Scooters to the Battlefield!

 It was rather gloomy and had rained earlier.  I had my doubts about taking a scooter ride today but Eric nagged me until I finally relented.  So I climbed into my riding gear, packed my wallet and phone on the scooter and looked at the sky.  Hmmmmm....probably 50/50 chance of getting wet.  We left shortly after lunch heading north on the Natchez Trace.  Sound familiar?  Well it should because we went to Houston!  Hahahahaha.  That little, unincorporated berg of Houston, MS that is not on the map.  The Dixie Country Store is only open on Saturday and we were so curious we simply had to return.  Dixie Country Store

It was actually quite busy.  They have lots of stuff to look at and sell old fashioned penny candy (that cost more than a penny), vintage label soda pops, snacks and hand packed ice cream cones!

Of the half dozen or so peeps in the store only Eric and I were wearing masks.  Not the customers nor the owners.  We didn't linger.  Just took some fun photos of the interior.  Eric purchased a Chick o Stick and a Salted Caramel Root Beer!

I almost titled this blog post "Deja Vu" because of our return to the Dixie Country Store but we had bigger plans than just the store.  We were headed for Brice's Cross Roads Battlefields!  The Battle of Brice's Cross Roads took place on June 10, 1864 not far from Baldwyn, MS.  Brices Cross Roads

Brice's Cross Roads is an excellent example of winning the battle but losing the war.  Of course we're talking about the American Civil War.  We live in an area rich with history from that time period and we were both anxious to find out more.  Our scooters were the perfect vehicle to explore this area.  Tootling along MS Highway 370 west of Baldwyn, MS we found our first monument to the famous battle. 

Within a hundred yards or so was the next monument!

Another 100 yards or so was monument #3.

No auto tour # for this stop.  We called it Auto Tour Stop 3 1/2 😃

So far all the monuments and turnouts were on the right hand side.  Then about 20 yards from the last monument was a larger monument on the left!  Squee!  Sudden left turn up a gravel drive to view this monument.

This is one of the larger battle field areas.

Next, almost directly across the street was Auto Tour Stop #4.

Just a very short hop up the road led us to Auto Tour Stop #5.

At this point I was getting VERY warm.  No, that's putting it politely.  I was sweating like a hooker in church!  Toooooooo HOT.  All those quick little stops, off the scooter, take photos, back on scooter and move 100 yards if that and repeat.   The sky had cleared quite a bit and the temperature was now hovering around 80 degrees.  Dang, should have worn the mesh gear!

We reached the Cross Roads where there was a cemetery and a large pull out with several monuments.  This is where we decided to shuck the jackets and helmets, take a break and take a walk to explore the history and graveyard.  Auto Tour Stop #6.

This is the main monument just off the cemetery.

Confederate mass grave......

A beautiful place to learn some of our Country's history.  Well done monuments that bring the story to life.  Peaceful cemetery where so many rest who died June 10, 1864.

We considered doing the 8 mile loop and then the Tupelo sites but we were both hot and sweaty  and it was nearing 4:00 pm.

We decided to head home and will return to finish the tour someday soon.  Our ride home was pleasant on quiet Mississippi back roads with lots of things to gawk at.  No rain at all!  We ended up on the Natchez Trace, made a stop at the visitor center to get a map and then headed for the barn.

I'm so glad Eric nagged me to go scooter exploring.  It was an absolutely wonderful, fantastic, fun day riding and exploring.  It didn't rain, we didn't get wet and traffic was light.  So much fun!  I learned a lot of Mississippi history and Civil War history.

The scooters?  Well, let's just say they make riding fun again!  Gravel?  No problem.  Dirt? No problem.  Grass? No problem!  Scooters make touring like this easy, peasy and big time fun!  We rode about 70 miles today and had a ball!

Cheers, my friends.  Thank you for following along.

Cletha