Vicksburg National Military Park

Vicksburg National Military Park

We pulled into Vicksburg on Sunday the 28th for a three night stay at Ameristar RV Resort.  This is a good place from which to tour the Vicksburg National Military Park.  The RV park has level paved sites with full hookups for $22.00 a night.  It's only a couple of miles to get to the National Military Park, so we were pleased with this campground.

We toured the National Park on Monday. Bob was so excited, since this has been a historical site he's been wanting to see for a long time.  It's a wonderful park, so beautifully maintained.  We took the self guided driving tour, which takes you through the beautiful stretch of hills and deep gullies where the Battle of Vicksburg was fought in 1863. Bob's reading Grant's memoirs right now, and he told me that Grant described the land perfectly.

Sitting on a high bluff overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Vicksburg was heavily protected with artillery batteries and forts.  It was vital to the North to capture the city since control of this region would give the North control of the Mississippi supply route, and isolate Texas, Arkansas and most of Louisiana. Lincoln called Vicksburg the "the key" to winning the war, and ordered Ulysses S. Grant to clear the Mississippi of Confederate resistance.  Between May 16th and May 22nd, 1863, Grant battled Pemberton's forces, then finally on May 22nd Grant began a formal siege on the City.  The siege lasted 46 days, and finally on July 4th Vicksburg was surrendered.

The park is full of memorials built by the states that were involved in the battle of Vicksburg.  They're a beautiful tribute to the lives that were lost there, and a sad reminder of a war which tore this country apart.

Illinois Memorial

Ohio Memorial

Arkansas Memorial

Ulysses S Grant

Thayer's Tunnel

Shirley House - served as headquarters for 45th Illinois Infantry

The USS Cairo

The USS Cairo Museum was amazing.  The USS Cairo was one of the Union's seven ironclad gunboats that fought on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.  The Cairo was sunk outside Vicksburg by torpedoes that tore holes into the ship's hull.  It was dredged up from the river in 1965, and restored.

Paddle Wheels of the USS Cairo

Monday night we went to the buffet at the Ameristar Casino, and then did a little gambling.  No winnings, but we had a good time.  The food at the Casino was average at best, so I'd recommend eating elsewhere.

Ameristar Resort - Vicksburg MS

On Tuesday we drove around the old city.  There are a number of old mansions which have been turned into Bed and Breakfasts down by the river.

Annabelle Bed and Breakfast

We drove over the bridge to Louisiana to see Grant's Canal.  Federal troops attempted to cut a canal across the Mississippi into DeSoto Point, but the canal kept filling in with silt, and the project was abandoned.  Many lives were lost due to Malaria and Yellow Fever.

Mississippi River Bridge to Louisiana

Connecticut Memorial at Grants Canal

Grants Canal

Tomorrow we're driving on the Natchez Trace Parkway to Tishomingo State Park where we stay for one night, then on to Chattanooga.

Gulf State Park - Gulf Shores, Alabama

We've been in Gulf Shores State Park for almost a month now, and have really enjoyed our stay here.  This park is absolutely one of the best state parks that we've ever stayed in.  It has everything - a swimming pool, lakes that we can take the canoe on, miles of great biking trails, a golf course - even tennis courts for those that play, and of course miles of beautiful beaches along the Gulf coast.

We got great campsites for the month that we were here.  You can stay on the same site for only two weeks,  and then after that you have to move to another site.  At least they don't make you leave the park overnight as many state parks do.  You just have to get another site.  You can't reserve any particular site, so if you want a waterfront site you have to request it when you check in.  There are lakefront sites and sites on a canal connecting Middle Lake to Shelby Lake.  The canal sites are perfect for us to launch our canoe, so we took one of these for the first two weeks.  We managed to get out on the boat three times during our stay on the canal, and were really pleased with this site.

Our Canal Site at Gulf State Park

The canal site was perfect for our canoe

Bob and Mirra enjoying our campsite

We spent the second two weeks on a lakefront site, and really enjoyed it as well, although I think we prefer the canal sites, since they seem to be more protected from the wind (and we've had lots of that, almost every day).

Our lakefront campsite at Gulf State Park

The beaches are beautiful here - it's a lot like Topsail Beach.  The water was pretty cold, in the upper 60's when we first got here, but warmed up over the past four weeks.  We only had a couple of really good beach days, and both of them were this week.  We got in the water yesterday and today, and the water temperature was about 72.  The air temperature was around 75, but the breeze off of the Gulf made it feel cooler.

Beach at Gulf State Park

What a great park if you like to bike!  The campground connects to the Backcountry Trail, which is comprised of five different adjoining bike paths.  We took a couple of rides, and each totaled about 10 miles round trip.

Bike trail from the campground that connects to the Backcountry Trail

Taking a break along the Backcountry Trail

We never got to play the Golf Course.  It's very long - 7100 yards from the back tees, with no senior tees, so it's difficult for seniors.  We considered playing one of the other nearby courses, but never got around to it.  Maybe we'll get to play in Chattanooga.

Although the swimming pool was cold, we braved it and went in four times during our stay.  April is Spring Break month, so there were plenty of kids in the pool.

We did a bit of sight seeing while we were here.  Bob wanted to see the USS Alabama, so we drove into Mobile and took the tour.  What a great old ship.

USS Alabama

Another day we went to Fort Morgan, which was built in 1834, and was active during the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II.  It's most famous for the battle of Mobile Bay, where Admiral David Farragut won the battle, and made the famous quote "Damn the torpedoes full speed ahead".

Inside Fort Morgan

We loved Gulf State Park, and I've already made a reservation for two weeks next year.  We look forward to returning.  It's a great place.

