Wow! time flies by.

Hi all
Need to catch you up on the travels of the BWB.
After we left Hattiesburg, MS we traveled to Natchez, MS
Stayed in a State Park a few miles from town.
Spent time looking at Antebellum homes, built before the Civil War.

Toured a couple of homes, ate down by the Mississippi River and generally enjoyed the area.

One of the homes, called Melrose, is part of the Nat. Park System.

The tour and the guide were wonderful, the home and the grounds were not part of a plantation.
The place was built by an Attorney, who became wealthy and owned plantations.

Slave operated ceiling fan.

The parlor.

The grounds.

We only spent 3 nights there and upon leaving we traveled a bit of the Natchez Trace.
The road mostly used by people returning North after bringing their goods to market using the River.
Stopped at a plantation/ road house/ BnB, along the original Natchez Trace.

This was a pre civil war place that provided rooms and meals for travelers.
From there we went to Vicksburg, MS and visited the National Military Park and the USS Cairo.

The park drive went along the Union lines at the Siege of Vicksburg on it's way up to the Cairo.
The ship is the remains of an iron clad vessel used during the Civil War.

It had been sunk by a mine and was recovered about 100 years later and reassembled.
In the photos the newer looking laminated timbers were added to structurally support the remains.

And to indicate the general shape of the original construction.
Was a nice diversion on our way to Poverty Point State Park in Louisiana.
Got in and set up Thursday (3/22) and enjoying another beautiful state park.
Yesterday we went to the Poverty Point World Heritage Site.
The site is where hunter/gatherers built the largest civilized "city" in North America.
Of course this was 3000 years ago and had 1000 to 3000 people in residence.

With no signs of agriculture it was unusual for these peoples to gather into such a large community.
They also built large "mounds" that were not burial mounds and archaeologists still don't know why.
Was a great day to be out and in the sunshine.

Today we are staying put and relaxing after showers, laundry and catching up on the blog.
Tomorrow we travel to Longview, TX to get together with my cousins Cliff and Joy.

Make your day great

Tom and Millie