Thursday March 27, 2014 - 44 miles
We woke up at 5:30 on Thursday morning, hoping to get an early start so we can finish the days ride before it started to rain. Our plan was to eat breakfast at the subway restaurant near our hotel when they opened up at 7:00 am. But I guess the subway workers decided to sleep in. We were there at 7:05, the lights were off, and no one was inside.
So we had to come up with a plan B. There was a gas station on the way to the trace, so we stopped there and had a nice country breakfast of scrambled eggs, grits, bacon, and coffee. Next it was off to ride North on the Natchez Trace. We stopped at the Sunken Trace again (mile 41.5), and I snuck my bike onto the old original Trace - I got to ride my bicycle on the original trace again!
Our next rest stop was at Rocky Springs, milepost 54.8. As we were standing around, our bicycle friends from Minnesota showed up on their two tandems with their children Claire and Adam.
We met this family a few days ago on the trace and have been running into them every so often since then. They have two full touring tandem bikes, carrying all their camping gear. Every time we see them, they are happy and having a fun time !!
We left the trace at milepost 60.5, heading towards the town of Vicksburg on the back roads. The countryside was beautiful, with farms and horses and cows and pretty songbirds.
After riding about 20 miles on the beautiful back roads, we came into the town of Vicksburg. We went to our hotel, but it was too early to check-in. We had to lock her bicycles inside the swimming pool fence, then we all loaded into the van and drove around the Vicksburg Military Park.
We had a great time riding thru the Vicksburg military park. We listened to a CD telling the story of Grant's seize of the city. The monuments were spectacular, and the terrain was amazingly hilly. It would have been a fun bicycle ride !
One of the highlights of the military park is the USS Cairo exhibit. It is the only remaining ironclad ship from the Civil War Period, one of 7 such vessels built in a 100 day deadline by a war engineer contractor. The Cairo was pulled up from a mud bar in 1956 and put into this amazing display in 1980.
Here's my favorite shot from the military park - it's on the back of the Wisconsin memorial.
When we got back to the motel we checked the weather - a big storm was approaching tonight, with rain and thunderstorms predicted for tomorrow. The group of Bicycle Vagabonds made the decision to cancel our last day's ride to Jackson, and instead head back home to Tallahassee.
It's been a fun and educational trip down the Southern Natchez !! Until the next adventure, happy trails to you all ...
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