Out and About in Vicksburg

One weekend, we just drove around Vicksburg scouting out places we wanted to see while we are here.  We also ate at a couple of wonderful restaurants so I thought I'd just share a little of what is in our new neighborhood.

There are lots of beautiful homes in this town that are now bed and breakfasts.  This house was a bed and breakfast when we stayed here on our way home from my parents 50th wedding anniversary celebration over 10 years ago.  Now it appears to be a private home but it was nice to see it again.

Cedar Grove is one of the many B & Bs and is also a tour home.  It was built in 1840 and survived the siege and bombing of Vicksburg by becoming a hospital for the Union wounded.  It is on my list!

Looking very similar to Cedar Grove is Anchuca Mansion built in 1830.  It is also a B & B and available for tours.

The Duff Green Mansion, built in 1856, is also a B & B and tour home.  During the Siege of Vicksburg it was hit numerous times by Union cannonball.  In an effort to save their home the owners allowed it to become a field hospital for both Confederate and Union wounded.  Meanwhile, the owners waited out the bombing with many of Vicksburg's citizens in caves dug into the hillsides.

Walnut Hills Restaurant has quickly become one of my favorite places to eat.  It is located in a home built in the 1880s and has delicious food.  Southern Living Magazine agreed with me and featured the restaurant in one of it's issues.

Strangely enough, one of the best buffets anywhere is at the Ameristar Casino.  Their all you can eat Friday night seafood buffet is fabulous!  I've never seen so many crab legs in one place before.

Even stranger still is the absolutely delicious fried chicken served up at the Old Country Store in nearby Lorman, Mississippi.  From the outside it looks like an old store.

But, inside, between shelves lined with antiques to buy, are tables where we chowed down on the best fried chicken we've ever tasted.  Southern Living Magazine did an article on this place too.

The Food Network's Alton Brown declared that if he was going to eat fried chicken he wanted to eat Mr. D's (Davis) chicken or his own.  Richard has a new best friend!  Mr. D even serenaded us - and he has a great voice!

When we left, Mr. D wrote a note to us on a copy of the Southern Living Magazine article.  I wonder if he gave one to Matthew McConaughey when he ate there a couple of weeks ago.

There's lots to see and do in the area - and we have just begun!