Vicksburg...Day Two

The day started out just as the weather folks predicted.  Rainy, cloudy and dreary.  I suppose if this is all we have to endure from Irma we did good!!                      

The view from the back of the Welcome Center overlooking the Mississippi

We started our day by returning to the Welcome Center, that had already closed yesterday when we arrived.  We learned a lot of things from a very informative lady.  She explained the driving tour on the map, the different places of interest and finally the Vicksburg Military Park.  We all agreed the military park should be postponed until Wednesday because of the rain.                 

A little blurred, taken from inside the truck

With maps in hand we decided to do the Historic Downtown Vicksburg route.  It was here we saw the original "town" of Vicksburg.  Very quaint with a brick road on a narrow street lined by local shops. We saw the Old  Depot Museum on Old Levee Street and decided to start here.  A beautiful building built in 1906 and featured the history of the war fought in Vicksburg along with the types of transportation this city was known for....riverboat town and rail center.  We saw a well displayed diorama of the two sides that fought this war.  The war was actually fought around this quaint town.  A video featured information pertaining to the war but as seen through the eyes of the townspeople.  Since the war raged around this town it was not safe for the women and children to remain in the town so they built caves in the sides of the surrounding hills where they stayed and dodged canons and bullets.  We are looking forward to learning more about this battle
tomorrow.

The Old Depot Museum

The Clermont

Part of the Diorama

An overview of the Diorama

The Wexford Lodge the Shirley House. Grant stationed himself here

We were beginning to get a little hungry....we spent a lot of time in this museum.  The lady at the Welcome Center had highly recommended a place called The Tomato Place to eat.  She said it was a local place and very unique.  She was completely right!!!  The tourist booklet describes it as...." Caribbean/New Orleans-themed "funky little shack" hidden under the guise of a roadside produce stand."  That is pretty accurate!!  You would never know it was a place to eat by looking at it from the road.  Inside was quite different but we like the idea of eating local when we travel to new places and this was definitely local.  We found a place to sit and I ordered a chicken sandwich on bread I believe they make themselves and Mike ordered the signature sandwich which was a BLT club and we shared a side of baked beans.  I am not a baked bean eater but these were the best I have ever tasted.  It was a unique experience.  I can't say it was the best food we have ever eaten, except for the baked beans, but we enjoyed the experience.   

Later in the afternoon we returned to the Historic Downtown area and took a look at some of the places highlighted in the tour booklet.  Unfortunately, it was a rainy day and walking was not an option especially with cameras.  

We are having a quiet evening in our Ollie!!  Tomorrow we will head out to the Vicksburg Military Park and begin at their Visitor Center with another video and then a driving tour.   

To me, it is so interesting and important to learn our history.  Some of it good and some not so good but it all works together to make us who we are....a great nation!!   I hope you will join us tomorrow!!