Each few steps that I took while running in the Vicksburg National Cemetery over the weekend were met with a historic marker, conveying information about the act protecting national cemeteries or the number of unknown soldiers interred there.

After meeting the park superintendent and hearing him speak about the cemetery on one of my first few days here at The Post, I knew I needed to do some exploring on my first free weekend.

Needless to say, I didn’t make great time running around the cemetery over Memorial Day. Between the information there ready for the reading and the sheer beauty of the American flags dotting the grounds, 15 steps was about the most I took before stopping.

My experience in the national cemetery perfectly describes my time in Vicksburg so far.

Driving is a challenge not only because I’m unfamiliar with how to get anywhere besides Wal-Mart and Home Depot, which I have visited multiple times a day since my move, but because I pass so many historic, beautiful places while driving pretty much anywhere.

I catch myself staring at a turn-of-the-century home while braking at a red light and then pulling myself out of a reverie about all that the house has seen just in time to not get awoken by honking cars behind me. Occasionally, I’m a little late on the draw, so if you have experienced that while driving recently, it could have been me. I’m sorry, and I’m trying to work on it. Thank you for not honking.

I keep thinking that as my navigational skills around my new home improve — yes, they are slowly — the likelihood that I get sidetracked while driving around town will decrease. So far that hasn’t proven true.

But I’m happy about that. Why try to limit all I have left to explore?

My father drove over from Alabama to help me fix my stubborn washer machine this weekend (it was replaced at one of my many trips to Home Depot), and he was also in awe.

“Well, Sarah, you could have done a lot worse,” he said, while eating chicken and waffles at 10 South. “This is the best meal I’ve eaten in years, and you can’t beat the view.”

As a history fanatic, he too was in awe of the “texture” of this town.

It took me a second to grasp what he meant by texture, but after looking at the rooftops of downtown for a few seconds, I understood.

This is the place that was the center of a week of discussion in my history classes in high school and college. This is the place that will require months to adjust to its beauty. This place has texture, and it’s my new home.

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Sarah Mahan is a staff writer for The Vicksburg Post. Email comments to sarah.mahan@vicksburgpost.com.