Well, guess the "luck-of-the Irish" didn't carry over ~
We had tickets to tour the southern mansions of Natchez, Mississippi this morning but instead we spent the morning at the ophthalmologist's getting Lynn's left eye checked out. Having had some blurry vision the last few days we decided to call the eye doctor back home. They told her to have it checked immediately soooo we found a doctor that would see her and after a thorough exam he recommended she see a retina specialist. Of course there weren't any in Natchez so he sent us to Jackson, Mississippi, two hours away.
What next??
Needless to say we missed the house tours but the lovely ladies of Natchez refunded our money and we went on our way. The doctor recommended not doing the house tours due to too many stairs for Lynn (no lifting, no climbing, no jumping etc) ~ he told John he owed him for getting him out of "those house tours!" We were actually very disappointed.
Well the appointment was for 8:30 am Tuesday, so what to do with this day? On the way to Jackson was Ferriday, Louisiana, home of the cousins; Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley and Jimmy Swaggart so we swung by the Delta Music Museum.
Since we were the only people there, we got a personal tour and watched an informational video. The woman gave a lot of personal information. The original inductees into the Delta Music Museum Hall of Fame were the three cousins that grew up together in Ferriday. They went to school together, played music together and got into trouble together. None of them ever had any formal music training.
(Quote and picture from the brochure ~ hysterical.)
"Remember the cousins' parents grew up in the 1920's when you knew the families around you, because there was little transportation in those days. Many family members married siblings in another family. Ex. A family that had three sons would marry three daughters of another family, making them doubly related."
~ now THAT'S a family tree!
Later inductees included performers who simply had some connection to Ferriday, not necessarily having lived there. Some of these are: Conway Twitty, Aaron Neville, Percy Sledge, Johnny Horton and Fats Domino.
Down the street we drove by the house where Jerry Lee grew up. His sister, Frankie Jean still lives there but she is no longer giving tours.
Our route to Jackson also took us through Vicksburg Mississippi, site of the famous Civil War Battle. This is a driving tour that took us through the battlefield.
Along the route battle sites are marked and states have erected monuments honoring their soldiers who fought there.
The Illinois Memorial
Shirley House ~ only surviving wartime structure in the park ~ called
"The White House" by the Union troops. It served as the headquarters
for the 45th Illinois infantry.
One of the highlights of the tour was the remains of the USS Cairo, one of seven ironclad ships built for the war. The USS Cairo holds the distinction of being the first vessel ever sunk by an electronically detonated torpedo (mine).
While driving through one of the battlefield areas, a severe thunderstorm popped up pelting us with hail. It made the experience even more realistic as we felt we had come under enemy fire!
John was able to add another stamp to his National Parks Passport Book at the museum.
Lastly we drove through the National Cemetery. The first national cemeteries came into being as a direct result of the Civil War where over 620,000 Americans lost their lives. While silent and moving, we feel we have seen way too many of these cemeteries and are grateful to all those who have made this ultimate sacrifice.
Tuesday, March 19
The Leprechaun must have sprinkled his magic dust ~ all is well. Lynn did have a slight tear in her retina but the specialist was able to laser it and send us on our way.
So now it is going to be a couple of straight driving days on our way to Arizona. We drove straight through Louisiana and Texas on I 20, even Lynn could follow that route!
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