Wednesday: Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi

We got sort of a late start Wednesday morning, because we overslept.  But it didn't matter on this day.  We were flexible with our schedule, and there were some stops that just didn't happen.

One of those was our first one, the Home of Kermit the Frog.

Jim Henson is from Leland, Mississippi.  There we found the small museum devoted to his Muppet creations.  Unfortunately, no one came to open up, so we didn't get to enjoy His Greenness, Kermit the Frog. 

Driving down the delta, we were surrounded by fields of corn and soybeans.  King Cotton is no more.  Now it seems to be exclusively corn and soybeans, just like we saw in Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York State in previous trips the last few years.  Huge fields are being worked by huge tractors, equipped with wide spraying arms.  Crop dusters were in the air.  Is it better living through chemicals?  Or not. We feed more people, but how well?  

Our next stop was the Vicksburg National Military Park.  Vicksburg played an essential role in the Civil War.  Whoever controlled Vicksburg controlled the Mississippi River, and the supply line to the interior.  It took over 40 days and a siege for the Union Army to defeat the Confederates.  Battles raged all over the area, including the Union Navy ironclads firing from the river. 

 The park visitor center has great displays illustrating the battles.

Jefferson Davis and General Grant

 Many types of cannons were used.

 Throughout the park, each state has erected monuments to the units who fought here from their respective homelands. 

This is a drive-through park, and it is very beautiful, full of green lawns and lush woodlands.  It looked nothing like this at the time of the Civil War. Trees had all been cut for lumber and ship building and fire wood.  

 Shirley House was used by Union commanders and still stands, the only one of its kind survive here. 

 I loved this Colonel's name - Manning Force.  How fitting. 

Raised from the bottom of the Mississippi, where it was torpedoed and sunk, the remains of one of the Navy's ironclads, the Cairo, is on display in the park. 

 The old wooden remains are held in a new wooden cradle.

 The old paddle wheel frame has been rebuilt. 

 Nearby, within the park, is the National Cemetery where 17,000 Union soldiers are buried.

 13,000 of them are unknowns, marked only by a small plain block. 

 And because we like to "collect capitals", we ended our day in Jackson, where we visited the Capitol building

 And checked out the Governor's mansion, from outside the fence. 

The old capitol is now a history museum.  As the sign says, this was the site of the Secession Convention that led up to the Civil War.  Mississippi is handling their history honestly and openly.  The war brought destruction of property and people and their economic way of life.  It took a long time for them to recover and accept their new way of life without slavery. 

I am learning a lot about history and geography on this trip.  The people we have met so far have been friendly and helpful.  

Traveling is a good thing.  But maybe not in the south in the summer.  Ugh.  It's hot and sticky!