Anchors Aweigh!

The Civil War Naval Museum is in Port Columbus, Georgia. It's along the river, so I guess that's why they call it "Port" although it is Columbus, Georgia, right by the Civic Center. I would guess it is one of a kind and it is truly a gem. It is not very big, but that is an advantage. We love museums, but after a couple hours, one tends to get tired. This one is just right. We have wanted to visit here since we learned about it while visiting the "Cairo" which is on display at the Vicksburg (Mississippi) national cemetery. The Cairo is a Civil War ironclad that was recovered from the Yazoo River nearby. It is housed in a speciality built display outside with a canopy overhead and an attached museum. It is the most complete we have seen, with engines recovered and returned to the ship as well as the propellers, paddle wheels and canon. We were told by a docent there that Port Columbus had a much larger display with the greatest numbers of ironclads on display. That is not true, the Cairo is a better and far more restored display, but that didn't take away from the splendor of the museum.

The focal point in the museum is the CSS Jackson, a Civil War ironclad, which was built not far away on the river. The hull is on display and there is skeletal framework around it which does a good job of depicting the outline of the ship as it once appeared. The size was accurately portrayed and a complete history of the ship was easy to read. There were a lot of photographs, paintings, artwork, etc., depicting the role the ironclads played in the Civil War and the various battles which were fought on water. The ironclads were mostly confined to the rivers and inside waterways as they weren't designed to withstand the stresses of the ocean. There were several that, once built, could not even be floated down the river because they drafted way too much, and they were destroyed or captured where they sat.

Obviously the most famous of the ironclads were the Monitor and the Merrimac. They were completely different in their design. The Monitor was a Union ship as was the Merrimac. The South salvaged the sunken Merrimac and refloated her as the Virginia. She was much larger than the Monitor, but in the the famous battle, it basically ended as a draw. The Monitor has been discovered and a few pieces have been salvaged. It is an ongoing operation, but the fragility of the wreck makes recovery difficult.

Also displayed is another hull, this one of a gunboat, the CSS Chattahoochee. Its mission was to protect the river and potentially help break the Union blockade of Apalachicola. An accidential boiler explosion that killed 19 of its crew resulted in the ship being brought to Columbus for repairs for most of the duration of the war.

Also displayed is a recreated portion of Admiral Farragut's flagship, the USS Hartford, to show the daily life aboard a Civil War ship. In addition, there was recreation of the USS Monitor's rotating gun turret and an ironclad simlulator.

There was a large mural displayed showing many of the ships as they would appear in the water and their size and structure in comparison to other ships. Also in the mural are displayed the many submarines which also played a part during the war.

There is much to see here and a lot to learn. The admission price is $6.50 and it is well worth leraning about this piece of our nation's history. They have done a great job and if you are in the area, it is well worth a visit.

Till next time. . .

Dale

My Apologies to the People of Georgia!

If we were headed that way, we would do what we could to help. We were in Tunica last week and while there, we had several rainstorms that were over one inch at a time. They badly needed the rain, but not like Georgia. Now we are sitting here outside Baton Rouge and we had a soaker yesterday with flash flood warnings. I see that New Orleans got hit pretty hard, like 8 inches of rain! I'll see what I can do to send it to the Peachtree State. Hold on!

We are at Harp Camp in Zachary, Louisiana. Fortunately, our family here doesn't seem to get tired of us and we try not to overstay our welcome. Jo and Gary (Terry's cousin) are the consumate southern hosts. Yesterday we ran some errands in Baton Rouge. Terry had to get blood work done and I took the opportunity to do a little shopping. We were able to see newlyweds, Kristin and Jerrick, Jo's daughter and son-in-law. Also, Ms. Teeter, Jo's Mom, was there. I had worked on her computer the other day and I may have to go back today.

Before we got here, we spent a night in Vicksburg. While there we were able to tour the Union Ironclad "Cairo." If you ever find your way over here, take time to visit the battlefield and the Cairo. Both are impressive and the Cairo is the most intact ironclad in the nation. There are parts of others in a museum in Columbus, Georgia. The Nuesse, a Confederate ironclad, is on display in Kinston, North Carolina. They are unusual reminders of the clash between north and south and the history surrounding their development is amazing. I had read about them for years, but until the other day, never was able to walk into one and try to imagine the life on board. All of the cannon on board are the ORIGINAL retrieved from the Yazoo River. There were hundreds of artifacts preserved in the mud of the river and on display in the museum. The museum is free, but I hope if you go, you donate to the cause of preserving this bit of Americana.

We are leaving here tomorrow and headed for Houston. We are going to Trader's Village and while there, hope to do the Cabella's, etc. BTW, between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is a new Cabella's that just opened. We drove down there Sunday with Gary and Jo. Terry found a new metal folding table. He is very pleased with it.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Seeking cooler climes!

We did drive over to Tunica and spend a couple days there. They don't want us to come back apparently. We only seek to be entertained for a reasonable amount of time and that didn't happen, so we didn't hang around the casinos very long. And it was still so stinkin' hot down there. It was still close to 100* every day and once again, we spent a lot of time in the motorhome with the dogs. Kinda' hate to go away for too long.

We decided to head north since it was 20 degrees cooler back in northern Indiana and since we were headed that way, why not go now? We stopped the first night in Dover, Tennessee, and drove around this little town. It was named Dover because of its resemblance to the "white cliffs of Dover" in England. We looked up and down the river and only saw one small rock formation which looked to be limestone along the river. Nothing at all like the white cliffs of Dover, but I guess someone thought so.

