Mississippi

6/26/26 to 6/30/26

We loved our campsite at Timberlake Campground (on the east side of Jackson, MS). It was on a bay off of the larger Barnett Reservoir.

We shared the space with several Canada Geese and Mallard ducks. Once the sun lowered in the sky, the temperature cooled off enough that we could enjoy sitting outside in our clamshell enclosure. We also enjoyed watching the turtles and a large school of catfish (when our neighbor threw corn out for them).

This community does their fireworks the Friday before July 4th. We had a prime viewing location of TWO displays...one off of a barge and one from a park directly behind it.

On Sunday, 6/27/26, we drove downtown and spent several hours at the "Two Mississippi Museums." We learned about the

• First residents of the area (Native Americans)

• French, British, and Spanish colonization of the area before the US gained control in 1798

• Growth of the cotton industry and the associated slave trade

• End of the Civil War and how industry changed without slavery

• 1890-to-today state constitution that STILL makes it difficult for poor people to vote. (The state didn't ratify the 13th Amendment (outlawing slavery) until 2013!!)

• April 1927 flood (when the Mississippi River levees broke) that required the rescue of 330,000 people from a flood zone that stretched from Illinois to Louisiana

• Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights movement

On Tuesday, 6/30/26, we returned to Jackson...

We were the only people on a tour of the historical portion of the Governor's mansion.

And we did a self-led tour of the MS Capitol Building