Touring Natchez, MS 4/21/09

One thing we had to get used to was the humidity down south. What a difference from the dry air in Arizona! We worked up a sweat just getting in and out of the truck! Our first stop of the day was at “Forks in the Road”. This site was the second largest slave market in the Deep South during the early 1800s. Nothing remains from the market, but a historical marker is there, plus exhibits that describe how the market was run and how the slaves were paraded before the buyers. It was hard to read about how the blacks had been treated.

Next stop on the agenda was St. Mary’s Basilica, built in 1841. It is the oldest Catholic building still in use in the State of Mississippi.







Behind the church is Memorial Park, which has a lovely fountain in the center, grand old trees, and lots of park benches. I could see myself spending time there sitting on a park bench just daydreaming, or reading a book, with the gargling fountain as background music.



It was getting near lunch time, so we drove on over to the “Pig Out Inn”, a local restaurant that was advertised in a recent issue of Southern Living. I liked the eclectic atmosphere right off the bat when I saw the pig statue wearing cowboy boots out in front of the restaurant.



Inside they had a couple of kooky signs – one being, “What I love about the South”.





We munched down barbecue pork sandwiches with coleslaw right on the bun (of course), some chips, and pop. A nice touch was the squirt bottle with WARM barbecue sauce in it! Yumm!


There are many antebellum homes in the area which you can tour, for a price. I was happy just to snap pictures from the outside as we were passing by. Here are only a couple of homes. The first one is called Rosalie Mansion, which was built in 1820, and was used as Union Headquarters during the Civil War.




This is Magnolia Hall, built by Thomas Henderson in 1858. Mr. Henderson was a merchant, planter, and an elder in the First Presbyterian Church. It was one of the last mansions to have been built in the town of Natchez before the beginning of the Civil War. It did not escape that conflict - shelling by a Union gunboat damaged the home. In fact, a cannonball landed in the kitchen. Mr. Henderson had a stroke before the war ended and was confined to bed in the guest bedroom downstairs, where he eventually died. It is believed the home is haunted by Mr. Henderson, himself. I found out this information after we left the area, so this means when we travel back to Natchez that I'll just have to visit old Tom!



We also visited two other local churches. One was the First Presbyterian Church. The original Presbyterian church was built in 1815; the newer and larger church in 1828. The second floor of the church houses a photographic history of Natchez. It was like taking a step back in time.



The second church was the Trinity Episcopal Church built in 1822, making it the oldest Episcopal church building in the State of Mississippi. It has many stained glass windows inside, two of which have great significance, having been designed, fashioned and installed by Louis Tiffany. Here is one of the Tiffany windows, entitled, "Christ the good shepherd".




Next up was the William Johnson House. He became a freed slave when he was only 11 years old. He trained to become a barber from his brother-in-law. Once William completed his training, he bought his first barbershop in Natchez in 1830. Eventually he came to own and operate three barbershops and a bath house in the city. William kept diaries for over 16 years beginning in 1835 and ending with his death in 1851. These diaries tell what it was like to be a free person of color back in the time of slavery. This is where William lived in 1841, along with his wife, mother-in-law, 10 children, and some slaves. They all lived upstairs; downstairs was commercial space. The other half of the building he rented out.



Our final stop of the day was to see a restaurant that was talked about on Roadside America.com, called "Mammy's Cupboard". It definitely would catch your eye if you were driving by:



Yes, that's right. To enter the restaurant, there is a door in Mammy's skirt. The restaurant was closed at the time, but it was worth the short trip just for the photo opportunity!

Natchez Trace - A Glimpse 4/20/09

Camera? Check. Map? Check. Water? Check. We both were excited to start our trek on the Natchez Trace. We were keeping our fingers crossed so that no one would stop us because of the size of our truck.. If they did we were going to play dumb.

Imagine driving on a two lane road, maximum speed 50 mph, where no commercial vehicles were allowed. No billboards to distract you.




Just you, the road, the beautiful scenic view, and a wild turkey or two. Southerners call them chuck-a-lucks.



First thing I noticed was the quietness - we drove with our windows down and the radio off. We could hear the birds singing as we passed trees.


Our first stop on the Trace was at the 5.1 mile post - the Elizabeth Female Academy. It was founded in 1818 and was the first school for women to be chartered by the state of Mississippi. This was all that was left of the school.




