Natchez, Mississippi

November 15
Antebellum homes are magnificent.  We visited 4 today.  The mansions were built by wealthy landowners during the mid 1800’s.  Many had made their money from owning cotton plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana.  Cotton was the crop that was so plentiful in this area that only 30% of the cotton could be sent to the north for production.  The other 70% was sent to Europe make fancy garments for the wealthy in England and throughout Europe.  Cotton was “king” and became known as “white gold”.  Slavery, of course was the reason cotton could be so plentiful.  Although the soil was conducive to cotton growing, the slaves made it happen.  The money continued to flow into the south and the plantation owners grew exceedingly wealthy building homes to show it off and their social stature. Because of the cash crop that grew here, Natchez became one of the wealthiest cities in America just prior to the war. (Civil War, War Between the States, The War of Northern Agression).

Each home, of course had slave quarters that were located near the “big house”.  Each slave had a different chore to do at the home.  Some worked in the kitchen, others were house cleaners, still others worked caring for the animals.  They were at the beckon call of their owners everyday anytime of day.  We have visited plantation homes elsewhere and each time we see the slave quarters it is such a vivid reminder of how poorly the slaves were treated. The photos of beaten slaves that were posted in the slave quarters was to say the least a disturbing reminder of the horrors of the time.

The Mississippi River flows by Natchez giving it a wonderfully pleasant ambience.  The word Mississippi means “Father Waters” taken from a Native American language.  I grew up in St. Louis, about 4 hours north of here.  Watching the barges move freight up and down the river brought back pleasant childhood memories of growing up on the banks of this mighty muddy river.

Mark and I had lunch today in a small restaurant in an area that used to be called Natchez underground.  He had a delicious gumbo and  fried oysters.  I had fried oysters also.  I love fried oysters and these were prepared perfectly. Our waitress said her name.  It sounded like Liam with a K instead of an L.  Then I looked at the spelling of her name: KIM.  Some accents are really hard to hear!

In an earlier post I commented on how we are continuously making space in the van a priority for convenience.  Mark had bought a very soft dog bed for Jack before we left.  Every time we needed something anywhere in the van, we needed to move the bed.  Jack did not seem to be using the bed as  we drove around so today we gave it to a dog shelter.  Jack doesn’t seem bothered and we have significantly more room.  Who knows what will be gone tomorrow!