New Orleans road trip - Day 6 - Vicksburg

I am actually writing this on Day 8 as the Vicksburg camp ground didnt have internet and Day 7 was the drive from there to New Orleans. So we are finally here and forecast to see temperatures in the double digits for the first time today (11). Hopefully the internet here is OK and I can get the blog caught up.

To continue the Graceland visit:

Elvis died at Graceland, at the age of 42. He is buried there along side both parents, his grandmother (who outlived them all) and there is also a stone for his twin brother (who died at birth).

Our ticket gave us access to other buildings. The first held his cars. He had this Cadillac painted purple.

Elvis loved cars. Just like the electronics, he was "cutting edge". Many of the over 25 cars in the showroom he had traded in and the museum had bought back from subsequent owners.

One of 2 Roll's in the showroom. The other was black. He kept them in classy colours.

With it's custom paint job, he kept the pink Cadillac as it was his mother's favorite.

He also loved his toys - there were motorcycles, golf carts, go-carts, snow mobiles all with "home movies" of him, the family and friends using them around Graceland.

Hey Heather, he had a John Deere!

There were walls

and WALLS of his gold records and awards. There was a section devoted to his time in the army (he was a regular soldier; boot camp, kp etc but he was also covered by the media and was granted permission to stay off base while posted to Germany) and to his philanthropy, donating about $100, 000 a year to charities.

Finally there was a section devoted to his performances - movies and videos

and his costumes that were, chronologically, more and more elaborate and more and more seventies style (jumpsuits and flared hems)

The final stop (we were pretty "Elvised out" by this time) was the plane, Lisa Marie. It had gold flecked wash basins, TVs, a lounge, dining room and a bedroom with a queen size bed. All done in blue suede.

The next day we got up early and drove to Vicksburg (about 4 hours). We are getting into a routine around stopping to go to the bathroom and stopping to get gas. Their truck has a bigger gas tank but their gas mileage is worse so we usually need to stop at about the same time. We communicate using walkie talkies.
After getting settled at the campground just outside Vicksburg we drove to the Vicksburg National Military Park. This huge park surrounds 2 sides of the town and the river is on one side.

In the visitors centre we watched a movie about the civil war battle that was fought here. 20,000 died.

The road around the park takes about 30min to drive and there are cannons, signs and monuments along the way identifying the trenches, the regiments, the notable events and the men who died.

Having watched the movie and now seeing the landscape it really bought to life the event and what it must have been like. It's hilly and you can see where earthworks and trenches were created. The Union forces attacked again and again, only to be repulsed. The Confederates holding the town finally surrendered due to sickness and running out of food.

Also on this site, under a huge canopy, are the remains of an Ironclad Gunboat. It was retrieved from the bottom of the river (not an easy task as it is very heavy) and partially reconstructed. It must have been very intimidating, for the Confederates and the townspeople as it patrolled the river.

There were tons of artifacts in the adjacent museum as the boat had gone down in 12 minutes and then been buried in silt.

We were able to walk on to it.

It was fueled by coal, heating the boilers that turned the paddlewheel.

Coming out of the park we drove around Vicksburg and had supper there. The town is protected from the Mississippi's floods by a huge concrete wall. Note the comment on the top flood mark.