Day twelve: Memphis, TN to Vicksburg, MS

Every day, we go deeper and deeper into the South

Today, we left after a goodbye to Uncle Russ and headed down the Mississippi Delta, which is as deep South as it gets. It was rather uneventful this morning. We mostly watched the scenery go by. At noon, we stopped in Leland, MS, for lunch. We swung into the parking lot of the Leland First Baptist Church and unpacked our picknic. As we sat and ate, some elderly ladies stopped in the lot for a chat. They'd evidently just had a big luncheon potluck that we had missed by mere moments, as they informed us. They just wanted to make sure we weren't in need of any help. Sweet ladies.

We continued our lovely lunch and, lo and behold, another lady pulled into the lot. She wanted to know if we were alright, where we were from, and then...she asked "would you like some squash?" Regardless of whether or not we wanted it, we accepted it, along with a fried chicken leg for Wyatt. She left, and Daddy put the first bite into his mouth. Let me tell you, we wanted the squash. It was spicy, flavorful, and delicious. We're really grateful for that old woman's squash. We were, of course, disappointed that we'd missed the luncheon. We packed up and headed down the road.

More corn and cotton passed us by, and this afternoon we arrived in Vicksburg, a historic ante-bellum town. It's the site of the Vicksburg National Battlefield, a site where, after a long battle, the Union won the Mississippi River. As we came to know, it was a very pivotal battle.

We drove around the battlefield, and it was different from any other that we had visited. We drove down a winding road in a wooded gulch, and what was strange was that every 100 feet or so was a monument, sent by a state to commemorate fallen soldiers and fallen officers. The states that set up monuments were mostly Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, and Wisconsin. They were marble pedestals with inscriptions about the regiment the monument was honoring.

The monuments grew monotonous, until we reached a beautiful monument from none other than Illinois. It was a marble octagon building on a hill, with granite steps. Inside the walls were covered with plaques listing the names of every Illinois soldier that fought in the battle. However, the most remarkable feature was the acoustics. A whisper could be heard as clearly as a shout, and shouts were deafening. We spent about twenty minutes playing with the sound in the building.

After leaving the battlefield, we went to Anchuca, a historic ante-bellum home turned B & B/restaurant. They only served Thursday through Saturday, so we were lucky. The meal was gourmet and delicious.

So now we're here at our hotel, resting up and deciding on what to do tomorrow.

-Jane