Clarksville, Tennessee – Day 3

The motorhome is still parked at VFW Post #4895. We are planning to depart later this morning and will be crossing into Kentucky.

Yesterday was a leisurely day. It was supposed to rain hard…but never did. We decided to visit the Fort Defiance Civil War Park and Interpretive Center. There once was a fort there…but no battle was fought there. The Confederates were thinly staffed and poorly trained. Believing they had not a chance against the expected superior Union forces…they walked away from the fort. When the Yankees arrived…they found white flags flying from the fort and the city surrendered without a shot being fired.

The Interpretive Center tells the story of what life was like in Clarksville, population 5,000, during the Civil War. A 15 minute film presents it from a woman’s point of view. You can read about the Interpretive Center by clicking their official website link…
http://www.cityofclarksville.com/index.aspx?page=161

Here are some of the photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The fort is gone…a pedestrian trail lines the area…

This is where the fort was…

Some signs in the area…

Clarksville…

Scenes from the film…

The fort(s) were like magnets for black slaves wanting to join the Union Army…

Under occupation whites needed passes to go places and had to present these passes to the black Union Soldiers…

General Grant…

Under occupation business resumed…

Confederate dead…

Regular life returned for the Southerners…

Exhibits inside the Interpretive Center. Photography was difficult due to dim lighting and mini-spotlights…

The red line shows the railroad passing through Clarksville…

Crossing the hidden fingers meant the loyalty oath didn’t count to some. See below…

The Interpretive Center was a very pleasant different presentation about the times during the Civil War.

After our visit we headed down to the riverfront…

Where we saw some of the remnants of the recent flooding of the river…

The rail fence in the river is where people would normally walk…

On the left in the below photo you can see the river had been into the parking lots by the mud and snags stacked in a pile on the left just beyond the truck…

Two prized possessions during the Civil War were the rivers and railroads…both means of moving supplies…

The control house for the swinging bridge…

Enjoying interesting places and museums is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of Tennessee. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Vicksburg, Mississippi – Day 3

Note: Mary flew from Baton Rouge Airport, Louisiana on March 12 to her home in California. My current plans are to drift SLOWLY north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England for the Summer. The Mississippi River is rich in history…I expect it to be an interesting passage. I’m now expecting to arrive in Memphis around April 14th. Mary made her flight reservations yesterday. She’ll meet me in Memphis on April 16th.

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The motorhome is parked at Moose Lodge #1581. I expect to be here a few more days.

Vicksburg has a very interesting history which you can read about by clicking this Wikipedia link…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicksburg,_Mississippi

Yesterday I drove the Bronco the about five miles downtown to visit the Lower Mississippi River Museum.

From their brochure…

The museum provides visitors with a unique look of life surrounding the Mighty Mississippi River. Through both inactive and static displays, visitors can explore the River’s past, examine the science behind water movement, and learn about the future plans for the Mississippi Valley.

You can read all about this museum by clicking their official website link…
http://www.lmrm.org/photo-gallery/

Despite the best efforts of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers efforts, the Mighty Mississippi River refuses to be controlled as shown by the flood of 2011. You can see great photos of that event by clicking this link…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/12/mississippi-river-flooding-photos-2011_n_861204.html#s282423&title=Mississippi_River_Flooding

Dark areas in the museum with exhibits highlighted unevenly by mini-spotlights made for difficult photography conditions. Nonetheless, here are some of the photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

A great museum with free admission made for another enjoyable day!

Enjoying historic museums is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Mississippi. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Vicksburg, Mississippi – Day 1

Note: Mary flew from Baton Rouge Airport, Louisiana on March 12 to her home in California. I’m hoping to get her back with me by mid-April. My current plans are to drift SLOWLY north along the Mississippi River to Memphis, Tennessee where I’ll then turn northeast heading for New England for the Summer. Can’t go north too fast because it’s still cold up there! The Mississippi River is rich in history…I expect it to be an interesting passage. I’m now expecting to arrive in Memphis around April 14th.

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Yesterday I drove the motorhome the about 35 miles from Grand Gulf to Vicksburg, Mississippi. I’m now parked at the back of Loyal Order of Moose Lodge #1581 with a 30 amp electrical hookup. I expect to be her for a few days.

I spent about three days here in Vicksburg back in 2007, but missed some things which I’ll make up for during this visit.

Here are some of the photos that I took…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

The view from the dinette window…

Where I also have a peek-a-boo view of a small lake…

After arrival I decided some research time was appropriate. All these places I visit do not happen by accident. So, I spent some time researching what to stop and see here in Vicksburg, what I’ll see between Vicksburg and Memphis, Tennessee and beyond…

While working I got an Email about this video I made a couple of days ago about Arthur Davis, who calls himself the Fried Chicken Cooking King. In this short video he talks about his business and he sings a song about his Grandma…the Corn Bread Cooking Queen…

(click link)… http://youtu.be/L6fhj5-qpi8

with this message…

Vicksburg Daily News 17 hours ago

Jim, You truly did capture Mr. D at his best! He’s a legend around these parts! There are quite a few characters around my hometown of Vicksburg, but none are quite like Mr. D!

