Vicksburg Riverfront Murals & Round the Town - Vicksburg, MS

We arrived in Vicksburg, Mississippi way ahead of schedule and decided to go to lunch at Cracker Barrel. It was so nice to sit down together for lunch.

After lunch we checked into our hotel (Hampton Inn & Suites Vicksburg) and relaxed a bit before heading out to check out Vicksburg, MS. First we took a short drive through of the Vicksburg National Military Park since it was the reason why we chose to come through Vicksburg, MS. Then we headed over to the Cedar Hill Cemetery (Posted about it here.) and into downtown Vicksburg to check out the Vicksburg Riverfront Murals. The sun was setting over the Mississippi River so we quickly snapped some photos.

I adore these kids! They are awesome on road trips.

This beautiful building houses The Old Depot Museum. When the Mississippi River crests above the riverbank then the old depot is among the buildings that gets flooded since it lies so low. 

Alyssa and I checked out the Vicksburg Riverfront Murals while Hotch took the little ones to the park across the street. Loved having a few minutes alone with her. She read the plagues to me as I photographed the murals.

Here are some of the murals along the Vicksburg flood wall. I posted the plagues underneath the photos. Enjoy these beautiful murals!

Two year ago Alyssa and I went to Richmond, Virginia for Time Out for Women & Girls. While there we went to visit the beautiful, historic Hollywood Cemetery. There are two Presidents of the United States buried there: James Monroe and John Tyler. As we drove around we noticed a rather large, ornate statue of Jefferson Davis. On closer examination we discovered that he was also buried in the Hollywood Cemetery. Jefferson Davis was the only President of the Confederate States of America from 1861-1865. This mural depicts the moment when he was informed that he had been elected the President of the Confederate States of America.

The sunset was magnificent as it set over the Mississippi!

When we were done we joined Hotch and the little ones at the playground. The air was cool and relaxing as we watched them play.

Braxton kept misjudging a beams height and would hit his head against it. The first time it was a bummer, but after he hit his head on the exact same bar for the 4th time we had to laugh. You would have thought he would have learned not to run under it. He had a big goose egg on top of his head by the time we left, but in no time he was back to his old silly self. 

As we left downtown Vicksburg we stopped to check out the Biedenharn Museum of Coca-Cola even though it was closed. It is the location where Coca-Cola was first bottled in 1894.

Vicksburg, MS is a very small city, but it has a few gems. Wish we had more time in order to check out some of their small museums and the historic homes around town. We plan to visit again someday.

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site & Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site - Tuskegee, AL

On Day 2 of our move back to California we spent the morning in Atlanta, GA and then headed into Alabama. As we drove toward Montgomery we decided to take a side trip to Tuskegee, AL. We wanted to go check out the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site and the Tuskegee University.

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site is located at Moton Field Municipal Airport which was the only primary flight facility for African-American pilots during World War II. A scenic overlook that sits above the airport displays signs telling a brief history of the Tuskegee Airmen. It was really neat looking down upon the old airport hangar and watching the active airport. From this scenic overlook you can either walk or drive down to the Hangar #1 Museum to learn about the Tuskegee Airmen.

Here are the displays located at the scenic overlook.

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site uses the coolest space for Hangar #1 Museum. It is incredible! We were blown away by the size of the hangar and the two full-size planes sitting inside. We had a blast checking out all the exhibits. There also is a fun Junior Ranger program here. 

Cadets came from all over the United States to participate in flight training that the United States Air Corps offered to African American men for the first time in 1941. Prior to 1941 African Americans were barred from ever flying in the U.S. military. The War Department refused to integrate the U. S. Air Corps, but they did train the cadets at a segregated army airfield.

The Tuskegee Airmen were trained to fly single-engine planes. It was cool walking into the hangar and seeing two single-engine planes parked there.

We learned about the wings of airplanes, motors and propellers. 

More than 1,000 African American pilots were trained in Tuskegee between the years of 1941-1946. We enjoyed learning about their pilot training. 

Here's the second single-engine plane inside the Hangar #1 Museum.

These kids crack me up! Alyssa is a dork when it comes to taking photos!

Braxton really enjoyed listening to the air traffic control tower.

There also were some awesome personal narratives for the kids to listen to. The kids really enjoyed getting to hear from the actual pilots.

The little ones really enjoyed the exhibit where they could check out the Tuskegee Airmen uniforms and try them on.

We highly recommend a visit to the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site. It is incredibly educational, interactive and the location is really cool.

