May 10 – “Another trip … another day”

Well, that room was not so great.  Watch out for hotels in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, folks.  The room we had was so humid that paint was bubbling off the wall.  The air conditioner felt more like one of those swamp coolers.  An envelope I had in my briefcase sealed itself.  The sheetrock was cracked and broken in places.  The bathroom sink drained very slowly.  The wall needed painting.  The internet was poor.  No eggs or meat for the breakfast.  Just a few apples and oranges.  No bananas.  Thankfully they did have those make it yourself waffles.  Poor pastry selection.  No bold coffee option.  A huge delivery of lightbulbs cluttered the front lobby.  Old Cheetos littered the floor of the pool room.  On the positive side … at least the room was clean. 

 

We got on the road around 8:30 and headed north to Laurel, Mississippi.  Anybody else watch HGTV?  Ben and Erin do a home remodel show from there called Hometown.  We didn’t see them.  We went to their Laurel Mercantile Shop and the Scotsman General Store and Workshop.  Both sites have starring roles on the show.  We didn’t buy anything.  Way too expensive.  I was just hoping to see some of the furniture Ben makes.  None available, unless you count coasters and cutting boards.

 

We left Laurel and headed roughly northwest this time.  Next destination?  Vicksburg National Battlefield.  It’s one of the Civil War sites we went to back in 2015, but that was before we were doing the National Parks stamps book.  So this was just a brief catch-up trip to grab that stamp.  I also wanted to check and see if Douglas’ family was still accounted for and doing well.  Douglas is the camel I picked up when we were there before.  He is actually the one who started me on my whole critter rescue journey.  A real trailblazer.  I want to assure him all is well back home in Vicksburg. 

 

I raced Chris into the visitors’ center.  I was more than anxious to see the Douglas family.  But wait!  They were not there.  They were nowhere to be found.  The only evidence of their presence was a faded postcard with a picture and the caption, “Old Douglas.”  We did some investigating and found out that they moved on years ago and never looked back.  Sigh.  I guess I can’t be too sad, though.  My Douglas did the same thing.

 

We did go ahead and drive the park road once.  Er … make that twice.  Sort of.  They had the road blocked off for construction and we didn’t exactly follow the detour signs.  Our goal was to see if they had a stamp available for the boat ruin they have reconstructed.  The stamp does exist.  We could see it through the locked doors of the museum.  Only open on Thursday through Sunday.  And we were there on Monday.  Of course.  Oh well.  Another trip … another day.

 

Next we hit the trail.  The real trail.  Natchez Trace Parkway National something or other.  Interesting drive.  My favorite sight?  A church with one of those really tall steeples made of gold.  Not so unusual.  But the top of the steeple was a huge golden hand with one finger pointing straight up.  The old 70’s “One Way Jesus” symbol.  Nice.

 

We made it into Natchez by about 3 p.m.  We went straight to the town visitor center, and lo and behold … they had all the stamps as well as a handful of maps and brochures.  Score!  Oh, and bonus score!  Hopping around in a little bin off to the side of the room was a cute little chipmunk.  He’s still kind of young, but AnnaGrace helped me with a name.  He’s Chip!  Of course he is.

 

After that little victory we decided to find a hotel and hang around for the night.  Once checked in we headed to a place called The Camp for dinner.  It was right on the banks of the Mississippi River.  Chris had quesadillas.  I had the Cajun shrimp.  Yum. 

 

After dinner we took a drive around the city.  We located some of the sights mentioned in the brochures and decided that today we will walk down to a fort nearby, then drive over to one of the big mansions for the tour there.  And from there?  Guess we’ll head west again …

 

Proverbs 18:21 says, “The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.”

 

Father, thank you for the amazing trees and the river outside our window and the unbelievable wife you gifted me with.  Amen.