Chris Whittington

Seeing the Chris Whittington was from the Vicksburg Daily News, I called him to thank him for his comment. We chatted for a few minutes, then invited me to join him for a beer. I said yes and an hour later he picked me up and took me to his (own words) home away from home. The Klondyke Trading Post. You can read about this place by clicking this link…
http://www.yelp.com/biz/klondyke-vicksburg

It’s a combination of restaurant, convenience store and bar…

In the above photo, my new friend Chris Whittington is on the left. He is both a friendly and inspirational kind of guy. Now 40 years old, he lost his left leg last October to diabetes. Talk about lousy luck! Nonetheless he maintains an upbeat personality. Born in Natchez, being in a military family he has lived in four countries and 16 states. He has lived in Vicksburg since 1997.

He the owner of the Vicksburg Daily News http://vicksburgdailynews.com/, a free daily newspaper supported by advertisers. He is also a commercial videographer making business video commercials and a DJ in a local nightclub. Having only one leg doesn’t slow this guy down.

Mary would have loved this place because they sell about 80 different kinds of beer…She loves the craft beers…you know…the beer that resembles 30 weight motor oil.  🙂

Here’s their top priced beer at $20 a bottle. The brand is Rouge Imperial Pilsner brewed in Newport, Oregon…

After Chris had his Dr. Pepper and I had my Miller Lite, he drove me around telling me of places I might want to see and people I might want to meet while in Vicksburg. He also showed me some of the effects of the 2011 flood when the Mississippi River was 37 feet above flood level.

I enjoyed meeting Chris and some of his friends and expect I’ll be seeing him once again soon.

Enjoying historic places and meeting interesting people is another joy in the life of a full-time RVer!

The red dot on the below map shows my approximate location in the State of Mississippi. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.
http://youtu.be/FfZUzEB4rM8

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…
http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:
http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

HIGH PLAINS MUSEUM OF MC COOK, NEBRASKA

We left Hastings in the rain headed for Benkelman, NE, near the border of  Colorado. Or we could consider a shorter drive to Mc Cook where the options for overnight were better? An uneventful drive in any case, with my turn at the wheel a mere 75 miles. McCook has a tourist park that was so appealing we decided we needed a rest and would stay two nights.
After a leisurely, restful morning off we went to the Highland Plains Museum. So many memories of life long past tickled my emotions.  Like the polio scare we all lived through. The iron lung above brought back the real fear of those times.

This professional movie projector and the Fox Theater Organ brought back the joy of those times. They still performed a bit of on stage vaudeville in small towns during the late 1940’s.  I counted four different organs and as many pianos in this museum.

The first telephone we ever had was similar to this one. And for some reason I remember our telephone number for our families party line-2505XJ. We lived in Danforth, Michigan, then.

This little wind generator could keep one light bulb lit and a battery operated radio alive during a windstorm. Oh the wonders of electricity. Rural farm America was isolated as anyone who lived through it can remember.

This fuel less cooker was a marvel. You had to bring your stew, or beans to a boil, then place the pot on a hot flat stone, close the cover and wait for dinner time for a tender, juicy meal

There were sewing machines, washing machines, farm implements, tools, clothing, toys, by the numbers here. It struck me that an isolated community like McCook just had no place to go with this no longer needed stuff and had the wherewithal to hold onto it for the future. And, while so many items brought back personal memories, I’ve neglected the town of McCook. A precocious kid from McCook by the name of Edwin Perkins became a mail order “chemist” and grew up to start a mail order business when he was 20. His best seller was a drink called Fruit Smack, but it would get damaged in shipment, or leak. He decided to dehydrate it, and the rest, as we know, is history. He named his drink Kool-Aid. And we all grew up with pitcher after pitcher of that stuff.
In this town of 8,000 people is a Carnegie Library. Frank Lloyd Wright designed a house here. There were plans for another of his in the museum, though never built. The Green Dream Home is here. (More tomorrow about that.)

People of McCook had more than their share of disasters, from a major train wreck…

An horrific flood…

A major tornado. Add to that, buffalo roaming through town and the usual mishaps of life.  Early life in McCook wasn’t easy. The stalwart backbone of America was its farmers and ranchers. Its all here.

Then the people of McCook come alive in scrapbooks and pictures. A local treasure to be sure. Above is one such character, Blind Sam  He and his dog “owned” a street corner where he played the violin for fifty years.
I found threads for several blogs in this museum, so you won’t have heard the last of it. I could have easily spent another hour here and soaked up what I’m sure to have missed.

We walked out and looked at the old Fox Theater across from the museum, (its now a church) and thought of the people who built this solid small town.