Here and There

Scott and Jackie's Travels – Thousand Trails Reviews, Campground Reviews, Fulltime RVing, European Travel

Tag: Mississippi

Natchez Trace and vicinity: Central Mississippi

grscott


Our journey down historic Natchez Trace Parkway included a fun stop at historic French Camp, MS. We took a break from driving the Parkway to look over the Visitor Center and Log Cabin Gift shop. There’s a sorghum mill set up to show how sorghum was processed for use. A boardwalk allows visitors to walk past Colonel James Drane’s Antebellum House and another historic house then down and around a blacksmith shop. One of the buildings on the walk houses the Carriage used by the Last Chief of the Choctaw Nation east of the Mississippi to go to Washington DC to meet with Andrew Jackson concerning the Indian People.

We continued our drive down the Trace and to the state capitol of Mississippi, Jackson. The state park we’ve stayed in is named for the same Louis LeFleur we learned about at French Camp: LeFleur’s Bluff State Park which is wonderfully located in the city but feels as though it is out in the country. We took advantage of being so well located in the state capitol to visit some of the nearby museums.

Our visit to the Old Capitol gave us a glimpse of Mississippi history. The building has been restored to it’s original beauty and is a wonderful place to learn about Mississippi government. We started with an orientation film that tells the history of the building itself. We then followed the self guided tour starting with the Keeper of the Capitol’s room. In the early days this was woman who was responsible for opening and closing the building. There are interactive exhibits through out the building. We enjoyed seeing the restored House Gallery and Senate Chamber. This is great place to see how Mississippi government interacts.

The Museum of Natural Science was fun and would be even more enjoyable with children. There is a park entrance fee as well as museum fee but the price is still quite low. Entering the exhibit hall we saw the bones of extinct species of sea life and land animals. There are exhibits of endangered species of Mississippi as well as local waterfowl and wildlife. I enjoyed the aquatic habitats housing native fish, reptiles, and other water creatures. The aquariums are interesting and a greenhouse with a tank provides a home for a variety of alligators, turtles and fish. There’s a special exhibit on reptiles which I found both enticing and creepy with it’s many poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes. I especially enjoyed seeing the Gila monster. For those with preschoolers there’s a hands-on room where small children can climb a tree, play with puppets, visit animal habitats, and listen to stories. There is walk way around the building lots of interesting plantlife. For more about this museum go to http://www.msnaturalscience.org/

Campground Review: LeFleur’s Bluff State Park – Jackson, MS

grscott


I’m thoroughly enjoying our journey down Natchez Trace Parkway.  This drive is for folks who aren’t in a hurry and who enjoy pretty scenery — that should describe retired full-time RVers more than anyone else and it describes us.

The electric here is 50 amps and water pressure is good.  There are no sewer hookups and the dump station is out near the entrance so it’s not very handy for those using a “blueboy” on a longer stay.  The campground restroom is built up on stilts, about eight feet up.  The sites are level concrete slabs.

My satellite reception is limited and, honestly, I’m glad to get even one satellite through all the trees.  I think the best chance for satellite coverage would be in the sites directly across from the restrooms.  Cell reception is very good and my data is a strong 4G.  The weather during this October stay has been pretty good with cool temperatures and only a little rain.  I have the idea that humidity and mosquitoes would make a late summer stay here rather challenging to say the least.

Here’s our 2015 review of this campground.

There are three state museums within minutes of the campground and the Mississippi State University Medical Center is right down the street.  In fact, a park ranger told me that a lot of people use this campground when coming to the area hospitals.

We would return to this campground when passing through the area.  It’s quite a change of pace from staying in rural spots, miles from shopping, etc.  I guess you’d say that LeFleur’s Bluff is a place to get away from it all without actually getting away from it all!

Natchez Trace and vicinity: northern Mississippi

grscott

Scott is loving towing the camper on Natchez Trace Parkway. No commercial traffic is allowed, there are no stop signs (and no advertizing of any kind), beautiful scenery, and a leisurely 50 mph speed limit. There are many turnouts, some at features to be seen along the way and others just for quiet picnic spots. Our drive from southern Tennessee, across the corner of Alabama, and into northeastern Mississippi was relaxing and beautiful. Sorry to say that the government’s partial shutdown closed some of the more major sights along the Parkway so we missed the Parkway’s main welcome center at Tupelo and a few other places of note along the way. We are disappointed with that. Still, we stopped for a short hike in one place and stopped at another to view Indian burial grounds.

Arriving at our campground in Tupelo we spent our time relaxing, doing a little shopping, and getting maintenance done on the truck. The only “touristy” thing we did while there was visit the Elvis Presley Birthplace and Park. There’s a gift shop, museum, the house where Elvis was born, and the church he attended and sang in as a child. It’s a nice place to spend an hour or two. Also, we were happy to add to our list of nice soft ice cream places. The “Dairy Kream” was busy any time we passed by. Our stay at Tupelo was a relaxing one and we thought our five nights there was about the right length of time for us to enjoy the area and take care of a few day to day things we needed to do.

Campground Review: Tombigbee State Park – Tupelo, MS

grscott

We thoroughly enjoyed the first of what will be three journeys down Natchez Trace Parkway.  The Trace is closed to commercial traffic, has no businesses or advertizing or stop signs on it, and has a leisurely 50 mph speed limit.  We enjoyed the beautiful, easy drive and are looking forward to continuing it in the days to come.

The centerpiece of the park is a pretty lake.  There are rental cabins, pavilions, and a nice playground.  The park features not one, but two disc golf courses.  The courses are not for the casual player as they take one up and own steep hills and through the woods with out much more than a footpath for a fairway.  We’ve seen several groups playing and having a great time.  It’s an interesting way to take a hike through the forest and a surprisingly challenging sport as well.  Using my Wilson Sleek cell booster I’ve been able to get on the Internet with a medium to weak 3G signal strength.  After moving the dish around a bit I was able to lock on to a very good satellite TV signal.

I have one rather serious concern about this state park.  Every night around midnight the campground voltage has risen to the point that our camper’s electric Surgeguard has cut power to the camper.  It reports voltages as high as 134 volts.  The Surgeguard is programmed to protect the camper’s electronics from things like too high and too low of voltages.  We had a neighbor who was getting the same readings.  I talked to the park employees about it and they said it would be looked into but, apparently, they were in no hurry because after 5 nights the spikes continue to happen.  After the first night we unplugged the electric before going to bed because we didn’t want the Surgeguard cycling the electricity off and on through the night.  After doing that a few nights we left it on.  About midnight the problem became evident again and the camper had to be unplugged for the rest of the night.  Of course, the camper can handle being off grid.  Still, I can’t help but wonder what damage is being done to other campers in the park.

So, I like this place.  It’s pretty and the campsites are very nice.  At the same time, the electricity problem concerns me.  I’d come back, believing this issue will be resolved.  Till then, I don’t think I’d recommend the park to people without some kind of high voltage protection.  Pretty park or not, it’s probably not worth damaging one’s air conditioner, etc.