Fri 5/8: Persistence Pays Off - Then and Now

When we arrived at Vicksburg we set up camp and then went to AT&T to try to get our new phone ready for linking to our computer. Like Grant surrounding Vicksburg - we waited and waited and waited for the armies to surrender. In our case, it did not work. Grant was successful!

This is at the Visitor Center on the Mississippi River. We went inside and checked on the auto tours in the city. We decided to follow the "Red Tour" and it took us around the historic city. Lots of wonderful sights - too many to post on the blog. We will have to let you see them on our final slide show.

Of course, evidence of the great siege are everywhere. We will be going back Saturday to stop at a few places for more details. The red tour did end at the National Battlefield. We were too late to go to the information center but the grounds were still open to drive through so we decided to take the time for the drive .....

This is the gate marking the entry to the National Battlefield. There are more sights around town, but the largest majority is still preserved here. It is amazing how many soldiers from so many detachment were organized in this siege. There are posts everywhere describing the leaders and the states they were from. Each state has their own memorial to the men from their region.

We drove the entire route of the battlefield and were in awe at what we saw.

This sign tells of the records of the war. I can't believe how they could list numbers wounded, killed or missing from each skirmish. This plaque gives the totals from the 47 days. There were close to 10,000 soldiers on each side that were accounted for.

The National Cemetery has rows upon rows of markers marking the casualties of the war. There is another cemetery in the city that has the Confederate soldiers. Pretty sobering sight.


We returned to camp and played with Apollo for awhile. There is a dog park at our campground so he was able to run and chase balls. It was good to get him out of the RV for some exercise. We wish he could go with us while we tour but museums and such are not dog friendly!

Persistence NOW. Gary got on the computer, hooked his new phone to it and then called the AT&T tech support from my phone. He spent 3 1/2 hours with the tech support guy trying to get our WIFI up and running with this new system. Between the time in the ATT store and the time on the phone last night (5 hours total) I would say he was pretty persistent!!! I guess he and Ulysses S. Grant have something in common! (Notice that both were in Vicksburg... coincidence???)