Day 3: Jackson to New Orleans — now we’re cooking!
Vicksburg, New Orleans, and campstove cooking
We left Jackson this morning and headed to Vicksburg National Military Park, which was about an hour away.
I went with my parents when I was much younger, the summer they decided to drive to a bunch of Civil War battlefields. (I talked to my mom about it today — she said my brother and I were not impressed.)
The only thing I remember about Vicksburg is learning that higher ground gave you an advantage when fighting. (Reinforced later by Obi Wan!)
I definitely did not remember getting up close with an ironclad boat that was sunk during the Civil War and brought back up in the 1960s.
We went around the park and learned more about the battle. A few things I learned:
Thousands of union troops died trying to take Vicksburg. They kept throwing troops at the fight, dug trenches, blew shit up, and all kinds of other tactics for months. In the end, the South surrendered because they were starved out.
This was the first time Black regiments were put into battle, and the amount of ass they kicked meant the Union started recruiting Black men heavily to join the fight. Read more
Entry was free for us because we have the America the Beatiful park pass. It’s $80 a year, or free if you are a senior citizen!
Vicksburg is a beautiful national park, and it’s kind of weird to think it might not exist today if 20,000 men hadn’t lost their lives there. It likely would be housing developments or strip malls instead.
After driving the whole self-guided tour, we started toward New Orleans. Tonight is the first of three nights at a KOA campground on the Mississippi in New Orleans.
We got in and set the tent up pretty quickly. Because of the way the site is laid out, we weren’t able to attach the tent to our hatchback, so we are getting to try it out as a regular tent. (Luckily, you can use it either way!)
Food bites
Tonight was also the first night we cooked at the campsite. We had chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese, because that’s what we had and we didn’t feel like stopping at a grocery store on the way in.
It turned out well, and the Coleman stove worked great! (Despite my fear of propane and open flames!)
We also got to clean up our dishes using a tub and a bucket, which wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
And dinner by lantern light with my husband was worth it 🥰
Random stuff
The train going by our campsite likes to blow its horn. Loudly
So far, for fast food apple pies: Jack’s > Whataburger > McDonalds. The first two are proper fried apple pies. Does anyone remember those amazing fried apple fritters that Checkers used to have??
We got one of those Passport books that you get stamped at national parks. We are those people now.
Mileage: ~ 250 miles
Awesome! Looks like so much fun! I'm reading "west With Giraffes" with my book club and think of you embracing every new experience!