ACTION, JACKSON

Hard rain last night with threat of hail, so we took the runner carpet from the rig and I climbed on the roof to lay it over our solar panel for protection.  It has a rubber bottom, so I faced that up to avoid soaking the carpet.  Hah.  Plenty of splash bounce from the roof managed to get most of it soaked.

Jackson is MS’s capital, so we first visited the Old Capitol Building, which now is a historical museum, the “new” capitol having replaced it in 1903.  This building dates from the early 1800’s, and its restoration was an enormous task, but carried out beautifully, from the gorgeous dome

to the legislative chambers, complete with mannequins and recordings of famous debates taken from the legislative records.  It was a nifty presentation.

From there we walked a few blocks through an absolutely dead downtown to the governor’s mansion, which is a hybrid.  The 19th century portion is immaculately restored and furnished with period pieces and is used for public functions.  Attached to the back is a modern townhouse which is where the gov and family live.  Seeing as how this was a slow, hot day in the middle of the week, we were the only visitors and got a private tour which was really interesting.  Docents really warm to the subject when you show more than a modicum of interest, and she did a great job, with stories about the rooms, former governors, etc.  I particularly liked the one about the gov that walked off with the mansion’s furniture, and didn’t return it until he got re-elected years later.  And then he sold it back!  Unfortunately, no pictures allowed, but she did snap us on the front steps.

Our AAA guide listed a couple of “Gem” (must-see’s) sites in Jackson, one being “The National Agricultural Aviation Museum,” and the other the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.  Fortunately, they’re located adjacent, as we were getting very hot and sweaty motoring around on the scoot with helmets.  Did I say they were having record heat/humidity just in our honor?  To be polite, I think AAA was stretching things a little with the Gem designations.  We enjoyed both, but we certainly wouldn’t advise making a special trip to see them. What they DID have was a ridiculously cheap and delicious cafe, which clearly was attracting locals rather than museum visitors.  Grilled Tilapia, corn bread, and sides.

 

The Ag museum was more Ag than aviation, but had some interesting displays.

 

I’m not quite sure what this had to do with either, but this incredibly detailed model train setup covered a lot of square feet:

The aviation portion consisted of a few crop dusters, a pilot mannequin that had fallen backwards eons ago and never righted, and not much else. 

Outside, there was the usual collection of old-time small-town buildings, including a pharmacy, which had a display of old vials, one of which tickled Loni’s blood-banker funnybone.  What the hell is . . .

The sports hall of fame was of interest principally to Mississippians, as it only featured displays relating to the state’s athletes and coaches, all the way down to the high school level.  Well, almost only.  Somehow, there is an entire floor upstairs devoted to Dizzy Dean, who wasn’t born here, never played here, and didn’t announce here.  What he DID do was marry a Mississippi woman, and die here.  So they got his memorabilia.  For me, the best thing was the collection of Olympic Games posters:

Today truly covered the sublime to the ridiculous.  It’s all good.