We just got home from a really quick trip to Vicksburg & New Orleans.
We had really wanted to go over Fall break, but with high school Band being as intense as it is, we weren't able to leave.
So we decided to squeeze it in during our Thanksgiving break. So we left Friday after school and drove part of the way to Vicksburg. Then Saturday we drove the rest of the way.
Vicksburg was pretty cool.
Vicksburg National Military Park preserves the site of the Civil War Battle of Vicksburg. This battle took place between March 29 and July 4 of 1863 and the park commemorates the 47 day siege that ended with the city's surrender, giving the Union control of the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River was considered essential to gaining victory during the Civil War. The Confederate President, Jefferson Davis said Vicksburg was the "nail head that holds the south's two halves together" and President Abraham Lincoln remarked "Vicksburg is the key" to victory and could be the North's lifeline to the South. The South's loss of Vicksburg and General Robert E. Lee's loss at Gettysburg, are considered the turning point in the Civil War and less than two years later the South formally surrendered.
Without the ability to control the Mississippi, things went downhill quickly for the confederate army.
We started our tour of the park by first seeing if Benson could fit inside these massive cannons. That seemed like essential knowledge for the boys in my family.
Then we went to the Visitor's Center next and explored a bit. Benson tried to enlist in the confederacy and really loved this hat.
Then we watched the park film in the small theater.
The stats on the battle are heartbreaking. But you can imagine with a siege lasting 47 days, there were many deaths.
While watching the video, we filled out the "Junior Ranger" booklet and then the younger boys turned them in to the park ranger and took the Junior Ranger Oath. It's always a cute thing to witness.
Tanner and I thought this pillar was pretty cool.
This was the original stone monument which marked the historic meeting place between the the lines where General Grant and Pemberton discussed terms of surrender.
However, after only a few short years the monument became heavily damaged by relic hunters and vandalism, and was moved from the battlefield to the cemetery. However, the monument still wasn't safe and was then moved to the visitors center.
Along the bottom of the pillar you can see someone's blade still wedged in the rock when it broke off.
From the Visitor's Center, we started the driving tour. There was an app that you could listen to naration as you drove through the battleground.
We got out a few times to get a better look. I love the picture of Chris explaining how the battle would have worked and why certain positions were considered more valuable than others.
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"The Shirley House" has a really cool history and is the only surviving structure in the park that was around during the Civil War. The house was built in the 1830's and purchased by the Shirley family in 1851. When the fighting in Vicksburg began in 1863, Mr. Shirley and his daughter were stranded in Clinton, MS after the Union cut the rail service to Vicksburg. Mrs. Shirley and her teenage son were the only ones at the house. The Confederates tried to burn it down by sending a soldier to set fire to the home so the Union could not use it, but while Mrs. Shirley was begging and pleading with the confederate soldier not to burn down their home, the soldier was shot dead by Union troops. Mrs. Shirley and her son were caught in the crossfire between the two armies and fearing for their lives the remained in the house huddled in the chimney corner for three days. At this point, Mrs. Shirley tied a sheet to a broom handle and placed it on the upper front porch. The frightened occupants were then removed by Union soldiers and given shelter in a cave. The Union Troops took possession of the house and the home sustained heavy damage during the fighting. Mrs. Shirley and her son eventually moved into one of their slave cabins for their safety and then they left the city altogether. It's important to note that even though the Shirleys owned slaves, they supported the Union because their main source of income was selling products to the northern states.
The Shirley house then became a headquarters for the Union Army and was known as the White House. It would also serve as a hospital for wounded soldiers.
Years later, the daughter sold the house to Vicksburg National Park with the condition that her parents were reinterred in the backyard. Their gravestones are still there today.
Directly next to the Shirley House is the Illinois Memorial. This Monument was dedicated in 1906. This memorial is the largest in the park. "In designing the memorial, the decision was made to construct not only a grand and imposing commemorative structure worthy of the state of Illinois, but a temple of fame as well, within the walls of which will be preserved in enduring bronze and stone the name of every soldier from Illinois who participated in that memorable and decisive campaign and siege."
The monument stands 62 feet in height and originally cost $194,432.92 and was paid by the state of Illinois. In contrast, most other memorials in the park cost less than $20,000.
