Homeward Bound

 When we left NOLA we took time to explore a bit of Louisiana and Mississippi as we traveled toward home. The state capital building in Baton Rouge is the tallest capital in the country and it was interesting stop with much attention given to the governor who was assassinated in the building.

 St. Francisville, Louisiana was a great stop. It's a small southern town that is recognized for architecture and art. I was impressed by the live oaks with Spanish moss because its such a southern thing. I was also quite impressed with the food at the Magnolia Café. We stumbled on this one. Its actually set back from the road and difficult to notice. My bluesy salad was delicious and I will duplicate it at home often; greens, apple, cranberries, walnuts, red onion, blue cheese and chicken.

 We lingered so long in St. Francisville that we didn't arrive in Vicksburg Mississippi until after the national park battlefield visitor center had closed. We stopped at Tomato Place for some information. It was an interesting place and the people were very helpful. Dale wanted to see the battlefield so we got a hotel and spent the night. We walked three miles through the monuments with a local woman who gave us our own guided tour when we met her on the road. Since the forecast was rainy we were happy to see some of the park that evening. She also gave us a tip for a great dinner of crab cakes and peanut butter pie at Rusty's. Its a good thing we took a long walk!

The forecast was right and it was heavy rain through most of the morning. We were two of very few visitors in the park that day but we got the CD and drove through. When the showers let up occasionally we would get out of the car and visit some of the many monuments erected by the states that fought in that battle.

 Jackson was our last stop in Mississippi to see the state capital building. They were incredibly hospitable and it was an impressive building. I believe the Sergeant at Arms may have had some extra time on his hands. He talked for a very long time even pulling up photos of his tomato plants on his computer screen for us to see. He was happy to take a photo of us too. It was actually rather funny.

When we left Jackson we were ready to focus on getting home. We did make a stop in Memphis for another dinner on Beale Street then found a hotel after getting down the road another hour. After being gone for eight nights and traveling almost three thousand miles we arrived home on Saturday evening discussing what the next trip might be. It was a good vacation and it was good to be home again.