French Quarter. (Linda’s
favorite was the house in which
Tennessee Williams lived when he wrote A Streetcar
Named Desire.) We went past Jackson Square twice (once on the North side and once
on the South), through and the French Market. The French market took a long time, but it
turned out that I was the only one to spend money. For all her shopping, Linda is pretty
frugal. We went by Café du Monde, and got caught by some beignets calling out our names
(they are really good French pasteries, not unlike raised donuts, but not round). We walked
along the
Mississippi River Levee, through a shopping mall and around the Super Dome,
before going back to the French Quarter.
Following the volkswalk, we stayed at the Fritzel’s Bar (the start/finishing point) for a while and had a beer, then went back down into Jackson Park to take in the Louisiana History Museum. While we were there, we watched a wedding party go into the Cathedral next to the museum – the bride arrived in a beautiful, white Rolls Royce. After touring the museum to the point where our feet could no longer support us, we decided to look for someplace to eat. On the way out of the museum I asked a guard if he could suggest a good place where we could get a plate of gumbo. He almost led me to The Gumbo Shop, just around the corner from the museum. He did not steer us wrong – we had some really good food.
Just as we left the restaurant, the wedding party that had arrived in the Rolls, came by.
The bride and groom were in a horse carriage, followed by a small brass, jazz band, and then
the rest of the party marching up the street. It is what I had seen pictures of for
funerals, but this was for a wedding. It was fun to be there to watch.
From there we just went back to the car, back to the motel, and got a good nights sleep.
Bayou Country
On Sunday, we decided that other than trying each of the restaurants in New Orleans, we had probably taken care of what we wanted to see, so we headed out for the Bayou country, and New Iberia. We took some back roads (state highways rather than interstate highways or U.S. routes) and saw some beautiful country. It was only about 150 miles that we traveled, but it took us all day. We stopped for lunch at a promising looking restaurant (the Yellow Bowl) along the way, and wound up striking up a conversation with a local couple at the next table. They gave us some suggestions of what to see and added to our experience that Southern Hospitality is all that it is reputed to be. Everyone that we have encountered has been really friendly (with a minor exception of the manager of one of the RV camps that we stayed at in Alabama – he really didn’t want to be bothered by renting us a spot). You can’t ask for better people. Incidentally, the food was really good there, too. They had a buffet that included some great Cajun food and Linda got the bread pudding that she has been craving.
We continued our ride through the Bayou country up to New Iberia. From there we went
down to Avery Island to perform our homage to the Tabasco Company.
From Avery Island we went back to New Iberia and toured the
Not only
does the house contain the original furniture, but also has much of the paper work and
receipts for the items. (The mahogany dining room chairs cost $1 each when new.) It was a
very worthwhile tour.
Finally we found an RV camp, and decided to call it a day. Next we will head up to Natchez, Mississippi to continue the trip.
Natchez, MS
The primary reason that we went to Natchez was to see some of the many antebellum homes that exist there. In addition to the fact that there is a large collection of homes there, we are in the middle of the “Natchez Pilgrimage” – a three or four week period during which home tours are emphasized. What we didn’t realize was that the way the pilgrimage is organized works counter to what we wanted to do. Specifically, we wanted to pick out one or two of the homes, and tour them. Ordinarily we could have done that, but during the pilgrimage, specific tours or specific homes are offered each day, and that is what you can see. Each day, there is a morning tour of four homes and an evening tour of four homes. One can only by tickets to the tour, not individual homes. As a result, we could not see the homes that we had wanted
(like Stanton Hall) and we would have had to purchase expensive
tickets to see all four homes that we weren’t particularly interested in seeing.
A very helpful lady that we encountered at a restaurant where we had lunch (who was also a
member of the Pilgrimage Garden Club – the organization the founded the tours) told us
that there were some homes that were not on the tour. One, the
As in most of the houses that we have seen, there is always at least one feature that we
have never encountered before. At the Melrose House, this was a
The guide for that tour also explained why there are so many antebellum houses that still exist in Natchez. Apparently, Natchez is located high enough off the river so that it won’t flood, and at a location that makes for a good port for goods coming down from the north (both the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers). Because of this ideal situation, many Northerners settled here in the early 19th century in order to exploit the business potential. When the Civil War came, these people did not have as much Southern tradition as the plantation families that had been in the south for generations, and did not resist the Union armies. As a result, they were spared the destruction that occurred in other cities.
In addition to touring the home, we walked around the downtown area for a little while. Natchez is a very picturesque little town, but like much of Mississippi that is near the gulf or the river, it seems to depend on casino gambling for much of its livelihood. We knew we were in the south when we were grocery shopping. Linda encountered a jar of pickled pig’s lips. (We didn’t buy any.) In addition, shortly after that we went past a hand painted sign that advertised “Fresh Coon.” (We didn’t buy any of that, either.)
Since I complained so much about the weather earlier in this journal, I have to comment about it now. We have had a couple of days of near perfect weather. We have been experiencing highs in the high 60’s to mid 70’s, clear and sunny and with just a light breeze. All was not perfect, however, since we found the RV camp from hell. We wound up at a private RV camp just out of town, and, as far as I can figure, the owner runs a construction company and figured he could make a little extra money by setting up some RV sites on some extra land. The washrooms were as dirty as anything that we have seen, and it was noisy – especially in the morning when the construction equipment started moving around. We decided that from now on, when we stay at an RV camp that is not part of a chain (like KOA) we had better check the facilities before we commit to staying there.
Natchez Trace
From Natchez, our next goal was Memphis, but instead of just going up the river, we were advised to take the Natchez Parkway. This is a National Park highway that runs for 440 miles from Natchez, to the northeast, up to Nashville. It is the first time we have been exposed to this type of National Park, and we found it lovely. We took the first 260 miles, up to Tupelo, MS. There are no commercial vehicles allowed on the parkway, and the speed limit is 50 mph. As a result there is very little traffic.
During much of the trip, there were
no other cars in view. All along the Trace, there are interpretive materials that describe its
history.
The Natchez Trace started out as an Indian and hunting trail, but with the growth of trade
at Natchez, it became an important commercial trail.
Mount Locust Stand.
Other notables about the day were that the weather was still near ideal (although there was a slight, high overcast late in the day), as well as the bird songs, the trees, and the wildlife. One advantage of staying at a camp that we found unacceptable was that we got off to an early start. In the morning hours, it is hard to beat listening to the birds singing here in the south. There seems to be a much larger variety of birds than at home and their songs are much prettier. As the spring is developing, the trees are just beginning to bud out with the green leaves. In addition, we encountered many dogwood and redbud trees blooming along this corridor. Also, at one point, I almost hit a wild turkey that flew right in front of the car. That is the first time either of us has seen one.