This seal is on the floor of the Monument and is so gorgeous.
After visiting the Illinois Memorial, we finished the driving tour and then went to see the U.S.S. Cairo.
This ship has been excavated from the bottom of the river and has been preserved in the park. It's really remarkable. The U.S.S. Cairo was the first of seven City Class ironclads commissioned by the US War Departments in 1862. It was initially assigned to the Union Army.
On November 21, 1862 the vessel was assigned to the expedition ascending the Yazoo River. On December 12, 1862, while clearing mines from the river , the Cairo struck an underwater mine detonated from shore. It sank in only twelve minutes but with no loss of life. The Cairo became the first armored warship in history sunk by an electrically detonated mine.
The wreck was rediscovered in the late 1950's and it was relocated to Vicksburg National Park.
We were able to tour the ship itself and see how it operated.
We also toured the indoor museum. There were lots of cool artifacts and information.
Next to the U.S.S. Cairo was the cemetery. It was massive and well maintained.
However, the loss of life was staggering, with total causalities of more than 32,000.
After visiting the cemetery, we drove to find the Arkansas Monument.
This memorial was erected in 1954 and the cost was $50,000. It bears the inscription "To the Arkansas Confederate Soldiers and Sailors, a part of a nation divided by the sword and reunited at the alter of faith." It's a beautiful inscription and a stunning monument.
This gateway is at the beginning of the driving tour.
We had a great time exploring the park and learned so much.
After leaving the park, we got lunch and then started our drive down to New Orleans.
I've been wanting to visit New Orleans for years so I was super excited for this trip.
Our first stop when arriving in New Orleans was St. Louis Cemetery #3. One of the most notable and unique features in New Orleans are the cemeteries with their above ground tombs. Unlike other major cities, New Orleans sits near the Mississippi River and has a high-water table. Historically, this made burying the dead a very difficult task. The graves would often flood. To combat this, New Orleans residents built intricate tombs, raised above the water table.
I had purchased an audio tour for this cemetery and it was really interesting.
As we listened to the audio tour, we walked around looking for certain stops.
This cemetery was established in 1853 on the former site of a leper colony and it was built in response to the yellow fever epidemic of 1852. The graves found in St. Louis #3 tend to be more elaborate and decorative with some stunning examples of marble 19th century tombs and crypts. You can see a little bit of everything in this cemetery including family tombs, coping tombs, wall vaults and some more modern multi-burial mausoleums.
This is the Benachi family tomb. It is a cast iron tomb and cast iron facades were very common on buildings in New Orleans. Using molds, blacksmiths could mass produce intricate designs like the ones on this tomb. Benachi was Greek and immigrated to New Orleans in the mid 1800's. He sadly lost his first wife and two children in the yellow fever epidemic.
This is an example of a wall vault and it extended along the edge of the cemetery. These wall vaults were meant to function as a more affordable option for families compared to the family tombs. The tour told us to think of them as condos as opposed to houses.
Also, if a family had more deaths in a year then their tombs could hold, these wall vaults were an option for them to use temporarily. This was compared to renting an apartment.
Benson was so well behaved. I really thought he might get bored but he listened to the audio tour patiently and looked at each tomb on the tour.
These "cities of the dead" were hauntingly beautiful and had a special reverence about them.
It was very cool to get to tour this cemetery.
From St. Louis #3 Cemetery we went to check in to our resort. We were able to stay at "The Marquee" Bluegreen resort. The room was gorgeous and we were all excited to have a nice room in the heart of the French district. We were within walking distance to all of the things we wanted to go see.
But we started out by walking down to eat at "Deanie's Seafood". The food was so good and authentic.
This particular restaurant has been open for over 60 years.
We got Oysters Rockefeller to try and everyone enjoyed them.
We also got two huge fried seafood platters and the four kids split them.
We also got a few other dishes to try and share together.
I got a seafood gumbo and Benson was super excited to find some crab in it. I also got crabmeat au gratin to try. It was delicious.
Chris got shrimp etoufee and it was yummy but a bit spicy for me.
Dinner was delicious and we all enjoyed it.
The restaurant was along Canal and Bourbon street, so as we walked back to our resort, we got to see some street bands performing and it was wild.
