JP Coleman Mississippi State Park

JP Coleman is another nice somewhat remote State Park. It is located on Pickwick Lake in the very top northeast corner of Mississippi. In the distance up the lake, you can see Tennessee , and just on the other side of the peninsula across the lake from our campsite is Alabama.

Our campsite was right on the edge of the lake with a pretty view. Campsites along the lake are fairly close together but we had plenty of room.

We enjoy State Parks especially ones like this with full hook-ups. They usually provide plenty of areas to walk our dog Clay. (We often tell people now that our main purpose in life is to chauffeur Clay around the country so he can sniff every tree and bush in the land.) We stopped here because the online reviews sounded good, and also because I wanted to visit Shiloh Battlefield National Park.

When I was a young boy, perhaps 5-7 years old, we went on a long car trip with my Mother, Sister, an Aunt and my Grandmother Rone. I only remember bits and pieces of the trip, but I think it had a great influence on my interest in travel and in history. The trip certainly expanded my horizon beyond the areas where my family lived in Mississippi. I recall we visited Shiloh, Andrew Jackson’s home in Nashville, Mammoth Cave, Renfro Valley Kentucky, and I think Henry Clay’s home.

I would like to visit these places again as we travel in the RV. We have already been to Renfro Valley, but that was not a planned visit. Last year we had yet another repair on our former motorhome at a truck repair shop in nearby Berea, Kentucky. While waiting on the repair, we drove to Renfro Valley and found that the small log cabins still remained where we stayed at the Renfro Valley Motel. My Grandmother loved to listen to the weekly radio show from Renfro Valley. As much as I can remember, it was a combination of Blue Grass and Gospel music. She was thrilled to attend the live broadcast one Saturday night on our trip. Renfro Valley still contains a big Blue Grass entertainment facility.

So having been to Renfro Valley, I wanted to go to Shiloh. It is a beautiful place, and it is hard to realize that a bloody battle occurred here in the Civil War. Almost 24,000 men were listed as killed, wounded or missing - more than all prior US wars up to that point. It is sad to realize it only got worse from there. It ultimately was listed as the 9th costliest battle of the Civil War. So other battles had even more casualties. But today Shiloh is a place of quiet peace and beauty.

From 04-2008 JP Coleman SP Mississippi and Shiloh

From JP Coleman, we headed on to Huntsville, Alabama.