The further we go south, the closer we get to the end of our trip. Only one more travel day with the group is ahead of us now, we arrived in Natchez, Mississippi today. There is an asterisk on that however: we are actually camping across the river in Visalia, Louisiana. My guess is that we have crossed the Mississippi about 30 times now, with a few more to come.

Saturday was a free day, and we spent it in style. Our new friends in the group, Steve and Sheila, have a son working as a manager in the Boise State athletic department. Lo and behold, BSU played in Memphis on Saturday, and he was able to get us four tickets. We had a great time, although more than a little hot (might have reached 95 degrees during the game, and the Liberty Bowl has no shade). Sadly BSU lost, but we met more than a few Bronco fans.

After the game we went out for some Memphis BBQ at a place called the Rendezvous. It’s a hole in the wall, in a basement, downtown near Beale Street, but oh my the ribs and brisket were good. We certainly have been eating well on this trip.

Sunday we drove to our next campground, near Vicksburg, Mississippi. This was a quick stop, just two nights, but we made the most of it. The group took a bus tour of the Vicksburg Historic Battleground, and had the privilege to have the ex-head ranger of the National Monument lead the tour. We learned a lot, and added more books to our future reading list.

Then came a trip to Anchuca, an antebellum mansion in the city. They served us a splendid lunch, then allowed us to tour the house. It was great to see the architecture and the way the current owners have decorated the rooms.

Today was a short travel day with one stop: we paused for lunch at an old general store that now is a restaurant/antique store. They served a buffet lunch of many of the things you think of as southern cooking. The very best thing though was the fried chicken…hot on the inside, crispy and light on the outside, without being at all greasy. It was by far the best chicken I’ve had since Grandma Luhn’s chicken in Vader.

The group tours Vicksburg tomorrow, then we have a free day Thursday, then it’s on to New Orleans. More later…