Tuesday in Memphis was not a nice day weatherwise and as Mud Island was closed until next Spring, we were at a bit of a loose end. Luckily (or may be not!), the lady at the visitor centre had told us about Tunica, about 30 miles south of Memphis where they have casinos. There are some strange laws here about gambling being all right as long as it is done on the water. The original casino boats were designed to carry passengers out into International waters where gambling was legal because it was out of the States jurisdiction. Now many casinos are converted river boats that never move or casinos that are built out into the river or the Gulf. Tunica is just on the Mississippi River. Unfortunately we lost!! So we returned to Memphis and spent a couple of hours bowling where Ant beat me 5 - 0 (and he wants me to point out that ALL his scores were over a 100, 2 at 151 and 152).

Leaving Memphis on Wednesday we headed south along the Blues highway to Vicksburg which was a stopping off point on route to Baton Rouge. Vicksburg was an important strategic port during the American Civil War and it's history is depicted in a series of riverfront murals. There are some fine examples of historic antebellum homes along the guided scenic drive we took and Vicksburg is also famous as the site where Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt refused to shoot a bear and gave rise to "Teddy's Bears". We spent the night at The Ameristar hotel and casino - another waterfront casino made to look like a riverboat!!

Today we left Vicksburg and joined the Natchez Trace Parkway just south of Vicksburg for a 40 mile stretch into Natchez itself. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a 444-mile drive through exceptional scenery and 10,000 years of North American history. Natchez is a 300 year old city full of beautifully preserved antebellum homes - it was once the richest city in the US and this is evident in the architecture. Unfortunately, as it is Thanksgiving holiday today there was nowhere open for us to visit.

We arrived in Baton Rouge with just enough time to take a walk around the State Capitol another fine example, this time of art deco, architecture.