LeFluer Bluff State Park- hidden gem in Jackson, Ms and $15 per night for seniors

Literally 5 minutes for downtown Jackson Mississippi is a true hidden gem!  Le Fluer Bluff State Park is a very small 28 site campground and $15 per night for over 60.  $32 for full hookups and $25 for water and electricity. 

About 10 sites back up directly to the lake. We watched two alligators cruising the lake but that didn’t detour the young kayakers. Anytime a kayaker got close, the alligators would go the other way. I personally questioned the thought process of the parents. Egrets flew in and out and turtles rested on logs. 

Lots of fishing and we watched large fish jump out of the water for bugs on the surface. 

A nice and clean bathhouse. I heard one camper say the water was just warm. I like a hot shower so I showered in the TT. 

They do have a set of washers. Which you don’t see often in a state park. I was thrilled and then mad when the washer wasn’t working. I lost $1.50 in precious quarters and went back to put an order note on the washer. The beautiful campground made up for my moment of disappointment. 

Each site lots of room between sites and has a picnic table, grill and fire ring. I saw reports of a rough road leading to the campground. You have a drive for one mile down a dirt road and it is not bad. Just go the posted speed limit.

If you are passing through Mississippi- this is really a lovely stop. And the price is right! 

Historic Vicksburg, Mississippi

Our last day in central Mississippi took us to Vicksburg. Best known for the Siege at Vicksburg. As a confederate stronghold, the Union army knew if they could take control of the area (because of the Mississippi River supply chain) they could cut off confederate food and supplies to Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana which could effectively end the Cicil War. The Confederate troops established strong fortifications that the Union army could not breach. After a month long siege and hard fought massive battles the Union army cut off all supplies effectively starving the Confederate troops. Just one day after the victory at Gettysburg, the confederate army surrendered to the Union army to put an end to the civil war. The battlefield was interesting- especially for Mark who was figuring out the military strategies  
 The Union Army’s ironclad USS Cairo was sunk by a confederate mine. 

The historical district has a mural  river wall that tell the story of Vicksburg. 

The Coca Cola museum was small but showcases a German emigrant who owned a soda and candy store and was the first to bottle coke. He invented a system to combine syrup with carbonated water and bottled one coke at a time. He then took a horse drawn carriage around the rural areas to sell his bottled coke. 

The old courthouse was the first location in the area to get a telephone. 

A stop for a beer and a nice conversation with some full time RVers ended the day. On to Natchez tomorrow. 

I love capitol cities - Jackson, Mississippi

I especially love them when we get to visit with a long time friend!  We met up with a Round Rock neighbor, Amy Ellis, for two hours of conversation that could have gone on all night! It was great catching up, Amy!

The downtown was totally vacant!  So I guess the weekend is a great time to visit But, it was a bit odd to find the state capitol closed on the weekend, but leave it to me to get us in. Mark was like “what are you doing?” And the next thing we are inside! 

Art museums can be hit or miss, but the Mississippi Museum of Art was a hit. Not huge but also free. I found some really interesting pieces. 

This is all hand stitched embroidery. Seriously impressive! 

This was photo prints of old share cropper homes and then a lightly painted scene on top. So unique and cool. I think you have to zoom in to see the photographs.  

Interesting concept with this one. Really tells a story 

Plus art you could participate with. This is Mark taking a picture. 

The Mississippi museum of natural sciences - was really interesting. It showcased all the prehistoric animals to current indigenous animals and plants inhabiting Mississippi. The sea of Jackson once covered much of Mississippi and the amount of sharks and whales found inland was impressive. 

An unexpected find was the Mississippi Agricultural Museum. The history of the cotton gin, farming and timber was showcased. 

They had a frontier town made up from buildings saved and moved to the museum. The doctors office had a collection of old vaccine. They had one for acne! Wish that one would have worked!

We are at a super cool tiny state park 10 minutes from downtown and you would never know the downtown area was so close. 28 campsites (for $15 per night) and ours backs up to the lake with fishing, kayaking and alligators!  We have had a good time watching the alligators swim around. They don’t like people and avoid anyone coming towards them.  

Alligators swimming past the camper. 

John W. Kyle State Park - Sardis, Miss Review

A lovely park near Oxford, Mississippi- if you want to visit anywhere from Tupelo (Elvis Presley’s birthplace)  to Oxford with Faulkner’s Home and Ole Miss. beautiful sunsets and the lake is lined with honeysuckle. It smells wonderful. 

$32 per day for full hook ups and $24 for water and electricity only. You can stay for two weeks. If you want to stay longer you just have to move to a new site. You can get about 6 TV stations with just antenna. 

Large paved sites under huge towering oak trees.and level for the most part. Super quiet and 95% empty when we were there (mid May). 

Each site has a grill, prep table and picnic table. No fire ring but everyone just lights a fire on the ground. 

No bells and whistles in the bath house but it was clean with very hot water. Sewer on some sites is in a odd place and you might need 20 feet of hose. 

No swimming in the state park but there is a beach about a half mile away. Great place to launch paddle boards or a kayak in the campground. For the fisherman, Lower and upper Lake Sardis has prime crappie fishing.  

Playscape for small children. 

Ode to Billy Joe and Elvis!

With no big agenda for today - we took off and drove a huge circle. First stop- Holly Springs, Ms. This little town caught my eye because it is filled antebellum homes - which blows my mind that these were built before and survived the civil war. It was the home of Ida B. Wells who was freed from slavery at age 16 and was a founder of the NAACP. They have an old train depot built on 1852 and a confederate cemetery. We found the confederate section but many of the graves were from people that died in the yellow fever pandemic of 1878. How do we know? It was engraved on the headstones. About 20,000 deaths in this region. I wonder how that would compare to Covid? The massive magnolia trees here amaze me!  Trivia - magnolia trees can live from 600 to 1,000 years. 

On our way to Tupelo, we had lunch in New Albany on the banks of the Tallachatchie River. Mark found and played “Ode to Billy Joe”  Macalister who jumped off the Tallachatchie bridge.  All you youngins will have to google the song! Since we were in New Albany we visited their cute downtown with an impressive courthouse. 

On to Tupelo and a stop at Elvis Presley’s birthplace. His dad took out a $180 dollar loan to build the house by himself. New learning- I had no idea that Elvis was a twin. His brother, Jessie born 35 minutes before Elvis, died at birth. Unfortunately, dad - Vernon ended up and prison and the bank foreclosed on the house. Elvis got his first guitar, at age 11, for a birthday present that he didn’t want. He wanted a .22 rifle. But his mother didn’t think it was safe - so got a $7.90 guitar instead. Guess momma had a premonition! The birthplace fell into disrepair and the Tupelo garden society restored the house. Elvis gave a donation. 

Tupelo has a small replica of the Vietnam War Memorial Wall. We stopped for a hot minute to find the name on my 1970’s POW bracelet - an air force pilot. Charles Walling.