We left Mississippi and headed to Louisiana for our next stop. Originally we had a boondocker spot picked out but, discovered it did not have hook ups and they asked for $20 a night. I don’t mind paying but I want hook ups. We found this beautiful park, Fontainebleu State Park, located on Lake Pontchartrain and reserved a spot. In Louisiana they give seniors a 50% discount so it only cost $20 a night for full hookups. Score!
We set up camp and immediately went out to explore. The first thing we spotted was the Alligator Reefie at the visitor center in the park. There is a small museum in the visitor center with fish tanks, and displays of animals in the area. Then we took a hike on a path behind the visitor center that looped around about 1/2 mile. Of course I was whooped so we went to the truck and drove to the lake for the sunset.
I know I am running a little behind. Tomorrow is New Orleans!
We left our host in Prattville and headed to our next boondocker location. For some reason it was taking us south on I-65. I thought we were supposed to be going west not south. I checked my gps–taking us south down I-65. We’re driving along about 30 minutes into the trip and I started really questioning why we were headed south. It wasn’t making sense. I looked at the map and realized I put our last destination (meaning the last one on our way home) into the gps (which was in MS also but along the coast). We had to turn around and head back the opposite direction–past our last boondocker and head in the right direction. Luckily this trip is about taking it slow and we only had a 3 and a half hour trip so all was not lost.
We arrived at our new location with nothing special to talk about for todays travel day. But, our hosts are amazing. After directing us where we were to park he showed us his camper–which was freaking awesome considering it was one of those you put in the back of the truck. It was surprisingly roomy and had a much bigger bathroom than ours and the pantry was soooo big. Also, their refrigerator was huge. We looked into them because it is one I could drive and still gave us lots of room. Needless to say they are 80k so it isn’t happening. But it was a nice thought. And then, our hostess showed me her sewing room. LOL She is a quilter. She has some beautiful quilts. I sat and chatted with her for about an hour and then went out to help John. Darn, everything was already set up and he had started dinner. My bad.
Today we got an early start to Vicksburg National Military Park. It was about an hour and 10 minutes away and we took the Natchez Trace Parkway. It is a 444 mile scenic parkway that runs from Natchez MS to Nashville, TN.
It was a beautiful day to go through the park. It really is just a park where a number of battles occured during the Civil War. Now it is marked by red and blue signs (depicteing the Union/Confederate troops) and huge monuments donated from the states where the troops came from. Oh, and there are lots of cannons.
From what we learned, the Confederate army knew the Union army was coming for them, so they prepared in advance and just waited for them to arrive. All they had to do is hold their ground. The Union on the other hand came in and had to fortify their soldiers and then try to make advancements on the Confederates. They lost most their battles but, you can see the placards all through the hills. The Confederates where on much higher ground and could see them coming so it it isn’t a surprise that they kept losing. I had to google because I really don’t know which battles they won or lost–I read a lot of the plaques that stated they lost–anyway the Union won several important battles that helped them win. The real win came when they were able to cut off all supplies. The Confederqtes were starving and out of ammunition. I guess that is a good reason to surrender.
Sometime during this war or all the battles that took place the USS Cairo was sunk in the Mississippi River. There is a museum in the park and the ship (an Ironclad) was excavated from the bottom of the river and restored (somewhat) in 1965. We did go in the museum and they had all kinds of artifacts but one of the most interesting to me–and I didn’t take a picture but, they had condiment containers. One side said USS Cairo and the other mustard or whatever sauce. They explained that there was a pepper sauce that was in a bottle and 102 years after being sunk and then retrieved from mud, someone tasted it and said it was delectable. I am sure it was the peppers lol.
After leaving the park we still had half a day ahead of us so we picked a park on a huge lake to have lunch. It was beautiful but nothing to do there. No trails or anything. So we headed north on the Natchez Trace Parkway and stopped at another area and took a small hike, then farther up the road we stopped at another park and from there we headed home.
A full day and tomorrow we head toward New Orleans.
We got an early start on vacations this year! We no sooner came back from our last trip of 2025 and we are off again. This is the year for taking it slow and enjoying the ride. So often we jump in the truck and “gotta get there!” No rush this time. Our first stop was in Prattville, AL–just a little over 100 miles. My goodness it is barely out of town. Our goal was to take our time, enjoy every stop. Well this one may be close to home but it was also not far from Selma, AL where the Civil Rights March began in 1965. Our goal was to drive the route that these brave leaders took. (We did cheat a little by taking I-65 a couple exits). Going to give you all a little history lesson here and most is quoted from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “On March 7th, 1065, 600 marchers led by future CongressmandJohn Lewis and Hosea Williams met at Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma, AL. The marchers departed for a planned 54 mile journey to Montgoery on foot to advocate for the equal voting rights for Black Americans. They made it to the Edmund Pettus Bridge (which is only half a mile from the church) where they were stopped and brutally attacked by local law enforcement. The violence, filmed by news broadcasters, shocked the nation, and the event became known as “Bloody Sunday.” The march restarted a few weeks later, where after four days of travel, the crowd swelled to over 20,000 in Montgomery. The events swayed public opinion and motivated the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”
Black men were given the right to vote in1870 but, many southern states disenfranchised them through poll taxes, literacy tests and threats of harm.
An Interpretive Center was built around the halfway mark and we were lucky enough to get there before the close. Here are some pictures from our drive. John had to take a picture of the meter. We had to pay 5 cents to park for our picture of the Capitol.
We did not get pictures of Campsite 2 as it was on the opposite side of a divided 4 lane hwy. Campsite 3 was just a sign. I got a picture of the sign but, that part wasn’t special.
The Lowndes Interpretive Center was very interesting. It is so sad to read some of the plaques telling how Black Americans were mistreated, abused, oppressed. I cannot imagine having so much hatred for someone based on the color of their skin. So much hatred that you could harm someone just because. They weren’t doing anything wrong.
After our journey we went into Prattville to see the town. Just like a Hallmark movie still decorated in holiday lights, trees, wreaths. It was beautiful. Our host at the boondocker sight suggested we visit the town and stop at Uncle Micks Cajun–so we did. We brought it home since we had the dog in the car and it was already getting dark.
Lois and Clark Explorers 