Grenada Lake was much larger than expected, and quite pretty. A scenic road winds through pine forest on the way to the lake - another way to know you're in the south - KUDZU!
I stopped at the very nice Grenada Lake Visitor Ceneter, and asked about hiking trails. The young woman behind the counter, and the two male park workers, were incredulous:
"You want to HIKE?!" Uh, yeah.
"OK, well there's the Lost Bluff trail but it's really hard."
" And there's snakes."
" It will really challenge you."
" Do you have hiking sticks?"
" There are some really steep areas."
After several more warnings, I finally got some directions and headed to the trail. It was a very pretty hike through the woods, a nice view of the river, and some nearly indecipherable trail signs (good thing it was a loop). It reminded me a bit of Starved Rock, without the canyons. There were some steep wooden stairs - those always seem harder to me than just climbing a slope. Elevation change was not nearly what I encounter out west, but it was liking hiking upstairs in a sauna!
Trail marker?
The lake photo will show that today started out rather sunny...but became overcast and deteriorated from there (more on that later).
I found my way to an old Confederate cemetery. Amazing to see all of these headstones belonging to "Unknown Confederate Soldier." I wonder how many of them were about 14 years old? I saw more of these at another cemetery later in the day in Jackson - but despite wandering around and around in the rain, I could not find the grave of writer Eudora Welty. That info was written up in several brochures, but once at the cemetery there was no info at all on where to find it. What?
After a much-needed shower back at the hotel (yes, Peg, I was a total sweatball), I went to the nearby Walmart. Mostly killing time...and discovered I was about the only person not wearing some kind of camouflage! There were couples wearing matching camo outfits, whole families, little kids, big kids. Is it "National Wear Camouflage Day" or something? I turned a corner and, OMG, even the scarecrows were wearing camouflage!!!
Just north of Jackson, I paid a visit to the Mississippi Artists Craft Store. Wow! A gorgeous building filled with fabulous art - quilts, baskets, glass, jewelry, fiber, wood and metal. Teresa R and I actually saw this place years ago, when it was in a much smaller building along the Natchez Trace. A very pleasant diversion - and a way to get out of the rain.
It was then time to head down to Jackson to meet Kelly at the airport. Or so I thought...her 3:30 flight was delayed. And delayed again. I was running out of things to do in Jackson, it was now raining and windy, and she was stuck at Midway Airport. We finally decided we would spend the night in Jackson, rather than make the 90 mile drive to Hattiesburg in the dark and rain (still not knowing when she'd actually arrive). A relief for me to have a place to go - the Quality Inn near the airport. Kelly should be in sometime after 8 pm, and we'll make the drive to Hattiesburg on Sunday morning.
Ahhh, Dixie...
No comments:
Post a Comment