Vicksburg

I'd been wanting to stop by Vicksburg to visit the Civil War Battlefield for quite some time. I remember visiting Gettysburg in high school and I assumed Vicksburg would be similar and I knew that Mark would enjoy it.

The Visitor Center was very similar to Gettysburg, but that's where the similarity ended for me. Possibly because when I visited Gettysburg it was with a group of high school kids and they didn't drive us through the entire park. But at Vicksburg, Mark and I drove the entire park.

It wasn't really what I expected. There were numerous markers in red and blue to designate where the lines were and where things happened. Apparently it was mapped out by survivors not long after the war ended and is considered very accurate as to what happened and where.

Like Gettysburg, there were cannons that were in place. What I don't remember seeing in Gettysburg were all the state monuments. (I don't know whether they have them or not. If they do, I didn't see them.) States who had regiments or divisions fighting in a particular area had erected monuments with their state name. Some were all the same. For example, Iowa had the same smallish monument erected in numerous places. (After you'd seen a few of them, you  could spot them in other places.) Other states, like Ohio, had monuments that were not identical but were similar in size and style.

What's striking is how many monuments there are.

And some states, like Alabama, only had one but it was impressive.

Of course, Texas made an impression.

Many of the monuments were quite elaborate.

In addition to the monuments honoring state regiments, there were also monuments to regimental leaders.

It made for an interesting drive - plenty of places to get out and walk around - and the weather was just about perfect.

I'm glad we went but we are not likely to return. And while there are some stunning views of the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, the town really doesn't have much else to recommend it. Check out these shots of the Mississippi at sunset.

There are some casinos, but we're not gamblers. We're foodies and the restaurants in our hotel were closed except for the deli. Deli food is good for lunch but I'd rather have something else for dinner. So the second night we moved to a different hotel - Margaritaville.

They had taken what used to be a casino at whatever hotel that used to be and turned it into a giant arcade for kids. A "family" area. Wish I'd known that ahead of time. Let me just say that if I had to judge all Margaritaville hotels by the one in Vicksburg, I'd never stay at another one. If Jimmy Buffett only knew...

Battleship Memorial Park and the USS Alabama

I'd written a rambling post about the poverty I'd seen en route to Florida and in some areas of the Caribbean. I was going to have Mark give it a reality check to make sure that my rambling was at least coherent. But when I opened the post to read it to him, it wasn't there. It was the post I'd started with several days ago and had none of the edits I'd made yesterday. And since Blogger automatically saves your work every ten minutes, it was a bit odd. I'm going to take it as divine intervention. I assume I was not meant to share those thoughts with anyone BUT Mark. So we're going to move on to the next stop on our journey, the USS Alabama.

I've driven past it many times. You can't get to Florida from Dallas without going through Mobile - and that's where it's docked. I remember asking my son if he wanted to stop on the way to Florida years ago but he didn't and I wasn't going to make him. But Mark wanted to see it.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the Band of Brothers series, I'm not that much into war or weapons of war but I did find the visit interesting. It was like being transported back to the 1940s. It was set up to give you a good idea of what life was like on board the ship at that time.

Looking at it from the highway, you don't fully appreciate the size of it. I think it's far bigger than a cruise ship and of course, there's no Lido deck.

It was all going well until a group of school children turned up. Apparently they didn't have enough teachers and adult volunteers because those kids were just running amok. They were climbing on the hammocks, running up and down the stairways, and screaming at each other. We couldn't get away from the disrespectful little demons fast enough. When I was in school, field trips were meant to be learning experiences. I can't imagine what they learned from that trip.

But I learned that a new ship can be given the same name as an old ship, as long as the old ship is decommissioned.

Best advice - if you're going - go early. We arrived just as it opened and managed to have most of the tour finished before the children arrived. There was also a submarine and a number of aircraft to tour and view. We looked at some of the aircraft but decided to put the submarine off until another day.

Here are some photos.

And what does this tell you about Marines? 

The Voyage

I love warm weather and it's been too cold for too long around Dallas. So a cruise going to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and St. Thomas had a lot of appeal.

While each island has it's own character, they are all gorgeous. I've concluded that I prefer the islands with volcanic origins.  They are hilly and lush rather than just flat. But again, they are all unique and all beautiful.

We were supposed to make a return trip to Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas (cruise line private island) but due to engine issues, that didn"t happen. Saved us all a bundle - we'd planned to splash out and get a cabana with a butler. But since we didn't actually get it, we did1n't have to pay for it. Plus the cruise line gave us $100 credit for our trouble. All in all, a good trip

Here are some photos.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas

If you look closely, you can see the rainbow.

Jewel Dunn's River Resort, Jamaica

George Town, Grand Cayman

Two of the seven ships in port that day.

Cozumel, Mexico

Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic

San Juan, Puerto Rico

The streets are blue in Old San Juan.

There's a similar statue of Christopher Columbus in Barcelona.

St. Thomas, USVI

Overlooking Charlotte Amalie

Magen's Bay

Sunrise at Sea

No Loyalty Perks

We are tarts when it comes to cruise line loyalty. (In truth, I have no loyalty to any brand. I have a "loyalty" card for every grocery store within a 50 mile radius. We are just tarts.)

Anyway, while some of our friends are enjoying upgrades and various perks on their cruises because they always cruise with the same cruise line - we are not. Because we choose the cruise based on who is going where we want to go -  when we want to go - at the price we want to pay.

Our last cruise was with Holland America. We were told we'd be the youngest people on board. (Darn, it wasn't true!) But so far, we've cruised with Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Princess, and Holland America.

I liked Holland America. Embarkation was a breeze - minimal waiting. (I don't know if that was a function of Holland America or the Port Everglades Terminal. - So many variables! I just know that I've waited in line at Galveston, Houston, Miami and Port Canaveral for Norwegian, Carnival, Princess, and Royal Caribbean.)

Every cruise line has a target demographic. I'm really not sure what all of them are, but I'm pretty sure I'm not in Carnival's target demographic. They tend to have lots of kids on board - but kudos to them - you don't actually see those kids. But they also like to have events like "hairy chest" contests and belly flop contests - things that just don't hold a lot of appeal for us.

We've been happy with Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Princess. I think it was Princess that had the egg drop contest - devising a way to drop a raw egg from the top of the atrium to the bottom without breakage. Ours didn't break, but that wasn't the sole criteria for winning - it was also a popularity vote. (If you had your entire family on board, you were more likely to win.) I also think it was Princess that had the fun champagne fountain where all the ladies were invited to pour champagne into stacked glasses.

Holland America didn't seem to have any goofy contests, and that was okay. We were happy with evening trivia and you really only need those other diversions if it's a rainy day at sea.

Anyway, we haven't been on MSC - I heard that it was rowdy - sort of like Carnival - so I was avoiding it. But I also read that they have installed state of the art safety features - so maybe I should reconsider. We also have not been on Celebrity. No reason for that other than the itinerary we wanted has always been less expensive on another line. I know there are some other lines, like Seabourn that we'll probably never consider just because the ships are smaller and consequently they charge more. I've also heard that Cunard still has different classes of passengers. Apparently this defines where you can eat. I don't know if it limits access to entertainment, but we're not likely to book a cruise that divides people that way.

But even though I may not be getting perks from the cruise line, the good news is that I always book our cruises through the same travel agent - Cruises Only. We do get loyalty perks through them. (Things like shipboard credits,/prepaid gratuities - discounts on shore excursions - and no deposits.) But if another travel agent came along offering better perks and lower prices, I'd be giving it serious consideration.