Day Four - Back in the Car Again!

This morning, we arose early (or I should say that the Caterpillars arose early, again) and ate a good breakfast. The forecast said it was suppose to be cloudy, but not rainy, so we had decided to head to Vicksburg and the Mississippi River today.

The Caterpillars began working on their schoolwork early (Zipper helped), doing an incredible job on their math, before we loaded into the car and headed west.

We arrived in Vicksburg around 10:45 a.m., to early for lunch, but if we entered the National Battlefield, we would have been stuck half-way through at lunch time.

Instead, we decided to drive down to the Old Historic Courthouse, where Jefferson Davis began his political career (far before he became President of the CSA).

The Caterpillars liked the exhibits, but really enjoyed playing "judge" and "lawyer" in the old courtroom.

Here is B10 approaching Judge CW to speak to him about a case:

I already knew that Coca-Cola was first bottled in Vicksburg, but had never learned this interesting tidbit. Apparently, the first shoe boxes also came from a Vicksburg Shoe Salesman.

Before eating, we crossed over the Mississippi River to Louisiana. The Caterpillars have been there many (many) times, but this was just a quick jaunt over one of the bridges that anchors my childhood memories.

Lunch was at Pizza Hut, then we headed to the Vicksburg National Military Battlefield. Our first stop was the Visitor's Center to have our Passports stamped.

The Caterpillars have the basic ones that Hubby and I purchased for them right before we got married. However, I have been really wanting the fancy "Explorer Edition" for a while. I decided to go ahead and get one for myself on this trip, only wishing I had done it sooner!

I highly recommend these for both homeschooling families to keep track of trips (and keep as a cool memento) and also for anyone who enjoys traveling.

We saw quite a few monuments, stopping a few times to explore the cannons, and talking a lot about how lots of very good people on both sides of the fighting made some very poor choices.

One of the nifty exhibits inside the park is the USS Cario, the first ship ever sunk by a torpedo during warfare (now called a "mine").

We also saw a batch of wild turkeys! I had to snap a picture quick, because we weren't suppose to stop the car.

On our way home, we stopped to have dinner with Tiney and Yaya. Then it was bathtime and bedtime, with B10 staying up a bit later with Granddaddy and me to watch a DVD Granddaddy made when he visited Alaska.

B10 liked the video of the man who's job was to train Husky puppies to become sled dogs. It was like Puppy Kindergarten! What a delightful job that has to be...

After he went to bed, Granddaddy and I stayed up to watch the final quarter (and overtime) of the Jets/Patriots game. It was a perfect final night for me, getting to watch football with Granddaddy. I'm glad I was able to have that memory.

~Lone Butterfly )i(