While we are working on lodging,I wanna throw a few itinerary thoughts out there.
As with our Chickamauga gathering last year,I am guessing that this year some folks won't be able to get to Vicksburg until sometime during the day Friday or Friday evening. I am inclined at the moment to schedule a Friday morning group tour for the early arrivers and leave Friday afternoon open for everyone to do there own thing. It worked out well last October. After our Friday morning Ringgold Gap tour,we disbursed and a group of us went to Resaca and others did other things. Friday afternoon would be a great time to make a run to Port Gibson,for those so inclined,to see Grand Gulf Military Park, Wintergreen Cemetery,the Windsor Ruins and even the Shaifer House for those feeling really adventurous. It will be kinda hard to work Port Gibson into a group tour imo.
My other thought is to focus on Raymond, Vicksburg NMP and maybe a couple of other places in Vicksburg on Saturday and Sunday morning. Champion Hill was a major battle in the Vicksburg campaign but most of the battlefield is on private property. There are some Champion Hill sites and markers that are not on private property,but they are kinda spread out as I recall and I recall a couple of them having a limited parking area. I can foresee the same logistical issues with a group tour of Champion Hill as with Port Gibson.
Somebody else suggested calling Vicksburg NMP to see what they might be able to do for us as a group. That is an idea and I haven't done that yet. Perhaps next week I will. The private tour of Champion Hill by Sid Champion is 4 hours long and normally is $100/person. Someone else suggested calling him and seeing if he could do a shorter version and maybe offer a per person discount as a group. That is an idea too but I couldn't even begin to give him a head count at this point. That is probably something members could do on their own on Friday afternoon,if so inclined.
Anyway...those are a few thoughts just to get the discussion started.