No idea what this is, but of course Brax has to try to open it. 
The kid can't resist a door when he sees one.

Love this jet! Braxton and Delaney really wanted to climb inside it.

Our next stop was the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site which is the only national park located on a fully functioning college campus. It is located on the beautiful Tuskegee University grounds. Tuskegee University was founded in a one room shanty on July 4, 1881 by Booker T. Washington. He was a true educator and has intrigued me for years. When I was around 16 years old I read his autobiography, Up From Slavery. It made such an impact on me and my feelings about the injustice of slavery. Back in April my sweet Alyssa also read it. She was so excited to see the Tuskegee University he founded and ran for 34 impressive years.

On a side note: Alyssa, in Hotch's absence, is my navigator when we are on the road. She is also my second hand gal for tons of things like getting her siblings snacks or opening things for them to taking photos of signs as we drive by. After three attempts at trying to photograph the Tuskegee University sign here is her best effort.

There are two main attractions to see while checking out the Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site: The Oaks and The George Washington Carver Museum. Booker T. Washington's personal residence on the Tuskegee University campus is called The Oaks. It was built in 1900 and he lived here with his third wife Margaret until his death in 1915. There are free home tours offered only on Saturday and Sundays (10am, 11am, 1pm & 3pm).  We were bummed that we missed the tour by only 30 minutes. 

Booker Taliaferro Washington is shown seated in the middle of this picture with his third wife Margaret James Murray, his sons Ernest Davidson Washington and Booker T Washington Jr and his daughter Portia Washington. His first two wives, Fanny Norton Smith (mother of Portia) and Olivia America Davidson (mother of Ernest & Booker T Jr) both died tragically as young mothers. Almost all of them are buried on campus in the Tuskegee University Historic Cemetery.

The George Washington Carver Museum was closed for renovations when we were there. It should have opened again this summer. This museum contains George Washington Carver's artwork and science experiments. He never married, but spent 47 years teaching science, researching crop rotation and inventing uses for various crops such as peanuts.  George Washington Carver is also buried in the Tuskegee University Historic Cemetery.

We had a great time in Tuskegee, AL and totally recommend making a stop here if you are on your way through Alabama. It is well worth the time!

Hotch Arrives in Mississippi - Jackson, MS

Once we left Montgomery, AL it took everything in me to stay awake and get us to the hotel in Jackson, MS. (After giving birth to Delaney my night vision became horrendous. I never drive in the evening when Hotch is around and I try to avoid it as much as I can when I am behind the wheel.) The drive from Montgomery to Jackson was so dark and took more than 4 hours. There was a lot of praying going on in the van that night. I was so grateful for Alyssa and her incessant talking because she helped me stay awake. At one point she and I were rocking out like crazy maniacs so we could stay awake. We finally arrived at the hotel around 1am and crashed right away. Everyone was so tired!

The next morning I had the unique pleasure of experiencing terribly swollen hands and feet. They were so swollen that I could barely move them and my shoes did not fit at all. Great way to start the day after a long, tiring night.

These girls were so cute to watch as they got ready for the day!

Since Hotch did not get his part of the move done by the time we needed to get on the road (we had prepaid hotel reservations for the entire trip that we could not get out of) he had to stay behind to finish up his jobs and get our deposit back. We bought him a bus ticket to meet up with us in Jackson, Mississippi. It was a little nerve wrecking getting to the Greyhound bus stop in Jackson since it was a very bad part of town and started raining like crazy. Once inside the terminal we felt much safer. I bought some sandwiches to eat as we patiently waited for Hotch to arrive. The little ones couldn't wait for him to arrive and decided to play hopscotch on the checkered tile floor. 

It was so wonderful seeing him walk through the terminal doors.
We were ecstatic having him with us again!

Love the look on his face when he saw the kids running up to him!

Since we were in Jackson, MS we drove the street to check out the Mississippi Governor's Mansion and the Mississippi State Capitol Building. Everything was closed, but it was still nice to check them out briefly.

Wish we would have heard the song "Jackson" while we there. Enjoy!

In a side note: Many online reviews of Jackson, MS mention the horrendous roads and highways. This is not an exaggeration at all. They are very poorly maintained! You need to be ever watchful for deep, dangerous potholes. The freeway is chalked full of huge potholes right around the Jackson exits. The downtown Jackson streets are ridiculous. They seriously need to devote some money to road maintenance before someone gets injured.