Day 2: Happy 4th

The plan for the day was to be at Vicksburg National Military Park when it opened.  David and I were up...  well the kids were another story...

Once we were all up and dressed, we headed out for the day.  We grabbed breakfast and headed for the park.  The last time David and I drove through the park we took my nephew who was about 10 at the time and now he is 19, so it's been a while.

It was a perfect day.  The park is 16 miles long.  We rolled the windows down and heard the birds.  The wind blew through the windows... the weather was just beautiful.  The kids were most excited about the cannons so we stopped at several different ones. 

Carson is pretending to shoot the cannon, while Haylee is down in the trench pretending to shoot a gun.  The had a great time.

This is the only original structure left here from the war in 1863.  Federal soldiers referred to it as the "White House." 

The next stop was the USS Cairo....  well what's left of it.  It was hit by a torpedo and sunk in the Yazoo River.  Some of the original pieces are still there but much of it has been rebuilt through a process called "Ghosting."

This is where it was hit by the torpedo.

More cannons...

National Cemetery

Texas Memorial

In a trench

Since we had arrived early, we missed most of the reenactments that were set for the day.  We were able to find one park ranger in war time attire.  We had a great time at the park, especially on the 4th as the war ended during the same week in 1863.  We left there and headed on to Alabama.

 

In Alabama, we made plans to eat at one of our favorite places....LAMBERT'S...  There are only 3 of these in the US.  One is near Branson, another one also in Missouri, and the third one is in Foley, Al.  We checked the website before leaving to be sure they were open on the 4th and they were.  We arrived for an early lunch because there is ALWAYS at least an hour wait no matter what time you go.  We got there a little before 4 and I drop David off to put our name on the list.  As I am getting the kids out, he says to get back in because they are closing in 10 minutes.... WHAT!!!  No where on the website did it mention they would be closing early..  needless to say we had some very disappointed people in the car..  so here is what we opted for instead.  There's no comparison but it put everyone in a better mood.

You guessed it!!! Krispy Kreme!!!

And they were HOT and fresh....  that's really the only way to eat them.

The kids did pick the patriotic ones....

Then we were off to Pensacola...  the kids are dying to go to the beach..

 

 

We arrived in Pensacola and found it to be PACKED with people.  The wind was blowing so bad that there was a red warning so we told the kids we could walk along the beach to look for shells.

They were impressed by the white sand. 

As you can see, Carson could not just walk down the beach.  He was covered in sand and was soaking wet because the waves knocked him down a few times.

 

 

 

 

This pose only took about 10 minutes to set up....

He looks so sweet and innocent.....with a hand full of sand...

Haylee couldn't stand it any longer.... now she's covered in sand

I do have a tip if you are planning a trip to the beach.... Baby Powder.... if you rub the baby powder where the sand is, it comes right off...  thanks to pinterest for this tip.... 

 

Next we found a local eatery....

It was soooo good!!!!

David had the Chicago dog, while I opted for the standard chili and cheese...

The kids had a good time too....

We stayed for the fireworks show which were fired from the water and played to music.  Despite the thousands of people it was an awesome firework display.

 

 

 

I almost forgot....  we did introduce the kids to a new travel tradition....