Nashville… f I n a l l y

We drove the last 60 miles of the Natchez Trace yesterday, Monday. On Sunday we took the Jeep on a 180 mile drive back into Mississippi.  Tom discovered Shiloh Battlefield was about 65 miles from where we were parked and he said we probably would not be going back that way so we had better see it on this trip.  The weather was beautiful for the drive and we traveled on some wonderful new roads too. 

The Battlefield is much like that at the Gettysburg Battlefield, a drivable tour, with pullouts with information on the 2 day battle. We went to the Visitor Center where there were many artifacts on display there.  The display was very balanced in telling the story of both sides in this horrendous battle. The explanations were color coded, Blue signs for the Union (Army of Tennessee), Red signs for Confederates (Army of Mississippi), and Yellow Signs for the Union (Army of Ohio). 

 

There were lots of monuments throughout our drive.

There were lots of guns too.

This battle was fought because the Union, under General Grant, was ordered to take the Rail Road Crossroads at Corinth.  This would have split the South in two making it impossible for them to get adequate supplies to the troops.  That would had ended the war in the first year.  That did not happen and the war went on a bloody 4 more years. This was far more interesting than I thought it would be. We saw the “Hornets Nest”, where the Union Soldiers were caught in the crossfire with bullets buzzing so close they sounded like hornets.  Check this site for more information. 

We drove to Corinth just in time to see the display of the the battle there.  We only had 1/2 hour so I did not get a lot of pictures.  The walk approach up to the Visitor Center had medal sculpture imbedded into the walkway.

The ranger at the Visitor Center told us where to find the best Catfish dinner in Mississippi.  We ate at the Dinner Bell and the ranger was not exaggerating.  With coleslaw and baked sweet potato sides and half the catfish, I had enough to bring home for a great lunch today.   

Monday we drove into Nashville to stay at the J Percy Priest Lake at a Corp of Engineer’s campground.  Seniors stay for $10/night with 50 amp and water.  Sewer is at the entrance.  After looking up about 10 campgrounds in Nashville that ranged in price from $32-$85.  None even rated very high. I don’t know how they stay in business with this campground open.

Gorgeous site although a little tight.  Tom threaded the needle on this one.

The site is about 70 feet long and we are just across the parking area from the lake.

We drove into Franklin, just south of Nashville, to a Verizon store to pick up my new phone. I LOVE IT.  It is the Motorola 4g Droid Razr.  I am still getting all the apps installed and set up so I can find them. 

Tomorrow we visit the Capitol, said to be the most beautiful.  We have seen many Capitols so we’ll see.  Stay turned.