Another stop was at the Mount Locust Inn and Plantation, which is one of the oldest structures still standing in an area known for historic homes. Mt. Locust's first owner was John Blommart in 1780. Blommart lost a rebellion against the Spanish, causing him to be jailed and thus forfeiting his fortune and Mt. Locust. William Ferguson and his wife Paulina bought the farm in 1784 and operated it until William's death in 1801. Paulina married James Chamberlain, an overseer for the farm, a short time later, and they continued to build the farm. Mt. Locust was home to five generations of Chamberlains, with the last leaving in 1944.



We only drove about 20 miles onto the Trace to get a taste of it. Nobody stopped us; heck we hardly passed anyone on the road! Tomorrow we would be pulling the trailer behind us and heading on our way.

We left the Trace and hunted around for a place to eat lunch. We decided on trying a place "Under the Hill", an area under the bluff right on the river, notorious back in the day for gambling, drinking, and wild women (sounds right up my alley!) But it's now respectable - although there is a gambling boat anchored there called, "The Isle of Capri" that was calling to me. Jim didn't seem to hear it, though. We ate at a decent establishment called the Magnolia Grill. I ate a delicious "Shrimp Po' Boy".



Very, very tasty. I think Jim had a plain old hamburger. Me - gotta have a feel for the area, ya know?

After lunch I had this bright idea to drive around the Natchez City Cemetery. I love old cemeteries, and this one was no different. It had many old graves, many from the Civil War. I loved the old wrought iron fences around the graves.






The cemetery was great - only problem was - it was not built for a big truck like ours to be driving around. There were a couple of places that were so tight that I didn't think we'd make the turn without taking something out. We had to pull our mirrors in a couple of times. Then we pulled into a dead end (no pun intended) and Jim had to back up. It was a little tense for awhile. I gave a big sigh of relief when we finally drove out of there!

One thing I noticed on the road driving to the cemetery was the "Speed Hump" sign. I thought this was hysterical. Doesn't it usually say, "Speed BUMP?" "Speed Hump". Is that southern talk for a "quickie?"

Visiting Vidalia, LA 4/19/09

Our next plan of action was to camp near the beginning of the Natchez Trace and gather all the information we needed about it, before starting out. The 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway, which runs from Natchez, MS to Nashville, TN, commemorates an ancient trail first used by animals and later Native Americans, early explorers, "Kaintuck" boatmen, post riders, and military men. Farmers would float their produce down the Mississippi River, sell their flatboats for lumber, then walk home via the Trace. Portions of the Trace later developed into county and postal roads.

Jim found this great campground situated right on the Mississippi River directly across from Natchez, MS. The river walk extended from in front of the campground to a couple of miles into town.








After we got the trailer all set up, Jim and I walked a little while on the river walk. It was a beautiful day. We saw mockingbirds, orioles, and even an energetic red-headed woodpecker trying to drill a hole through a metal street sign!






I enjoyed watching the tugboats pushing the barges down the river.

We gathered some info on the Trace from the campground and read in the small print that trucks over one ton were not allowed on the road, the same as commercial vehicles. No where did it say that on the web site. We were in a dilemma. Our truck weighs 1 1/2 tons but it's not commercial. We decided to drive a little bit on the Trace the next morning to give it a test drive and to see if anyone stopped us. If so, then we'd have to change our plans, but we were going to keep our fingers crossed that it would work out ok.

Rain, rain go away - Shreveport con't 4/17-18/09

Friday morning it just poured out. In the afternoon we drove out to R. W. Norton Art Gallery, another freebie. Luckily the rain had let up, and we were able to tour the beautiful gardens and walkways before the skies opened up again. Here are a few of the sights we saw there.












We toured the art gallery for over two hours! It was a very enjoyable way to spend a rainy afternoon.

We were supposed to leave in the morning, but heard there was going to be severe storms. So we arranged to stay put for another day, and left for the Natchez Trace on Sunday.

Shreveport, LA 4/15-16/09

We’ve never been to Louisiana, so I was really looking forward to spending some time in Shreveport. The campground was a fairly nice size, and we weren’t put off at all by the gator statue in front of the office! What you may not be able to see is that the sign reads, "Welcome friends"!




Each site had their own metal patio set consisting of a table and four chairs. That was a nice change from a picnic table! Of course, sometimes we don’t even get that! Our first day in Shreveport was spent getting a feel for the area, doing some research on things to do, and planning our next day.

Our first stop of the day was the Holy Trinity Catholic Church. You can see just how pretty it is from the outside. We were dismayed to find the church locked. That is such a rarity. We tried all the doors, but no luck. Finally Jim knocked on the office door and the janitor said he’d open the church up for us. We were able to see the main altar that was made of Italian marble and the more than 60 stained glass windows.