When we got back to our room, the kids couldn't wait to swim in the rooftop pool.
They were so excited. It was nowhere near warm enough for me to get in that pool, but the kids had fun.
The view was gorgeous though.
After swimming, the kids showered and got ready for bed.
We all slept great that night and the next morning we got up early to catch a streetcar and get some beignets.
The excitement over the streetcars was so fun. We used an app to buy a pass for our stay and then we were able to track the streetcars and figure out how to get around. The kids loved that they didn't have to sit down.
We had so much fun riding the streetcar around and seeing the city.
Our first stop was "Cafe Beignet". Now while you may think that "Cafe Du Monde" is the more famous one, all of my research indicated that the better beignets were at "Cafe Beignet".
We were not disappointed. In fact, the beignets were so massive that we couldn't even finish them.
I got 4 orders of them for the 6 of us to share and we still couldn't finish them. They were huge and so delicious. We got some original with just powdered sugar and some with strawberries and chocolate on them. YUM!
I don't know if these pictures do them justice. They were so big!
Next up, we did some window shopping and walked over to the meetup spot for our guided tour.
I had purchased this tickets for this tour on Groupon and I didn't have high expectations.
However, I think if I had gone into this tour with high expectations, our tour guide still would have exceeded them.
The tour was 2 hours long and completely amazing. Our tour guide's name was Randy and he had lived in New Orleans his entire life. He has been giving tours of the French Quarter since 1988 and he teaches class on the history of the French Quarter as well as a professional tour guiding class at the local community college. He was so knowledgeable and engaging. Even the kids were enjoying the tour and he had us laughing and completely entertained.
The tour took us all through the French Quarter and we learned so much.
One of our first stops was the "Monument of the Immigrant" and it was erected in 1995. The monument depicts an immigrant family on one side and the other side a stylized figure shaped like the front of ship, reminding people that New Orleans is historically a port city and a city of immigrants.
Randy taught us about the flood walls and Hurricane Katrina. He told us about the different kinds of brick used in buildings. He taught us how to pick out the "sugar bricks" in the buildings by looking for their unique color and texture. The sugar bricks are made from a certain clay in the Mississippi river and over time the builders discovered they did not hold up and would turn into dust when touched. We actually weren't allowed to lean against the buildings on our tour, so we wouldn't damage the bricks.
Most the buildings now have had a stucco placed over them to reinforce them or they have been replaced with stronger bricks, but it was fun to look for them as we walked around.
Randy also took us past a street band performing and insisted we stop to listen because this is such a huge part of their culture. The musicians were so talented and Tanner especially enjoyed listening to them.
We really wanted to get to eat at Antoine's but the wait time was too long for our hungry bellies. But the building itself was gorgeous and its history is pretty cool.
It's been around since 1840 and serves authentic French food.
We actually learned a lot about food in the French quarter and there is such a wide range of food there. It's called the French quarter but there really is so many different ethnic and cultural influences.
We also learned about the difference between Creole and Cajun food. Some may say that "creole" is "city food" while "Cajun" is "country food". Creole food includes the use of tomatoes while Cajun food typically does not but both use cayenne pepper liberally and both can be very spicy.
The word "Cajun" is derived from the term "les Acadians". French settlers from Acadian Canada were forced to leave their homes and settled in the swamps of New Orleans in what is now known as Acadian. They were a highly resourceful people and found ways to live off the land and sea, as well as make use of every part of a slaughtered animal. The well known "Andouille sausage" incorporates pork as well as smoke and other seasonings and originated from the Cajuns. Without refrigeration, they used salts and smokes to preserve their foods.
The word "creole" is used to describe the descendants of the French and Spanish upper class who ruled the city of New Orleans. Creole food is a combination of the cuisines of many races that inhabited New Orleans over the years. This cuisine is more complicated, contains more ingredients that the Cajuns had access to and is thus though of as being more aristocratic. For this reason tomatoes are more popular in Creole dishes because it was a precious commodity and the Cajuns didn't have access to it.
We found all the food talk so interesting and we were anxious to try more different kinds of food.
We made our way down Bourbon street and then over to Jackson Square.
Bourbon street is pretty tame during the day. But we wouldn't want to be there after dark.
