We leave W Memphis this morning for Natchez MS. It is a little cooler than it has been and very overcast. Rain is predicted. We have about 300 miles to drive today so not to bad. I had my back adjusted yesterday so am a little stiff this morning and not looking forward to spending long hours in the truck. Once on our way I feel a little better and the drive through Mississippi is beautiful. Mostly freeway so we can make good time. That is until we get to Jackson MS, there is an accident on the freeway and slows us up a little bit. We left this morning at 8:30 and finally arrived at the Plantation RV Park in Natchez MS around 4pm.
Not a bad park but it is mostly permanent residents. It is close to the highway so a lot of traffic noise during the day. We went to dinner at a place just down the street called Roux 61 Seafood and Grill. This is really a good find. The food was plentiful and very good. I had the jumbo shrimp and baked potato. When they say jumbo they mean jumbo and the baked potato was the biggest I have ever had at a restaurant. Joe had the hamburger which came on a jalapeno bun and has coleslaw on it. He was so happy when they actually cooked it med. This is something that rarely happens.
Now we are full and ready for a quite night. Tomorrow we will be touring some of the antebellum mansions.
Wednesday
I am looking forward to touring these mansions. I have always wanted to go into one. Our first stop is at the visitor center to see which ones are available for tours today. We bought the package of three tours. First we go to see the Melrose Plantation. It was built in the 1840's. They are in the process of restoring the outside to it's original state. This is a beautiful place. At one point it was occupied by the Union soldiers. Most of the furnishing are original to the house.
The picture on the right has a great couch pre-movie seating couch. The beds in this house are quite unique as the one shows on the left.
The next plantation we went to was called Stanton Hall and was built in 1857 and owned by Frederick Stanton who was a multi-millionaire. He owned three or four other plantations besides this one. He made his money in cotton as most did in this area. Natchez had more millionaire's than any other place in the country. All made rich off of cotton.
Mr Stanton spared no expense in building his dream house. If he wanted it the builders did it. It has 17 ft ceilings and magnificent gas a leers, (not sure of the spelling). These were gas operated lights, and of course Mr Stanton owned the gas company. The front parlor and the back parlor to together measures 72 feet long. Quite impressive. For all his wealth he made this a very impressive home.
They also have a restaurant on the property and we had lunch there. It is called the Carriage House, and we had lunch in the Queen Ann house attached to it. The food was very good.
The last plantation we visited was my favorite one. It is called Longwood. It was built from 1860-1861 and was never finished. It is six stories high and octagonal in shape it had 32 rooms. The basement and second floors were 10,000 sq ft each. The first year and a half were spent on building the structure. They had to make and fire all the bricks for this house on property. Once the outside structure was completed and inside walls were up they started the arduous task of plastering and painting. They started with the basement and by the time they were about done the civil war broke out and building stopped. The workers put down their tools and said sorry but we have to leave and go back to PA and our families. So Haller Nutt and his wife, Julia and their eight children moved into the basement. This is where they lived out their lives and then other members of the family took it over and finally and it was owned by the family until 1968. It was never completed as no one had the money to complete it after the war. The Nutt's lost all of their money at that time, as did most of the other plantation owners of this area.
These are pictures of the unfinished 2nd floor. We couldn't take pic of the 1st floor. Notice the one below that shows it open all the way to the top of the observation room.
It is now 3 pm and I am on historical overload so Joe takes be back home then he went to explore a little more.
I am looking forward to going to New Orleans tomorrow!
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