There is a Civil War Battlefield here on the site of Fort Donelson. The fort was an "earthenworks" fort so it was hard to see the definition. There were a lot of trenches dug and still there. There was also some artillery and a few monuments. In the museum was a picture of the ironclad "Cairo" which is in Vicksburg. We have seen that ship. There was a display that showed the ironclads that were engaged in a battle on the Cumberland River here and played a strategic part in the outcome. It was quite interesting.

While we were driving through the battlefield there were signs indicated "eagle nesting areas" and we were lucky enough to see a juvenile up in a tree. I had a hard time getting a good picture that wasn't blurry. . . I need to work at getting my settings right on my camera. But he was huge. It is hard to believe how quickly they grow.

We left Dover the next morning and traveled a long day to Cincinnati to the FMCA campground. We had full hookups there and a nice yard for the dogs. We met some nice people. . . most are just passing through, but are very friendly.

We moved on Friday to St. Paris, Ohio, and spent two nights while we were visiting Tab and Deanna, our Alaska companions. We had a great time with them. We went to the golf course restaurant for dinner that night and their special was prime rib. It was delicious and I brought half of it home.

On Saturday we all went to Springfield. They were having a "food truck" event. It was in one of the parks and there were dozens of food trucks there and offering their wares for sale. They had everything from hot dogs to pizza to BBQ, etc. One even had kosher Jewish food. We found one we wanted to try, so we got something to eat. It was very good. It came in a styrofoam and was layered with BBQ and mashed potatoes. There were several kinds of meat, each layer separated by mashed potatoes. Terry and I split one. There was entertainment as well. Several musical groups played, a different one every hour. They were good as well. We really enjoyed our visit.

From there Tab drove us by his neighborhood where he was raised. Down the street from his home was a "rock garden" built by a man who lived there. He has a little city built out of stones. It is called the Hartman Rock Garden and is free of charge. They do accept donations. We walked around and looked at all the little creations and marveled at the work and time the man took for this labor of love. No trip to Tab and Deanna's would be complete without ice cream, so we stopped off at Young's Dairy for some ice cream before heading home.

We left there this morning, Sunday morning, and drove to Shipshewana. We are here for three nights. We plan to visit the town shops tomorrow, and the flea market on Tuesday and Wednesday before heading to Goshen. Terry needs to do some work on the motorhome so he wants to do that before we head over to the campground.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Movin' right along. . .

We stopped for our first night on the road at Mt. Vernon, Illinois, at Quality Time RV Park. Not much to talk about there, except we did manage to spend a quiet night. We did discover when we awoke that we had changed time zones, which meant that tired Terry had gone to bed at 7:30 the night before and awoke at 5 a.m. Well, what can I say? After a long day of driving for us, we slept well and got a relaxed start the next day.

The only problem so far has been the cold weather. No rain or snow, thank goodness, but COLD. We decided to driving further yesterday to get into warmer weather. Well that didn't exactly work. We crossed the Mississippi River at Cairo, Illinois, and are 2 hours further south than we had planned; but the weather is still cold. We are in an RV park at the Isle of Capri Casino at Lula, Mississippi. We were supposed to have 50 Amp, but the outlet wasn't working, so we are on 30. I had wanted the larger amps to run both heat pumps. Instead we are running our gas furnace in back. No big deal, but we like to conserve as much as possible. The campground here is almost free. . . $1/night for up to 3 nights. The $1 is for the sales tax. After 3 nights you pay $15.99 for full hookups. Not bad, eh? The real problem here is that won't let you win anything in the casino. Bummer. But we didn't lose much, so we are okay. Figure we "won" free camping for the night anyway.

Today we are headed south to Greenville, Mississippi, and other casinos. . . looking for that free camping! BTW, the casino here was deserted. Virtually no one here, as casinos go. Imagine the economy is part of the reason, but if they let people win, they would still have patrons.

Got up this morning to a beautiful sunrise which Terry was able to snap.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Tunica, Mississippi

We arrived in Tunica Monday afternoon and got set up at Sam's Town. We have three days free camping here as they sent us coupons, plus gave us free "play" money for the slots. Try as I might, you just can't beat free. People are "boondocking" over in the parking lot, but we have full hookups for 3 days for FREE. We actually have 6 nights. . . 3 for me and 3 for Terry, but he doesn't want to stay that long. A man on a mission. Not sure what it is, but it isn't 3 more days here. We have had fun playing. . . not winning much, but not losing much either. They have 1/2 cent slots here. Can you believe it? Wow.

This morning we went to the Horseshoe Casino and had their breakfast buffet. It was very good and there was a large variety of dishes to choose from. We don't plan to eat again today. Hah.

On Monday when we arrived, we had quite a rain shower. It did not storm or thunder or lightning, but we got over one inch of rain. That is good for this area, as they are having a pretty severe drought and some lakes and ponds we drove by are dangerously low. Today (Wednesday) it is again raining. . . not a lot and not storming, but a nice gentle rain. I hope it helps their water situation. We are having some wind--about like strong breezes.

Once we leave here tomorrow morning, we are headed for Vicksburg. We were there four years ago and saw the ironclad "Cairo" at the battlefield park, but were not able to go in. They were re-doing some of the display. So we want to go see it now. It is intact enough to see what an ironclad was really like. We will probably do some other civil war tourist things while we are there.

Right now the dogs are telling me their supper is long overdue. We changed time zones this week and I try to acclimate the dogs gradually, but when it comes to food. . . they KNOW when it is supper time. There just ain't no foolin' them.

Till next time. . .

Dale