Quick Facts Concerning My Trip to Mississippi

1. The trip to Vicksburg was a gift from my husband for my birthday (May 13th) and Mother’s Day.

2. We left the Atlanta area Saturday morning and returned late Monday afternoon…a quick trip, but sometimes those are the best.

3. There was a hidden reason for the trip….I was running from Mother’s Day. Some of you may remember Dear Sister and I lost our mother after a very long illness last July. This was my first motherless Mother’s Day. I just didn’t want to sit through the church sermon this year.

4. Why Mississippi? Why not? I had never seen the Mississippi River. All I can say is WOW!

5. Dear Hubby made all the reservations and arrangements. He did a fantastic job. We stayed at the most interesting and beautiful bed and breakfast built in 1876, and we slept in a bed older than our ages combined.

6. The trip out to Mississippi was spent talking and talking and talking. Sometimes married folks just need to turn down the radio and talk. We have several renovations going on in our home presently (mainly because we can’t seem to finish anything we start), and most of our talk centered around that and of course, our kids.

7. Dear Hubby and I have decided the roads in Alabama and Mississippi are not as drivable as Georgia even though ours are in a perpetual state of construction or repair. We rode through terrible sections in Birmingham and in Meridian…..it would have been smoother if we had been rolling along on a rickety wooden wagon. However, the scenery along I-20 is much prettier and much less commericial in Alabama and Mississippi.

8. Yes, we visited a casino while in Vicksburg. We spent about three hours playing around. Dear Hubby went one way and I went another. The din of the machines was incredible. The strangest collection of whirs and hums I had ever heard. We experienced it, but I have no desire to return. Too much smoke…..too many people who looked like they didn’t need to be there. If I’m going to blow a wad of cash I can think of many more interesting ways to do it than to return to a casino.

9. For most of the weekend we walked in history’s footprint, and it was an incredible experience. We saw and toured beautiful homes, took in the local scenery, and had some very nice meals.

10. Upon arriving at the the Belle of the Bends, our bed and breakfast, our hostess showed us to our room and inside waiting for me was a huge bouquet of flowers and champagne Dear Hubby had ordered (I think I’ll keep him). We drank the entire bottle before heading off to explore, view the Mississippi, and have dinner. The picture I have with this post is the fire place in our room along with my flowers. The mirror above the fireplace is original to the home.

11. We didn’t do too much touring in Vicksburg. We saved that for another trip. We ate at Borello's the first night and Cedar Grove Inn the second night in their courtyard dining room. We had been so busy touring places all day I had forgotten it was my birthday until Dear Hubby said something about it while we shared a piece of cheesecake at the end of our meal….and Mother’s Day had been forgotten except for the phone calls from both of our kids and the phone calls made to Dear Hubby’s mom and my step-mother.

12. Coming home we discussed Shelby Foote, the writer. We couldn’t agree on where he was from, so we did what any 21st century couple would do as they are driving down the road. We yanked out ye olde Blackberry and did a quick Internet search……Mr. Foote was originally from Greenville, Mississippi. Dear Hubby, as usual, was correct. I feel in love with Shelby's Southern drawl the first time I saw him doing commentary for Ken Burn’s Civil War. I miss seeing him/hearing him from time to time. We still have his body of work, however. It will endure as many of the things I saw over this past week will as well.

13. When I returned to school yesterday I received the customary hugs from a few who said, “We are soooooooo glad you’re back.” I told my classes I had been on a field trip of sorts gathering information to share with them. I told them about the mansions I had walked through that were so beautiful... yet so sad because they had all been financed with money made on the backs of slaves. I’m desperately trying to get all of my pictures together so that I can share them here as well as share them with students since we are finishing up our unit on the causes of the Civil War.

Currently I'm trying to craft a proper thank-you note to our hostess, Mary, at Belle of the Bends. She made our stay so enjoyable.

We were so sad to leave and rejoin our life in progess.

So stay turned, and I will dole out tidbits of our trip and what I learned over the next few days. Bear with me as I attempt to do each bit of history justice and attempt to tell the stories in a proper way.