Tunica, Oxford, Enid Lake and The Kudzu Jungles of MS

We had a blast in Tunica while staying at the Hollywood Casino RV Park. We arrived on the Thursday before Boyd's Birthday on the 12th and spent 4 nights there, getting 2 nights free on comps as well as his great BD dinner buffets. We dragged in at 5 am the first morning, which is normal for us if we're near a casino. We played at them all while there but preferred the Hollywood and the Resorts Casino next to it. The Hollywood is surrounded by farmland and late one night as we drove by we saw a deer grazing on the new veggies and in the background we saw several deer heads stick up as we drove by. Really cute. We also had a friendly armadillo come shuffling by on two different nights that we were lucky to spot before Magic and Snoopy did. We will definitely return here another time.

We just happened to drive into Oxford, home of Ole Miss, and it was a great little college town, we really liked it. Boyd happened to catch this shot of little kids on a field trip. Smart teachers to tie them together. I keep threatening to put a bungie cord on Boyd so I can keep up with him.

Next is Enid Lake where we spent two nights before moving on to Tunica. A beautiful lake as they all are.

The Kudzu Jungles are really eerie, beautiful and scary to me all at the same time. I've read that it's edible but I couldn't convince Boyd to try it. The countryside in this part of Mississippi is just lovely, lots of rolling hills and beautiful farmland.

Pearl River Resort

This is the Golden Moon Casino built on the Choctaw Indian Reservation. We came here from Twiltley Branch on our way to Persimmon Hill. It was planned that we would only stay 3-4 hours but time has a way of flying when you're having fun so we didn't leave until 5 PM and then we really had to hump it to get to our next CG before dark.

When we walked into the casino we immediately went to get our players cards. Being first timers there resulted in a spin each for a prize. Mine was a free buffet and Boyd got $40. in free play. That's what caused the delay. Boyd can make $40. last for a week, not so for me, sadly to say. At 3 we took a break and went and let the dogs out and went back in for our dinner buffet. It was a great spread and delicious to boot. After eating we decided to play out Boyd's free comp and that took at least another 1 1/2 hours. Finally when it was all used up he cashed out and came out of the casino ahead of the game. Not me!

We started up and headed northwest to Enid Lake, passing some beautiful Mississippi countryside, a part of the state we had not been to before. We arrived at our destination a little after 8 PM and as we rolled in toward the CG we saw about 6 deer frolicking in the pasture close by. Luckily, we got set up before dark.

Eerie things to come.

Meridian, MS

We only spent a few hours in Meridian but found a couple of really cool things to pass on. We came into town to get a couple of things fixed on the Honda and the man at Rick Justice was very kind to get us out as soon as he could so we could be on our way.

First stop after the car shop was Chick-Fil-A, they have the best wraps. Then we started for downtown. It wasn't long before we spied what we were looking for, the carousel horses, all painted by different local artists. I read there were 50 but the tourist information wasn't where it was supposed to be so we didn't have the brochure giving the locations of each one. But we cruised up and down the streets until we had our fair share of photos. My favorite is the yellow one that is covered by flowers and stands on the corner in front of Saxon's Flower Shop. I understand that all these horses were auctioned off, and the proceeds went to Hope Village where abused children are taken care of.

After taking as many photos as possible we left for the Merrehope Mansion. I couldn't believe what a run down neighborhood we found it in and it really needed a paint job for such a publicized historical site. This mansion was one of only buildings left standing in Meridian after General Sherman came through town on his way to the sea.

Our next stop was Highland Park, home of a beautiful (our photos don't do it justice) 1896 hand carved and painted carousel, still in working order. It took us a while to find it, a local post man helped us out. It was housed in a building in the park, of course, why didn't I expect that?

After seeing the carousel, we headed back to Twiltley Branch CG but not before stopping at a roadside stand and buying another watermelon.

A Sad Day

We had to put Samantha down this morning so needless to say, I'm not to cheerful.

We arrived here at Persimmon Hill CG on Enid Lake in Mississippi late last night after leaving Twiltley Branch CG on Lake Okatibbee, near Meredian MS for the last two days. I'm sending photos of Twiltley Branch first.

The town of Demopolis, AL

The town parks department has done a beautiful job of landscaping the center of the downtown of Demopolis, as small as it is. As we got out of our car this morning a man was hanging around the gazebo and said something to us that we could not understand. I thought it must have been that deep deep Alabama accent. As I came out of one of the small but quaint shops I saw the local policemen put him in a squad car so it must have been a little more than what we thought. We walked through the lush and fragrant square as we looked around for a post office and came across a really nice fountain and pool full of large goldfish. Beautiful baskets of flowers were hanging from the street lights and it really was pretty.

After walking around the town we took a ride to other parts and found a city park on Lake Demopolis. Seeing a restaurant sign on the water, we rode over and indulged in iced tea and shared an appetizer. There we saw the turtles, like I had never seen before. There must have been close to 100 of them all trying to get the bread that was being thrown to them.

Foscue Creek Park in Demopolis, Alabama

Well we made here without tornadoes and hail attacking us but I had some white knuckles as we went down a highway with tree limbs weighted down with rain went bumpity bump against our antennas.

I'm not so sure about this GPS, if we had turned where it said we would have gone down red muddy roads going to who knows where. I've heard "off route" so much that I hear it in my sleep. The last time we heard her say it was after we ignored her "turn left" statement and turned right as we followed the instructions in our Corps of Engineers book. The park attendant said someone else using their GPS followed her instructions into the park and turned where we didn't and found themselves stuck in a dead end muddy road.

When we pulled into Foscue Creek Park, the sun was shining and it was just beautiful. All the pictures on this post were taken here in the park. Our section has only 15 sites with 50 amps and water and is very quiet. Since we're now in the Central Time Zone, M and S wake up at 6 am and we go for a 45 minute walk as it's nice and cool. Afterwards we sit outside until about noon while the Mocking Birds serenade us. Magic and Snoopy just love it out in their x-pens. We do the same thing in the evening after the final walk when again we have a nice shady site. There is a Purple Martin house very close to us and we watch them glide around the sky, catching bugs. They must catch a lot because we have very few gnats and mosquitoes. We have seen Bluebirds too.

The park's day use area is a heavily wooded section with pavillions and paths winding around and through the shady woods. Several wooden bridges go through it with lots of benches placed around the scenic areas overlooking coves and playgrounds.

Life in the Boondocks

Hey again,

We're parked here at WalMart in Dothan, AL so we can use the internet and phone. We left Three Rivers State Park in Florida this morning at 8 am. Barely getting the car hooked up and holding tanks dumped before the storm hit. It's not raining now and we're heading to Demopolis, AL two days early.

We've seen lots of deer at 3 Rivers and found ticks on US. Terrific watermelon was found along with squash and corn. Fun roads and lots of exploring ahead. I'm hurrying this up so I can hit the road again after shopping at Wal Mart.