The 'Burgs

November 21-23, 2013

We arrived at the Paul B Johnson campground near Hattiesburg, Mississippi with five minutes to spare and parked in a huge campground. The reservoir was home to swans and other bird life but there were too many people sharing the same area so we decided to stay only one night instead of two previously planned.

To celebrate Steve's birthday the next morning, I fixed a substantial breakfast and then we drove the 20 miles to Hattiesburg and stopped at a AT&T for a new iPhone. The button to turn off his phone was broken, and we were also interested in the possibility of using his new phone as a wifi hotspot. A hotspot would allow us to use the cell data plan and connect our wifi devices to it rather than depending on locating wifi in a campground or as we sometimes did, at a McDonalds. 

After shopping, our plan was to ride our bikes on the Long Leaf Trace, one of the longest trails in the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. The long days of travel had limited my movements-and that is not a good thing. But, as the weather deteriorated, so did the ride-riding plans. 

http://www.americantrails.org/

When we we pulled into the casino affiliated Ameristar Campground in  Vicksburg, Mississippi, the weather had not improved. Surprisingly, the campground is secluded from the casinos, well-maintained and boasts plenty of dog-walking areas (who knew there were casinos in addition to Civil War history). Although the train tracks were close by, the noise did not really bother us; perhaps because of the rain splattering on the roof with a constant patter.

In the morning I was reminded of the warning by the Alto representative about turning the valve of the faucet down before shutting the sink lid. I remembered when water began pouring out of the basin and onto my slippers. Steve ran outside to turn off the water and i spent the next hour and a half mopping up water.

In the afternoon we visited the National Park exhibit of The Siege of Vicksburg, a 40 day campaign and the final major military action in the Civil War. Vicksburg is home to numerous other history exhibits  and I was interested in seeing the doll museum so Steve and I departed ways for a few hours. Due to inclement weather and being 80 years old  the owner of the museum closed early and went home to care for his wife. (I found that out that piece of trivia from the woman who worked at the Coca Cola history museum).  

Next I perused a Christmas market with items displayed and/or made by local people. The goods for sale closely resembled many of the items I had just given away so I drank the free cider and departed. One block away was an art gallery displaying colorful pieces of southern folk art; it was fortunate I did not have room for any more stuff or I would have been a great customer.