Grand Gulf Military Monument State Park in Port Gibson, Mississippi. The river town of Grand Gulf is long gone thanks to yellow fever, a freak tornado, the ever-meandering Mississippi River and of course, the Civil war. Confederate troops dug in here and for a time managed to slow the advance of Union ships up river to Vicksburg. It was a proud end for this little southern town. The area now houses a museum, several 1860s and earlier structures and a collection of carriages and wagons. Check out this hearse. The story told here is clearly one born of confederate tenacity and southern pride.
The park is on the banks of the Mississippi and a bit out of the way but an amazingly quiet retreat where the air is filled with bird calls and deer roam through camp every day. One oddity, the nuclear power plant cooling tower just to our south. I wondered about the siren towers along all the roads and the bright red mileage markers counting up as we head away from camp in any direction. It doesn’t really bother me to be this close but it does seem a bit odd to think that when we see the steam from the tower on the horizon, we know we are almost home.