Renewed and rested we departed Grandma’s house ready for Natchez, Mississippi and the start of the Natchez Trace Trail and beyond – a total of 494 miles for the day! The Natchez Trace is a historical path that extends from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. It is a restful parkway drive with little traffic, no commercial distractions and splendid woodsy background. Our destination was a resort-style campground in Vicksburg, Mississippi where we would spend two nights touring the Vicksburg Battlefield and the old downtown of Vicksburg. “Vicksburg is the nail head that holds the South's two halves together...Vicksburg is the key" and with that in mind, Lincoln set in motion the Vicksburg Campaign in the early summer of 1863. A 47-day siege ended in the surrender of the city and gave the Union control of the Mississippi River. The 16 mile battlefield road was lined with 1,325 historic monuments and markers, 20 miles of historic trenches and earthworks, a 12.5-mile walking trail, two antebellum homes, and 144 cannons. Following the map with commentaries provided by the National Park Service we enjoyed the circuit.
Our next, and last touring stop on this vacation was the National Battle Park of Shiloh, TN. The Battle of Shiloh was one of the first major battles in the Western Theater of the American Civil War. The two-day battle involved 65,000 Union troops under Ulysses S. Grant and 44,000 Confederate under Albert Johnston who was killed in the battle. The battle resulted in nearly 24,000 killed, wounded and missing. The battle is named after Shiloh Methodist Church, a small wooden structure. This was by no means the end of our vacation, but it did signal the end of our Civil War and historical explorations. The rest of the vacation was planned for one of our all-time favorite settings -- Elkmont campground in The Great Smoky Mts. National Park! We had reservations for three nights and plans to meet up with family and friends for part of the stay. The only time I got the camera out was for a quick picture of our campsite! So that wraps up the end of this trip. Here are a few statistics:
Total miles on the trip: 4485 Total miles on the Silvermine: 4141 Total days gone: 21 Our calendar is fairly blank until the end of July and we look forward to planning short trips whenever the spirit moves us!
5 Comments
Carie
7/27/2012 09:34:27 pm
Looks like a wonderful trip! Can't wait for the pics and stories that went along with it!
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10/7/2013 05:14:50 pm
Just reading up on some of this lately, was interesting.
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11/1/2014 03:22:32 pm
It is a restful parkway drive with little traffic, no commercial distractions and splendid woodsy background.
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October 2021
We don’t go camping any more . . . we go ‘streamin’ ! The “SIlvermine and His” is our 2018 25' Airstream Serenity with Salsa interior and front twin beds., and ‘streamin’ is the name we use to describe our adventures. Stream along as we document everything from weekend trips to longer summer excursions and full-blown vacations. You know what they say: if you’re not in an Airstream – you’re just camping!
Tom & Ella Brown |