Tomorrow we move on to Vicksburg for more history.  We're staying at Ameristar Casino RV Park, which of course has shuttles to the casino. Maybe we'll get lucky, and win a little money.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park - Gregory E. Moore RV Resort

After a terrific visit with my son and his family in the Tampa area, Bob and I have been staying at the Gregory E. Moore RV Resort at Topsail Beach Preserve State Park.  This is an immaculately maintained state park that used to be a private park before the state took it over.  All of the 156 RV sites have concrete pads, electric and sewer hookups.  I think that we got one of the best sites in the park, since we are right on a small lake, and have a great view along with privacy.

View from our campsite at Gregory E. Moore RV Resort

Love this campsite!

The beach is beautiful.  There's 3.2 miles of secluded, white sand beaches to stroll on, and that gorgeous emerald green water that gave this area the name "the Emerald Coast".

A tram runs from the campsite to the beach hourly, so if you don't want to walk or ride the half mile to the beach, you can jump on the tram - very convenient!

The weather here has been unseasonably cold for this time of year.  A cold front has been hanging around for the best part of our two week stay.  It's gone down as low as 35 here at night, and has only warmed up to the 50's in the daytime.  It's finally starting to warm up now, so today we spent a great day on the beach.  It's certainly not warm enough for Bob and me to swim - the water's only about 62, and the air temperature is about 72.  That's not stopping all of the kids here on Spring break, though.

This park has a heated pool, which is unusual for a state park.  The pool temperature is a comfortable 75 degrees. We were in it at the beginning of the week, and plan on going in again over the weekend.

We've certainly enjoyed bike riding in this park.  There's a nice 3 mile ride to a beautiful lake, so we've biked there as well as to the beach.  There's also a number of nice hiking trails.

We've really been having fun during our stay here at Topsail Beach in spite of the chilly weather.  I've always heard good things about this place from other RVers, and now I know why. There's even a dog park in Santa Rosa Beach, so we've gotten Mirra out there twice, and will probably take her again over the weekend.

Speaking of Mirra and dog parks, she had a great time with my grand dog Sabine during our visit with my son.  We took the dogs to the dog park at Fort DeSoto Park, which is outside of Saint Petersburg.  The dogs had a blast!

Mirra at For Desoto Beach

Sabine - The adorable Grand Dog - at Fort Desoto Beach

Hope all of you have a happy Easter!  We'll be here for Easter, then leaving on Monday for Gulf State Park in Alabama.

Visit to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing

Yesterday we took a trip to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala.  Bob used to drag race a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner back in the day.  He loved that car, and had a blast racing it on the street and at Atco Race Track.  That street driven car ran in the 13.20's at 102 mph, with the best time being a 13.12. Today his son Rob races a 1971 Challenger RT at Atco, and has won lots of trophies and money for years now.  The Challenger RT below is running times around 11.5 - it's a great car, and Rob is a terrific driver.

Rob Perrottet's 1971 Challenger RT

Naturally, with all this drag racing history, Bob has been wanting to go to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in nearby Ocala.  Whether or not you're a drag racing enthusiast, this is a great place to visit.  There are two sections to the museum - an antique car museum, and a drag racing museum.

Take a look at some of the beautiful cars that we saw in the antique car section.

1947 Studebaker Dump Truck

1934 Ford Station Wagon

1936 Ford Phaeton

This is a very rare car.  Only 555 of these Fords were produced.

1950 Mercury Lead Sled

The original "Happy Days" car driven by the Fonz on the famous TV show, this beauty was restored by Big Daddy in 1990.  The sign says that Big Daddy cruised this car in Ocala on Friday nights.

1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger RT

This car went 140 mph - one of the fastest factory cars ever built.

1958 Chrysler Convertible

Awesome!

1956 Chrysler

Mami Eisenhower bought this car for Ike's birthday.  She had it specially built.  It came with a custom 45 rpm record player installed so that Ike could listen to his favorite music.

Dodge Coronet 500

This car was donated by Naomi Tillet in honor of her husband Jack.  This was Jack's favorite race car, and he won many races in it.

1940 Willys 4 door Sedan

Bob thinks that this beautiful truck is a Willys, but since there was no sign on it, we're not sure.

And now for the Drag Racing part of the museum......

1981 Swamprat 27 Sidewinder

Wynnscharger

In 1975, this car set the N.H.R.A record at 250.69 mph with 5.63 E.T.  That record held for 7 years.

The parts of Don's car after his accident in 1970

Don's accident in 1970

That accident cost Don part of his foot.  He was lucky to get out alive.

Darrell Alderman's Champion Pro Stock 1991 Dodge Daytona

Bob saw this car race at Englishtown.

Shirley Muldowney's 1980 Attebury Car

Shirley Muldowney, probably the greatest woman driver of all times, raced this car.  Bob and I both saw Shirley race at Englishtown.

2005 Top Fuel Engine

This engine put out 8000 horsepower @ 7000 rpms!

2012 Dodge Challenger A Stock Automatic

You can actually purchase this car - as a body in white - from the factory.  Ready to race!!!

Dodge 1962 Factory Max Wedge

You used to be able to buy the Dodge Factory Max Wedge show above.

61 Plymouth Max Wedge

You could also buy this 1961 Plymouth from the factory.

Bruce Larson's 65 Chevelle Funny Car

This car ran for the first time at Atco NJ (our local drag strip).

Barbara Hamilton's 1937 Willys Coupe

Barbara Hamilton was the first woman to receive an N.H.R.A license for driving super-charged cars.

I've only shown but a few of this huge collection of wonderful cars.  If you get a chance when you're in the Ocala area, this museum is really worth seeing.