to find river access. One little road looked promising, but there was a Corp of engineers gate prior to gaining access. We googled for boat ramps, to no avail in the area where we were, but it wasn't a total loss as the scenery was beautiful!

On the way out, there was a lake that he got to fish in until dark.

The colors were amazing. None of the pictures I post have filters.

We thought we would make it to Shreveport, LA but ended up in Monroe because we were getting tired and hungry. We will see what where we end up from here.