Thursday 2/13/2025

 Columbus Belmont State Park KY to Stovall MS

Still chilly and windy overlooking the Mississippi River this morning. Grateful that we don't have the 5" of snow that fell in Michigan last night. Columbus Belmont State Park is the site of Confederate earthworks and a chain spanning the Mississippi River to prevent the advancement of Union troops by water. Our morning walk took in expansive trenches and a Civil war era cemetery. 


In following the Mississippi River, we found ourselves simultaneously on the Great River Road, a Scenic By way and the Trail of Tears. Our method of progress is to pick a town along the route we want, and enter it into maps. The important thing to remember is to enter the next town before you get to the previous one, or maps will take you to the center of that town and you will stray from the main route. To continue from the State Park following the river took us into some lovely rural two lane countryside. The road turned and became narrower. No shoulders. Then more like a road in Cornwall which is really only one lane wide, except this road is low with water soaked fields on both sides. Another turn and the sign sign cautioned "water over road." Being somewhat committed at this point, we pressed on. The road turned to a combination of worn out asphalt and dirt. Then dirt and potholes...and then it began to improve...and eventually we rejoined the Great River Road. It was a perfect morning adventure for Vincent. After making our way around Memphis it was time to think about a place to camp. The Clarksdale Convention and Visitors bureau advertised 400 sites with hookups but the reviews were sketchy. "Run down, locked bathrooms, and hot mess we're some of the descriptives. The other option, Stovall Gin Company, advertised 3 electric sites and plenty of space for tent camping. A huge parking lot in town or an abandoned Gin plant? No question. We headed for the gin joint. Campsite 3 was occupied, and we couldn't find campsite 1 so we claimed campsite 2. The electric actually worked. We met our neighbors who are from Mississippi, just returning from their 6 week journey to the left coast. They informed us that the owner would be opening the "store" in the morning and we could pay her the $15 fee. The "store" looks like a bar inside. I guess they have live music on weekends. (We missed it by one night) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Friday 2/21/2025

Palmetto Island State Park LA to Sea Rim State Park TX 32° and sunny this morning. We were greeted by the familiar and persistent songs of the cardinal. The other wildlife has gone silent in this cooler weather, but not the cardinal. It's as if he's saying, "Bring it on!" One of our walks yesterday was a story walk on the kids trail. The pages of a book are displayed on waterproof signs that you can read while taking a walk. The featured book was Mardi Gras in the Country, about how Mardi Gras is celebrated Cajun style. If you completed a survey at the end, you would be given a book. I filled it out, hoping that it would be the story walk book. (Likely the oldest people to ever respond to their survey) They notified me that we could pick up our free book in the park office. It wasn't the Mardi Gras book. I found it on Amazon and ordered it for our great grandchild Rozie. I discovered that the Author, Mary Alice Frontenot (1910-2003)was also a journalist, a Louisia...
Read more

Tuesday 2/11/25

Image
Perrinton to Walnut Point State Park near Hindsboro IL   Two days of  last minute appointments, shopping, house cleaning, filling the bird feeder(because it will last 3 more days than if I didn't and then be empty for the next six weeks) loading the van, a stop at the post office to hold the mail on our way out of town and we're finally on our way to the next adventure in our Travels with Vincent (Van Go). It's snowing. If you look closely at Vincent's windshield, you will see that he has a travel companion. It is the apple logo for Phillips Cider Bar, our new eatery in downtown Maple Rapids.  Today we broke all of brother Tim's Travel Two Rules. We drove two times 200 miles, we stopped two times two hours after 2 pm, and we had zero times two martinis before dinner. We were hungry when we got to our campsite and went straight for dinner. The State Park was open. The lights were on but no one was home. We had a whole State Park all to ourselves.
Read more