Vicksburg, Mississippi-----the old South

Today was a wonderful, wonderful day of enjoying the deep south with its antebellum mansions and on a more serious note, learning more about the Civil War. This a.m. we toured several antebellum mansions in Natchez that are only open twice a year… very special…..One was absolutely amazing…..not only for its history, but also the effort that went into building it, and then too the effort that has gone into renovating it. The grounds were beautiful…. much like those in “ Gone With the Wind. “ Originally this plantation had 20,000 acres…but over the years land has been sold off, so now they have 48 acres……. all still beautiful with a lake, garden area and many many huge trees. The house had to basically be rebuilt including about 36 huge columns and a big wrap-around porch as well as a double-portico front. The rooms indoors were exquisitely filled with Waterford chandeliers and beautiful antiques.

One of the docents explained to us the difference between a porch and a veranda……. If you go out and have a cup of coffee, it’s a porch ……if you go out and have a mint julep, it’s a veranda. …..and if you don’t go out and have anything, it is a shame.

Speaking of which, I had my very first mint julep when we dined out tonight in yet another antebellum mansion here in Vicksburg. This house had been used as a hospital for the Union soldiers during the war. Today it still has a cannonball stuck in the wall of the parlor. In the 1840’s, the house was a gift to a young bride on her wedding day from her wealthy husband. They then spent the whole first year of their marriage touring Europe looking for furniture for it. Different lives.

This afternoon we toured the military park at Vicksburg, watched a movie explaining how critical this town was to the Civil War because of its position on the Mississippi river, and viewed the cemetery with about 30,000 graves (marked and unmarked) of Civil War soldiers. The military park itself was huge…..driving around ½ of it took us more than an hour. With its rolling hills, ravines, and dense growth of trees/plants…..not to mention the heat and humidity…….we could see how difficult the fighting was.