Camping on the Mississippi!

A week in Vidalia, Louisiana…
…across the river from Natchez, MS

And while we very much enjoyed our view of the Mississippi from our campsite and walked along the Vidalia Riverwalk between our campsite and the river, we did most of our touring, in Natchez and out and about on the Natchez Trace.

Visits to 2 new National Park Sites and a revisit:

• Natchez National Historical Park (#233), which preserves/interprets the history of all the peoples of Natchez, Mississippi, from European settlement, African enslavement, the American cotton economy, to today on the lower Mississippi River. The Visitor Center, acquired in 2020, was closed, but we visited the 4 other sites:
  • Fort Rosalie, Established by the French among the Natchez people on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River in 1716
  • William Johnson House, home to “The Barber of Natchez,” born into slavery but freed at the age of 11. Johnson eventually owned several barber shops, rental property, a farm, and timberland. His lengthy personal and business diary offers a glimpse of antebellum southern life and relations between whites and non-enslaved blacks.
  • Melrose, a suburban estate built by a wealthy attorney and cotton planter in the 1840s, was home to his family and 22 enslaved people who worked there
  • Forks of the Road Slave Market, the second largest slave market in the Deep South.

• Natchez Trace National Parkway (#35-Revisit), not so much a revisit, as a visit to the southern end, vs the northern end (which we drove on/visited in 2013 on our 60th Birthday Trip to Tennessee). We drove the southernmost ~55 miles and visited several spots on the way, and hiked a few miles on…
• Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail (#234).
  Highlights of the 2 include:
  • Rocky Springs (Milepost 54.8), longest stop where we visited the old townsite of Rocky Springs and hiked a mile on a section of the Historic Natchez Trace / current Natchez Trace NST.
  • Potkopinu (Milepost 17-20), Potkopinu is the Natchez word for “Little Valley”. This 3 mile section of the NST is the longest continuous section of sunken Trace, a portion of the deeply eroded or “sunken” Old Trace. Where the ground was relatively soft with loess soil, thousands of walkers, riders, and wagons wore down these paths into “sunken” sections. We hiked the northern half, south to Bullen Creek and back.
  • Emerald Mound (Milepost 10.3), the second-largest Mississippian Period ceremonial mound in the United States, built and used between the years 1200 C.E. (current era) and 1600 C.E., the 35-foot-high mound covers eight acres and measures 770 feet by 435 feet at its base.

And wandering around Natchez…

We ate out a couple of times, did a little shopping (e.g. re-supplied our Basil infused Olive Oil at Natchez Olive Market), and visited a couple of Museums:

• Natchez Museum of African American Culture
• Grand Village of the Natchez Indians

Mississippi Sunset Views from Natchez

We celebrated Valentine’s Day with a Southern Dinner (starting with Fried Green Tomatoes) at Magnolia Grille, Under-the-Hill, Natchez. We had a great view of the Mississippi and the Bridge to Louisiana, from before Sunset until after sunset.

Before & after Sunset from Under-the-Hill in Natchez…Mississippi Bridge between Vidalia & Natchez

Sunset last night, from Bluff Hill Park in Natchez…Mississippi Bridge between Vidalia & Natchez

Off for Jackson, Mississippi, via the Natchez Trace Parkway

For more pictures, see (in-work) Adventure Album:  Confederacy & Civil Rights

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