The city of Shreveport offers many free things to do. Riverview Park was our first destination in downtown Shreveport. This park is located on the banks of the Red River. It has several water fountains, a 300-foot-long floating boat dock, and a waterfall that cascades down multi-tiered rock steps.









Right next to the park is the Barnwell Garden and Art Center, which is also free. The current exhibition is called, “Simply Terry”, consisting of water colored paintings done by a woman named Terry Hershey, who died last September at the age of 101! All but a handful of her paintings were for sale. I fell in love with a few that I would have purchased in an instant if a) I had the money and b) I had a house to hang them!

We ate lunch at Ralph & Kacoo’s, on the recommendation of the woman from the art museum. I wanted to taste the local flavors. First we dined on fried green tomatoes, a Southern delicacy. They were good, although I’ve got to admit, I’d put near eat anything that was deep fried! The tomatoes are deep fried, then a little bit of a cream sauce is dribbled over them, with chunks of crab meat on top. Delish!



The main course …. Why crawfish of course! Never had them before, so I ordered the crawfish special which consisted of deep fried crawfish with fries AND crawfish etouffee over rice. Etoufee is a stew with crawfish, vegetables, and seasonings. The crawfish tasted like shrimp to me. Thankfully they were removed from their hard little red bodies before being deep fried. The etoufee wasn’t bad, had a little bit of a bite to it.




The dessert was decadent – caramel cheesecake with Godiva chocolate – to die for! Mmmmm…..




With full bellies, we drove around Bossier City which is located across the river from Shreveport. We were in search of some murals in the heart of the city. The most spectacular one is called Live Oak Avenue, a beautiful rendition of an actual place, Oak Alley Plantation.



The mural was located right next to the Bossier City Metal Art Zoo. This tiny little area features animals made from scrap metal and odds and ends, then painted with bright colors. Very eclectic!



We found the statue of Elvis on Elvis Presley Avenue in front of the Municipal Auditorium, where the King performed on the “Louisiana Hayride” (radio broadcast) for the first time in October 1954.





Heading back to the campground, we sat outside on our nice patio set in the cool breeze enjoying a cold one!

Sanger, TX or should I say "Singer,"? 4/14/09

Our favorite saying is, "Wherever you go....there you are!" No, actually, no matter where you go, you find something interesting. At least we do.

We were just staying the night in Sanger, TX. The campground was off of a country road in the small town, population just under 6,000. The campground was quite nice, set far back from the road with large spots to park.


The owner told us about a famous restaurant in town called, "Babe's" that served great chicken and chicken fried steak. He added that people came from all over to eat there because the food was so good and the waitresses sang to you. Well, this sounded better and better by the moment.

He said that there was a casino about 20 miles down the road. My eyes really lit up! Jim has to keep a rein on me because I could easily be a member of Gamblers Anonymous! But sometimes Jim's leash is like one of those choke collars you see on vicious dogs! I swear! What's $20 on the penny or nickel machine every now and then? And how can my ship come in if I'm never in the water? But I digress.


We decided to go to Babe's for dinner. The campground owner acted like we should be there when it opened (4:30)because of the crowds. Are we turning into old people or what?! I guess a Tuesday night is really not swinging, as there was just a handful of people there at that time.

There were a couple of gift shops next door to the restaurant, but I didn't go inside of them. They looked interesting from the outside, though.










I was so excited to hear our waitress sing! I asked her what she was going to sing and she explained that she was not one of the waitresses to sing. As a matter of fact, none of the singing waitresses were there yet. It seems the waitresses sang more on the weekends. Too bad!



The way Babe's works is this: they don't have menus but offer five kinds of entrees: fried chicken, chicken fried steak, chicken strips, catfish, and some kind of beef. Then they serve you family style mashed potatoes, gravy, creamed corn, green beans, and biscuits. Jim had the chicken fried steak and I had the fried chicken. Both were excellent. They have four different kinds of dessert and we had the chocolate pie. Again a wise choice. Yumm!



We didn't make it to a casino :( I ended up putting my quarters into a washing machine instead of a slot machine. What's wrong with that?! Yep - we sat there doing laundry at the campground that night. While the clothes were in the dryer, I walked down to see the horse that was fenced in down the hill. He was dirty, but curious about me. He would eat the grass from my hand, but wouldn't let me pet him. When I leaned over to pull the tall grass, he nuzzled my hair.




Just another day in middle America.