Vicksburg, MS, River Town Campground, and Jackson Motor Speedway

Friday 3/30/2012

River Town Campground

Vicksburg, MS

Wednesday, the 28th, we left Montgomery South RV Park and headed west toward Vicksburg, MS.  A little more than five hours later we arrived at Ameristar Casino RV Park.  We didn’t have a reservation, and as soon as we arrived I was worried about getting a site.  They looked almost full, but there were a few empty sites.  I went inside and spoke with the very friendly lady at the counter.  She apologetically informed me that they were all booked up.  I asked her if she knew of any other places locally that might have a site.  She got on the phone and called another place to see if they had anything available.  They did and said they would hold a site for us.  I talked with the lady at River Town Campground briefly on the phone, and she gave me directions.  After I finished talking with her, I chatted with the lady at Ameristar.  She said she didn’t know what was going on.  Last year, she said, if I had called about a site she would have had many available and to come on in.  But, she said, the last four months or so they've been full or nearly full.  So we headed out of there for River Town Campground.  When I was given the directions, she said just keep going, you’ll think you’ve missed us but you haven’t.  She was right, but I did finally come to it and we got checked in.

This was an “okay” park.  Their website and info sheet handout both mention basic cable.  They don’t have it.  I asked at the office and was told they're trying to get it back on.  Antenna reception was poor.  All I could find was CBS.  I was able to get the satellite dish set up, so at least we had that.  Also, they're very adamant at this CG about parking on the grass.  Don’t do it!!!  They threaten eviction if you do!!!  One other thing, all the utilities are located at the back of the site.  This was the first time I actually had to connect a second sewage hose in order to reach the hookup.

Vicksburg has quite a bit of history, mainly Civil War and Mississippi River history.  On Thursday, the 29th, we set out to do a bit of sightseeing.  First stop was the Visitor Center overlooking the river and a couple of bridges.

The bridge in the foreground is the Old Vicksburg Bridge.  It's been closed to vehicular and pedestrian traffic since 1998, but is still used by the Kansas City Southern Railroad.  US 80 was the highway that crossed the bridge.  Now US80 and I-20 use the bridge next to the Old Vicksburg Bridge.  The highway and the railroad tracks run side by side on the bridge.  The highway is only 18 feet wide!!  That makes each lane only 9 feet wide!!  Also, note the angle or slope and curve of the approach to the bridge from the Vicksburg side of the river.  Imagine crossing this bridge with your RV!!!  Or crossing this bridge with your RV with an eighteen wheeler or another RV coming towards you and a train crossing the bridge at the same time!!!

Only 18 feet wide!!! 

This was a toll bridge too.  Notice the narrow lanes leading up to and through the tollgate.  Also note how much further north the tollgate is in relation to the location of the bridge.  This is a very good link if you want more info/photos of this bridge.  Here are a couple of shots of the Mighty Mississippi River.

This is looking north.  That isn't a riverboat in the foreground.  It's the Ameristar Casino building.

This is looking south.  The roof of the old tollbooth is in the center of the photo.  Both of these shots are from Navy Circle, which overlooks the river and is located just north of the visitor center.

Next, we headed over to the Old Courthouse Museum near downtown Vicksburg.  It contains exhibits of Civil War memorabilia as well as historic Vicksburg.  Although it didn’t have quite as much about the Civil War as we expected, it was still very interesting.

It’s quite a magnificent looking building located on a hillside.

 

It's a Registered National Historic Landmark.

Here are the steps leading up to the courthouse on the opposite side of the main entrance.  Can you imagine getting married on the steps of this courthouse?  The whole wedding party and all the guests would fit here!!

This is the main entrance of the courthouse.  Admission is $5 each.  We were both a bit disappointed.  Things aren’t always identified very well, and the exhibits are almost too overloaded with stuff.  I also remarked to Terri that they should probably take the money we paid them for admission and invest in a few light bulbs to replace those that are burned out.  There are, however, some very interesting things to see including old historic photos of buildings and houses of the city, riverboat history, and the old courtroom is located upstairs.  Even though it was a bit disappointing, I'd still recommend it if you’re nearby.

Friday, the 30th, we considered going to the National Military Park in Vicksburg.  However, the weather was a bit marginal and we weren’t sure if we really had enough time to spend there.  We decided to put it on our bucket list for a later visit here in the Vicksburg area.

Friday night I ventured east on I-20 about fifty-five miles or so to the Jackson Motor Speedway and attended a Lucas Oil Late Model Series stock car race in Byram, just south of Jackson, MS.  This was my first visit to this track.  The track was nicely prepared and they had an excellent turnout of racecars.  I got here early, and by the time the racing started the grandstand was full.  Here are a few pictures of the track.

The pit area is located directly behind the grandstands.

Don O’Neal of Martinsville, IN, won the 50 lap, $10,000 to win feature event.  I had a good time and really enjoyed the racing throughout the evening.  The weather was excellent too.

Tomorrow, Saturday, the 31st, we head to Texas.