Griswold 2010 - Day 12

We spent day 12 heading north, towards the metro Atlanta area. This took most of the morning. Our stop for the day was Stone Mountain, which features large carvings in the mountain side of confederate heroes Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. We took a distant look at the mountain...

...and then we boarded a sky ride that took us past the face of the mountain and onto the top.

We chose to ride up, for not only the fun of the ride, but also because the temperature was in the upper 90's. We did bring our hiking sticks with us though...

...and we all hiked down the mountain.

When we left Stone Mountain, we spent the night in the suburban Atlanta area, all ready for the next day's adventures.

Griswold 2010 - Day 11

We began with a drive from Pensacola, FL to Waycross, GA, to see the Okefenokee Swamp. While there, we took a swamp tour.

We of course saw a number of these critters, American Alligators.

We also saw things like these Egrets, as well as sandhill cranes, an Ibis, some cooter turtles and more.

We also paused a short time to get out of the boat and walk on this "Swamp Prairie", which are small amounts of swampy, grassy area in the middle of swamps. They are firm enough to stand on, though we sunk in a bit.

This guy was sunning himself and then ate some fish while we watched.

As we left the Okefenokee Swamp, this land tortoise was crossing the road in front of us. He was surprisingly fast for a tortoise, but we still took care not to run him over.

From there, it was on to our hotel for the evening. Tomorrow, we start heading north.

Griswold 2010 - Day 10

We began Day 10 (Friday, July 9) in New Orleans. We started the day with a little walking around the French Quarter...at least as much as we could stand on a very hot and humid day.

From there, we moved on to a relatively new museum, the Insectarium, which is a museum dedicated almost entirely to insects. (There are also some spiders and other critters)

We even saw a really big critter, a New Orleans Hornet.

After some lunch, the afternoon's activity was a ride on the Creole Queen, a paddle wheeler that took us on a short journey down the Mississippi to the Chalmette Battlefield, the site of the Battle of New Orleans from the War of 1812.

After the Creole Queen, we left the New Orleans area and headed towards the Florida panhandle. We made one quick stop to check out this Hurricane Katrina memorial in Biloxi, MS.

Griswold 2010 - Day 9

We began the day at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, MS. We learned a lot about the siege of Vicksburg, but what we enjoyed the most was the recovered U.S.S. Cairo ironclad, most of which is on display under a large tent in the park.

Much of what you see here is original, including the iron on the front and side of the ship. The ship was sunk during the Vicksburg siege with a makeshift mine in the water. It was recovered in modern times though when it was raised from the silt on the river floor. It was very impressive to see up close.

From the park, we headed into the town of Vicksburg, where we visited the Biedenharn Candy Co. This was the first place that Coca-Cola was ever bottled. Prior to this bottling, it had only been dispensed via soda fountains. Here we learned about both the bottling process and the soda fountain dispensing process.

From there, we walked downhill towards the river, where we checked out some impressive murals, which were painted over a few year span on a flood wall near the river itself. The murals were about the history of Vicksburg, from early times to more recent times.

Here you can see some of the murals beyond this park.

After Vicksburg, we headed south towards New Orleans. On the way, we crossed over the 24-mile bridge that spans Lake Pontchartrain. We never quite lost sight of land, either behind us or in front of us, but it was a long bridge.

Today...New Orleans and beyond.

Griswold 2010 - Day 8 - Arkansas

We began the day with a drive to Mount Ida, AR, which is a little ways outside of Hot Springs. It was a rainy morning, so we weren't sure that we were going to be able to do what we'd planned, but by the time we got to Mount Ida, it was only a drizzle. We went ahead and braved the drizzle for some horseback riding. (Of course we didn't take pictures during the ride to keep the camera dry!) We all mounted up and then our guides took us on a trail for about an hour round trip. It was a beautiful ride and we all had a good time. This was the first time horseback riding for Anne, Rebecca and Erik. (Erik rode "Henry", Rebecca rode "Joey", Anne rode "Flash" and Steve rode "Lefty".)

From Mount Ida, we headed to Hot Springs itself and toured the Fordyce Bath House, which is run by the National Park Service. It gave us a really good sense of how the old bathhouses of the time worked. Below, Anne and Rebecca relax in one of the "Cooling Off" rooms.

There were even some springs in town that were exposed, like this one.

We didn't put our hands very far into the water though, because it comes out of the ground at 143 degrees. Even though it was in the low 80's when we took this picture, the water was far too hot to stay in it for more than a moment.

We had a picnic lunch on a hill overlooking Hot Springs and then headed out of town towards Vicksburg, MS, where we're spending the night. On the way here, we drove through some of the northeast corner of Louisiana, so everyone now has 46 states. We'll hit Georgia in a few days, which will get everyone up to 47 states, which is where we'll be at the end of the trip. That will only leave California, Alaska and Hawaii.

Griswold 2010 - Day 7 - Memphis

We began the day at Graceland, where we toured the house and immediate grounds, ending with the memorial garden where Elvis is buried.

Then later in the day, it was on to Sun Records/Sun Studios to see where people like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis began their careers.

We finished the day in Arkansas, where we'll continue to do things for another day.

Griswold 2010 - Day 6 (July 5)

We began the day at the Shiloh Civil War battlefield in TN. Here, Erik and Anne model confederate and union outfits.

From Shiloh, we drove to Memphis, where we began our visit by going to the National Civil Rights Museum at the old Lorraine Hotel/Motel, which was the place where Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated.

The museum was very interesting and we learned a lot about the civil rights struggle over the years.

We also saw the room where King was staying when he was killed, which has been reset to the way it was at the time.

From the Lorraine, we drove a short distance to downtown Memphis, to the Peabody Hotel, which is famous for its resident ducks and their twice a day elevator journey through the lobby of the hotel. When we arrived, we found the ducks where they spend the day, in a fountain inside of the hotel.

Erik and Anne posed with the Duckmaster, who is charged with wrangling the ducks.

The Duckmaster told us more about the tradition and how it works.

Then it was time for the ducks to make their way out of the fountain...

...through the crowd...

...and onto the elevator.

After the walk was done, we went out to the roof to check out their evening lodging.

We found them inside of their well-appointed "Duck Palace", ready to relax for the evening. It was time for us to relax for the evening as well. We got some excellent barbacue at a place called Corky's and then we headed back to our room for the night with very full bellies.

Tomorrow morning, we'll begin with Graceland and then go on from there.