On to Natchez and Vicksburg (March 30)

Our two-day impression of the plantation was that it was in generally good repair and quite habitable, but the owners were probably struggling to keep it up.  It was promising that this morning we saw painters and other contractors moving around the grounds.  We speculated that with the beginning of their busy season beginning Easter weekend, betterments were underway, the bills to be paid with money gained from greater occupancy.

By 10:00, we were headed to Natchez, Mississippi via (mostly) scenic Route 61.  Pam’s reading had suggested that we would have a busy day in historic Natchez.  Reality suggested Natchez had hired a great public relations firm. 

We drove into town missing the Visitors Center because we were looking right when we should have been looking left.  We found our way back to there to get some marginally helpful information.  Now we were ready to see all that Natchez had to offer. 

What better way to do so than in a horse-drawn carriage ride driven by an informative, affable and colorful character.  We parked – we waited – we were told “Oops, should have put up a sign”.  The carriages were all on a private tour for another hour.  We decided the best course of action was to have some lunch, then return. 

Pam had read that the waterfront had undergone a renaissance so we headed to the Under the Hill section of the city to find a charming café or some such venue where we could munch on our food while watching the mighty Mississippi majestically roll along majestically before us.  What we found were a couple of seedy-looking bars and a casino disguised as a steamboat.

We drove back up the hill to ferret out something more inviting.  Finding such a place to eat proved to be a bit of a challenge, but the reward was some truly great fried chicken served with southern hospitality at the Eola Hotel. 

Nourished, we were ready to have a mighty steed and eloquent guide transport us back in time 150 years to Natchez in its prime.  The steed’s name was Ben and our guide’s name Chris.  Along with six other time travelers, we embarked on the adventure, after a wheel change. 

Forty-five minutes later we were back at the starting point.  We had been so moved by what we had seen that we got in our car and left town, stopping on the way out to take one picture and walk inside a church that made it clear we were not really welcome, but please put some money in the donation box so the church could continue its work of discouraging visitors.

Too many people go to Natchez for it not to have something to offer that Pam & I missed, but we missed it.  Perhaps if we had gone on a garden tour...?

We drove to Vicksburg where we had booked the Centennial Suite at the Cedar Grove Mansion since the price had been quite reasonable.  The road we took to reach the mansion was a bit sketchy, but passing through the gate onto the grounds we found a proud albeit tired house of large proportions.  The inside of the main house was reasonably well maintained.  The long, narrow staircase suggested a problem with getting our bags to our room.  The good news was that we would not need to navigate that staircase.  We were in another building.  The bad news was that getting to our room in that other building required ascending two flights of narrow stairs.  The good news was that we were told someone would help us with our bags.  The bad news was that said person never materialized.   

We decided our best course of action was to reconnoiter the path to the room and the room itself, then decide how to deal with the luggage.  The stairs were structurally sound but in poor repair and desperately needed paint.  The deck in front of our door needed paint even more.  Contemplating the need to find alternate accommodations, we opened the door and were most pleasantly surprised.  The place was huge, with a full living room, a separate bedroom and a spacious bathroom.  We went back to the car, moved what we needed for the night into a small spare suitcase and settled into our digs, looking out over the trees and rooftops to the Mississippi River. 

Dinner was mediocre and the trip back to our room in the dark faintly disturbing, but once there we had a quiet night.