However, we did go in search of Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. Bailey and I had listened to a "history chicks" podcast about Maria Laveau before our trip so we were both curious to see the shop. Marie Laveau was born a free woman of color in New Orleans in 1801 and became known as the Voodoo Queen during her lifetime through acts of community service and holistic healings. But according to the podcast episode, it almost seemed like her voodoo success came more from her network of informants and blackmail. It's an interesting story regardless. The shop was strange but Bailey decided she wanted to leave an intention on Marie Laveau's alter. She wrote it down and placed it on the alter before we left the shop.
Then we made our way over to Jackson Square.
This is the home of the Jackson Monument as well as the St Louis Cathedral. It's gorgeous and has so much history.
The boys had a good time digging in the pine needles after the tour was over.
Randy laughed when he saw the boys playing and told us about how when he was a kid he would play in this same square with his friends while his Mom shopped at the French market. He said it made him so happy to see the boys playing there. We loved Randy!
Our tour ended at Jackson Square and we said goodbye to Randy.
Then we walked over to get some lunch. After hearing all about the different kinds of food from Randy, we couldn't decide what we wanted and finally decided on po boys from Johnny's.
Johnny's is famous because its the oldest family-owned po-boy restaurant in New Orleans. They have been serving po-boys since 1950. It's also famous for its Muffuletta sandwich, which is a New Orleans staple. We also loved the history of the "po-boy". It's rooted in New Orleans and is traditionally made with meat or seafood and served in a French bread loaf. The sandwich's creation is attributed to the Martin brothers, who owned a sandwich shop and were former streetcar engineers. According to legend, during the 1929 streetcar strike, the Martin brothers promised to feed the striking workers free of charge, leading to the creation of the po-boy sandwich. "Po-Boy" being short for "Poor Boy" and even before the strike could be purchased very cheaply.
Our lunch was delicious. The po-boys were huge and we shared 5 of them between the 6 of us. Chris got a Muffuletta and shared with Benson. The rest of us tried different kinds of po-boys. Every single sandwich was delicious. It was so yummy.
After lunch we walk over to the French Market.
We shopped for souvenirs and enjoyed all the different stalls and vendors.
I wanted Bailey to get a masquerade mask but she had different plans. She looked so cute though.
Randy also taught us about "Pralines" and how to say it correctly.
So after that foodie lesson, we went in search of some. We bought a few different kinds at "Aunt Sally's". They had the original one as well as the creamy ones. They were basically pure sugar and so sweet.
We eventually finished shopping and everyone picked out a souvenir, then we made our way back to our resort. The kids went swimming again and we ended up just ordering pizzas that night. We were so tired from all the walking that we didn't feel like leaving again to get dinner.
The pizzas were delicious though!
The next morning we hopped back on the streetcar and went to "Cafe Du Monde". We wanted to try their beignets so we could decide for ourselves which ones were better.
We got seats at Cafe Du Monde without a problem and ordered.
We ended up getting hot chocolates too. The hot chocolate was yummy but the beignets were disappointing.
They were much smaller than the beignets at Cafe Beignet.
Then we walked around a bit more to enjoy the architecture and just the feel of New Orleans
Then we went back to "Cafe Beignet" to get some more breakfast because the tiny beignets at "Cafe Du Monde" were so small that we were still hungry. The boys were excited to get a picture with this alligator.
Then we went back to our resort to check out and we went to check out the Garden District. Tucker especially enjoyed the different mansions and gorgeous architecture.
We also found this great mural, so naturally I had to get a picture of the kids in front of it.
At this point we started having some car trouble. Basically the car died as we rolled into the mechanic shop. We sat there in the car with the windows down while Chris took an uber to an auto parts shop to buy the part we needed. Then we waited while the mechanic fixed it. Miraculously they were able to fit us right in and fix the van while we sat inside of it.
We were in and out in less than 30 minutes. I think it took longer for Chris to get the part than it did to actually fix the van.
After the mechanic fixed it, the van drove perfectly and we drove back without incident.
I think I could have stayed one more day in New Orleans, but we had a great visit and I feel like we got to experience so much of it while we were there.
If you are on the fence about going to NOLA, I highly recommend it. We loved it and we are missing the delicious beignets already!
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