River Murals

Today is Sunday and we are in Vicksburg Mississippi. We have been here for three days now and have been keeping busy. We are camped next to some people that made an interesting comment to me. "There is nothing to see here." I guess that I simply have a different outlook on life. To me there is a lot to see here. There is the Vicksburg Battle Ground. The Mississippi river. Not far away is the only petrified forest east of the Rocky Mountains. There are many antebellum homes and plantations. I don't know how many, if any, we will visit, but they are here.

We are only a few miles from the Mississippi River. It is one big river. In the downtown area there is a river wall set up for flood control. Along the street side there are thirty two murals that depict different aspects of the culture and history of Vicksburg. A lot of the history of the area can be learned just by looking at the murals and reading the signs that are with each one. It is a great panorama of murals. One of the murals is about the Vicksburg garden club.

We looked for a restaurant to go eat Sunday dinner. There was one called Walnut Grove that sounded good. When we got there it was in an 1860 or 1880 house. We walked in and they asked, "Do you want a round table or table for two?" A round table seated maybe ten people and had a lazy Susan in the middle. You would sit at the table with other people, possible strangers, and eat family style from bowl that were place on the lazy Susan. There was something like four meats, eight vegetables, a couple desserts and everything was all you could eat. The other gave a choice of three vegetables, a meat, and dessert for about 2/3 the cost. We chose that option and still had more than we could eat. While we sat at a table for two we were next to another interesting couple at a table for two. (Now you notice that I said "another interesting couple. I hope that they found us interesting) We started sharing conversation and found out the lady had been been one of the speakers at the dedication of the mural of the garden club. This is such a small world. What are the chances of meeting a person like we did. We get lucky at times.

My picture of the Garden Club mural did not come out well so instead of it I will show you one that i thought very impressive. From 1885 until 1930 steam trains were taken across the Mississippi River aboard steam powered paddle boats. The ferries operated day and night. Prior to that time the trains were off loaded to the boats and reloaded to trains on the other side. In 1930 the first highway rail bridge was built across the river.


THE TWO TRAIN TRANFER RIVER BOATS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Later this afternoon we went a ways to the north to the Tara Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful drive through the farms and along the mighty Miss', but we did not see any birds or animals that were worth photographing. Tara is a privately owned refuge that apparently allows the public to at least visit. The refuge was gated, but the code to open the gate was written on a professional sign along the road. We punched in the code, drove in and looked around. When we got ready to leave the gate would not open. There is a joke that I have heard since I was a small boy that goes something like, "You can get in for free. It costs a dollar to get out." Also there was an exit fare on Boston's Metropolitan Transit Authority subways that inspired the 1948 MTA song lyrics, "When he got there the conductor told him, "One more nickel" Charlie could not get off that train. " This song became a big hit for the Kingston Trio in 1959. As it turned out we did not have to pay an exit fee, but my wife had to crawl through the fence and activate the entrance code to open the gate so that we could get out. I am glad that we did not have to spend the night there.

Till later this is Uncle Duck