There is too much on my mind at this time to give into the temptation to not write. I've got a lot to write about. This might be a long post.
Let's start with day 39: Vicksburg
"See what a lot of land these fellows hold, of which Vicksburg is the key! The war can never be brought to a close until that key is in our pocket...We can take all the northern ports of the Confederacy, and they can defy us from Vicksburg."
Abraham Lincoln said those words about the city on the southern edge of the Mississippi during the Civil War. At the Vicksburg National Military Park I sat in on a twenty minute video explaining the history of the place. I was blown away at the immense significance it served during the war, but more so because I had no prior knowledge of it before my visit there.
Very briefly, after several direct assaults on the city-fortress that was Vicksburg, General Grant and his army suffered major casualties. Thereupon he engaged in a drawn out besiegement, blocking supplies, where he waited for Pemberton, the Confederate General defending the city, to surrender. The whole siege lasted from May 18, to July 4th. The year was 1863. Pemberton threw up a white flag on the fourth, ordered his soldiers to throw down their guns, and marched out of the city. This occurred the day after General Lee's defeat at Gettysburg. These two consecutive blows to the South was the pivotal turning point that gave the Union the advantage and ultimate victory over the Confederacy.
Out of it all I stand in awe at the sacrifices and true convictions held by both parties. It really was like a war amongst family. The Park itself is remarkable, unlike any other I have visited.
Day 40: Diamond Mine
I spent about four hours today digging and sifting through rocks and dirt hoping for the sparkle of a diamond to catch my eye!
The Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas is the only, open to the public Diamond Mine that allows its visitors to keep their finds.
Every year people find all sort of precious stones at this place, the most significant finds are memorialized by giant shovels that get placed in the area the gems were found. I varied my search pattern over the few hours I was there but I was only lucky enough to come away with several small pieces of quartz crystal, which is cool, but at the same time pretty common.
At the end of the day I asked the mineral inspector how often he sees visitors who find diamonds. Without even thinking he said "47 times." I don't recall exactly how long he said that he had been working there but it was less than a year.
It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience even though I didn't strike at rich. Moving on.
Myrtles Plantation Update
You remember how I said that I was investigating an oddity in a photo in my last post? Well, some things have come to light, and I am almost willing to admit that the most significant event of my trip has occurred.
Last night, I had been staring at this odd photo I took in the Myrtles Plantation home for what seemed like hours before I went to bed. I really can't say what was captured in the photo, but it gave me the impression that it was a white shawl of some kind with little tassels.
This impression caused me to recall an odd person that I saw in the main building of the Plantation while I was on the tour. Below I will give a detailed account of my experience in chronological order.
This is not intended to be written for entertainment. I know that I already gave an account of the Plantation but I feel like I need to write a more thorough account of it in light of recent events. What follows is a direct account of my experience.
I got to the Plantation Wednesday afternoon. I'm not exactly sure what time I took the tour but I think it was around 3pm. I, along with two others from Oregon were the only people on the tour. So it was me, two others, and the tour guide.
The tour guide was a very nice and knowledgable lady. She gathered us together and unlocked the door to the main building and let us in. She began telling us about the mirror, the staircase and the painting in the front room. She informed us that this was the only room that photographs were allowed. I started taking a lot of photos with my phone.
Eventually she opened up another room just at the foot of the staircase. She went in and so did the others but I stayed back for a moment and continued to take pictures of the previous room. While I was the only one still in the first room, I noticed an old lady, I'd say, in her sixties, wearing a white dress with a little white hat of some sort, standing near to the door that we originally came through to enter the building. She appeared to be trying to exit through the door but couldn't seem to get it open, as if she were locked inside. In her attempt to open the locked door she was making quite a racket. It was an audible noise heard by all four of us, the two Oregonians, myself, and the tour guide.
Strangely, I honestly thought that this must have been another tour guide or someone else that worked on the property so I didn't say anything. I looked away from her and entered the second room where I noticed that my tour guide had stopped talking. She had this odd look on her face and excused herself from the room for a moment. I knew it was because she was hearing the racket of the locked door trying to be opened. She passed me to go into the first room while I passed her on my way into the second room where the other two people were. She looked out toward where we had all just been, shrugged her shoulders, came back in and continued our tour without a word about it. I assumed that she saw the other tour guide.
After a few more moments she ushered us into the next room and eventually we finished the tour. She thanked us and wished us a good day. I thanked her in return and went to the visitor center where I purchased the pecan turtle truffle.
I then went to my car and left toward Vicksburg. Later that night, I, being somewhat astonished at how close I was to finishing my tour of the states decided that I could afford a hotel. I slept in a bed Wednesday night. Then the next day, a Thursday, which was day 39 I toured Vicksburg. Then I made my way toward the Diamond Park. I stopped at a rest stop to sleep. I started to do a more thorough review off photos of The plantation. This is where I really realized how odd this photo was that I have previously mentioned. And like I said it caused me to reflect on this white dressed woman. The next day I searched for diamonds, and upon finishing that,
I was overwhelmed the the desire to get to the bottom of this photo and the woman I saw.
I called The Myrtles Plantation. A girl answered and I began to inquire as to whether she really believed that the house was haunted. At this moment I hadn't let on to the fact that I had already toured the building. I did this to gauge the sincerity of her testimony of the hauntings. She was convincing. I believe that she is genuinely convinced of it. I then let on that I had toured the place two days prior and I was concerned about this lady that I had seen. I asked if there was an employee that fit her description. She said, "we absolutely do not have anyone walking around this area in a white dress." I asked if other people, visitors were allowed free access to the inside of the main building. She assured me that the building remained locked at all times. It was only when tours went through that they opened the doors, and not only that, but that after the groups were inside the building, they lock the doors behind us. It really was, supposedly, only the four of us inside the building the whole tour.
She then explained to me that the woman that I had described was Mary Catherine Cobb Stirling, the most reported ghost on the property.
She took my name and number, said that she would talk to her managers and review the security footage from that day. I plan on hearing back from her on the morrow. And I will offer an update as soon as anything new arises.
At this point I am faced with a very real conundrum. This was not a whisp, an orb, a flash of light, something in the corner of my eye or a dark shadowy figure, this was a person, clear as day, in the middle of the day, that I saw in front of me for several moments interacting with the real world around me, the locked door.
So, I have to decide whether or not this thing was a real, honest to goodness ghost, or be forced to conclude that the people running this plantation are sneakily sending old ladies running through the house to possibly frighten or heighten the experience for those wanting a show. Is it a real ghost, or am I being Scooby Doo'd?
The scientist in me out rightly assumes that it had to have been a real corporeal person. It was just too, for lack of better ways to put it, un-ghost like. If I didn't know any better I would have thought that it was my grandma just walking by.
But I already have a very vivid background with ghosts, one that I can't deny. This one though, if it really is, is the strangest one by far, by virtue of being the most normal looking ghost I have ever seen! I thought it was another tour guide for crying out loud!
I really am conflicted. I honestly believe that there is no purposeful deception going on at this Plantation. I think the images I saw must really have been the image of Mary Stirling the ghost. It is hard to reconcile. I am eagerly awaiting the call tomorrow to see what they have to say, along with and slightly on a different note, General Conference. Adieu.
