Having followed the Great River Road beside the Mississippi – we finally turned east at the start of last week so that we can make the plane in Miami on 12th December.

To be completely honest if anyone says that they would like to travel the Great River Road, it might be an idea to tell them that in fact there is not a lot of ‘river’ in the Great River Road.  Because the Mississippi used to flood a lot and very badly – there are levees and barriers all along it, plus some industry.  It was not quite what we imagined.  I thought we might meander beside it, lolling along the bends and having a bite to eat at regular intervals along the way.  The truth is that it is very underutilised, especially for leisure or outdoor eating.  Of course, it is stinking hot in the summer and the insects would be horrific so only crazy Brits would want to sit beside it when you could be in an air-conditioned Wendy’s!!

What the Great River Road has been good for though is as a route through states that we have only ever heard of – and that sound so exciting – Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Mississippi.  In the new year when we go to New Orleans we will complete the journey with Louisiana.   The landscape, the sheer vastness, the big skies and colours this autumn have made it a great drive and a wonderful experience – so we were very grateful to the Great River Road.  It was an excellent start and very kind to Reg and his novice drivers. 

Vicksburg is crucial to the Civil War story.  We spent last Monday in the cemetery where every state represented in this battle has memorials to the men they lost.   It was cleverly presented with the different colours – red for the Confederates and blue for the Union troops.  The coloured posts marked out where the defence of the town and the attacks were staged.  The mound that the cemetery is on is still scarred by trenches and craters from explosions.  20,000 people were killed, lost or wounded at Vicksburg – so the scale of suffering is humbling.  No doubt if you were American it would feel more emotional, but nonetheless as with all war graves you come away bloody pleased that we live in these times where we are so shielded from war.

Although we were going east from Vicksburg we both agreed to another southern detour – which was to go and see Natchez, a town beside the Mississippi.  It was just glorious and in the war, because it was so lovely, it was not burnt down.  Loads of antebellum houses and we randomly got a shot of rum from a distiller as we walked past his shop!  It was a beautiful sunny day and we started on the ‘could we live in Natchez’ routine and how brilliant it was.  Then we went back to where we had parked and I saw a notice on the wall which was to commemorate someone who had been killed by the Ku Klux Klan in Natchez in 1967 but worst of all – no one had ever been charged!!  Well talk about going off a place…

What also made us take the detour is this amazing road – the Natchez Trace Parkway.  Originally a trail from Native Americans – this road was awesome and it runs from Natchez to Nashville.  We only went to Jackson on it – but it was superb.  Lined with pine trees – must be 50ft tall, oaks and maple trees.  Every shade of green, brown, yellow and red that you can imagine.  Rolling slopes and dappled light as the sun got lower.  We would love to have carried on to Nashville it was so good, but we had to stay in Jackson that night – state capital of Mississippi.   (All Reg likes is smooth tarmac – and it had that too.)

Jackson the day before Thanksgiving was probably the low point of the trip so far.  Nothing against Jackson but Matt and I rather morphed into Johnny Cash and June Carter.  It rained (it never rains!), we could not park Reg for love nor money and when we thought we had done so – a woman came over and shouted at us so we had to leave her empty car park and try again.  The potholes, the city traffic and to top it all low-slung trees – made this the worst thing so far. After an awful lot of stress and shouting we gave up on Jackson.  We will just play the record from now on!

We spent Thanksgiving in a park in Alabama – you guessed by a lake!  Very relaxing after the stresses of Jackson to have a bit of time in one place – we cycled and it was hot enough to eat outside which was great.  No one asked us into their RV for a turkey dinner on Thursday – which we were quite relieved about – but it is a funny sensation to be surrounded by people marking something that means nothing to you and that you are not taking part in.  Perhaps this is what Jehovah Witnesses feel about Christmas!

Alabama seemed even more drought affected than Mississippi.  Every lake and river is either dried up or well down on normal levels.  There is a burn ban on all the sites and the whole place is brown and dusty.

Highlight of Alabama for us both was yesterday when we spent the day in Montgomery the state capital.  Famous for Rosa Parks, but also for being technically where the Civil War started as Jefferson Davis the Confederate president sent the telegram to start the hostilities from Montgomery.   The alternative White House that the confederate first family used for four months is open to the public and we had a mooch around that. 

Highlight again was the civil rights memorial.  I am very aware that this blog seems to be about lakes and civil rights.  I am sorry about that but it was very moving.

So instead I will tell you that we had a wonderful dip – spinach and artichoke and a few beers after all our walking around the city.  There was also another huge sporting event on.  This time college football.  Would you know that Alabama is the leading college team and their nearest rivals are the other university in Alabama, Auburn.  They were in the Iron Bowl yesterday – so we watched some people cheering and groaning as Alabama (The Crimson Tide) beat Auburn (Tigers).

Nat King Cole was born in Montgomery – interesting fact for you. 

Talking of songs we now have Georgia on our mind….