A Venture to the Last Southern States

Rounding out our States in the south...

We decided to take a trip to some of the southern states we had never managed to get to on this vacation. Starting off we made our first stop in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. It was absolutely tranquil and beautiful. Unfortunately it was rather rainy during our stay here but we still were parked near a lovely stream. The next day we continued on to Memphis to a blues lover's paradise. We ate at a BBQ restaurant of course and secured a tour of Gibson Guitars. It was super cool to see how such a simple instrument is so intricately made. On then we went after that tour and past Graceland, towards Arkansas and Hot Springs National Park. This was an incredible place to see and touch; as the water came out of the ground at a natural temperature of one hundred degrees. People in the late 1800s and into the 1900s flocked here to experience the medicinal remedies treated with these warm waters. The hotels built to house these Hot Baths were absolutely marvelous in craftsmanship and detail.

The Fordyce Bath in Hot Springs, Arkansas

Onward we went from there until we made it to Vicksburg, Mississippi to the famous civil war battlefield. It was interesting to see how many Ohio monuments were placed along the battlefield where these brave men fell fighting to preserve the Union. Following our visit there we continued east towards New Orleans in Louisiana. It is another world, filled with lace balconies and beignets. It is a wonderful place to visit at least once in your life. We got to take a riverboat cruise down the mighty Mississippi and stroll down Bourbon Street. We even went to the wonderful World War Two Museum. It was by far one of the best war museums I have been to and meeting a soldier who was actually in Normandy on D-day was the icing on my history nerd cake.

Beignets and cafe au lait at the Cafe Dumonde

The beautiful ocean in Pensacola, FL

We backtracked a little and went back into Mississippi to visit my high school English teacher in Biloxi for the summer. We got to go out on her son in law’s boat and enjoy the ocean current. Our final destinations were by far the prettiest and most interesting locations on this trip. We made our way to Pensacola, Florida and stayed at the National Seashore Campground which was a minute away from the white sand beaches and clear blue waters. Each morning we could hear the Blue Angels fly overhead. The beach was nice but our final attraction on this trip was seeing Andersonville prison, a civil war POW camp in Georgia. Although empty now its power still holds you when you find out the shear amount of men the camp held during the war. My brain and tan expanded that summer to my happy surprise, any day I would go back to those wonderful destinations if I could.

"When you come to a fork in the road...take it." -Yogi Berra