The Old Courthouse Museum

Hello Everyone! It’s been another amazing week on the road, dodging the rain, learning some history and thankfully catching some breaks in the weather to get some cool shots of some wonderful small towns as well. I’ve got a lot of photos that need to be edited and published, but I’ve really enjoyed taking them and am looking forward to getting to them ASAP. This week started in Vicksburg, took me down to the one-time State Capital of Natchez, up the Natchez Trace Parkway through Port Gibson to Jackson, east to Meridian, northwest to the Choctaw Indian Reservation and then due south to the coast here in Pascagoula. It’s been a busy week with lots of miles clocked, but I’ve seen some amazing places along the way. I want to give a big shout-out to one of my readers, Todd, who gave me a lot of suggestions for this week, all of which were spot-on. Thanks Todd!

Inside McRaven House

After I left y’all last week, I had a pretty quiet night there in Vicksburg. Thursday morning I woke up early and headed straight for the Old Courthouse Museum high above town. I had a nice chat with one of the men working there as I entered, and then had a great long wander through the collection. I realized at some point that I had been there before, but it’s been at least a decade. I really enjoyed it. There was a hammer made from the wreck of the Star of the West, some original Dix banknotes (Dix is 10 in French, and people used to say they had some “dixies”, which then offered up “Dixieland” and the rest is history), the tie Jefferson Davis wore at his inauguration, an original Teddy Bear presented to a local child by Theodore Roosevelt himself and so much more. The courtroom itself has been nicely preserved, and I loved the swivel seats for the jury – it was probably all the rage when they were installed in 1890.

After leaving the museum, I had a delicious lunch at Walnut Hills, a quaint little Southern restaurant a block or two from the museum. My fried chicken was really good, but I also enjoyed talking with Matthew, the bartender, and one of the owners who also stopped by for a chat. It was a really friendly place. I topped it off with a decadent slice of some kind of cake I’d never heard of but had pineapple and bananas baked into the batter and a delicious cream cheese icing. The cake cost almost as much as my lunch, but was well worth it.

St. Mary Basilica in Natchez

With a full belly, I wandered over to tour the McRaven House, one of many historic homes in Vicksburg which are open for tours. To be honest, I’ve seen a LOT of Antebellum homes in the last couple of years, but this one was different. It was built in three sections – one in 1797 in the pioneer style of the time, a second in 1836 in the Empire style and a third in 1849 in the Greek Revival style. What’s cool about it is that these were simply additions and the older sections were left pretty much as-is, giving a real look at three different styles from three very different time-periods in Vicksburg history. What’s more is that the house always seemed to be sold under difficult conditions so the furniture from several different families was there – I believe my guide told me that over 90% of the furnishings were original to the house. This was one of the cooler house tours I’ve done on this journey and I would definitely recommend it. The house is apparently one of the most haunted houses in Mississippi as well, if you are interested in the supernatural. It was built on an Indian burial ground, served as a field hospital during the Civil War, and has had several tenants die there under less than ideal circumstances, so there is plenty of ghastly history to make that true.

At that point it was time for me to get out of town. I headed on down highway 61 all the way to Natchez. When I arrived, I went to visit the William Johnson House, one of the National Park sites in Natchez. William Johnson was an interesting person who was born in slavery but died a free and fairly wealthy man. He also owned slaves of his own, which to me is fascinating from an historical perspective. Johnson left extensive journals, but didn’t delve into the issues of race or slavery much at all. It’s an interesting site and I probably spent an hour there reading about Johnson’s life. From there I headed over to see Texada, a building which served as Mississippi’s first State Capitol from 1817-1820. I wanted to get inside Texada, but it is interestingly privately owned and closed to the public. It’s still cool to see a piece of history like that, and it is very well preserved for its age.

Dusk in Natchez

From there I popped over to the library for a while to get some work done. Later, I went for a drink and some conversation at King’s Tavern, a building which dates back before the Revolution to 1769. It’s been many things since then including a private home for many years, but is today open again as a restaurant and bar. The bartender there, Ricky, is an interesting character and I enjoyed listening to his philosophy and stories as I sipped my bourbon by the open fireplace and enjoyed the warmth and historic charm of the tavern.

My plan was to leave town early on Friday, but I ended up spending more time than I had planned getting my work done in the morning and by the time I was ready to leave it was after 1. With all the things I wanted to see and do on the way between Natchez and Jackson, I decided to tuck into the library, get some work done, and then enjoy some of the sunny weather and plan on an early Saturday start instead. It was sunny but chilly, but I did enjoy a long walk along the bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Then I headed over to the Natchez Brewing Company for a beer and sat on their couch and read my book for a while. I went back to the river for sunset, and then back to King’s Tavern for dinner. I ended the evening with a nightcap at the Corner Bar, and then called it a night. One thing I really love about Natchez is that their Visitors’ Center is open to overnight parking, and has a nice big RV section for just that. I’m surprised more towns don’t adopt this strategy, as I think it’s a good one which will keep people around. I know they wouldn’t want to steal business from local RV parks, but a lot of places don’t have RV parks in the area.

The Ceremonial Mound on Top of Emerald Mound

Saturday morning I was up and off down the road. I made a quick stop at Walmart to pick up some silicon to seal my windows with as all this rain had them leaking. I knew more wet weather was on the way and wanted to give it a chance to set up while the sun was shining. Then I hopped on the Natchez Trace Parkway and off I sped. The Trace is such a great road and brings out everything I love about driving. A winding road through beautiful scenery with little to no traffic on it is definitely my kind of road. And since trucks aren’t allowed, the road itself is in way better conditions than most American roads these days, so it was smooth sailing for a change. I wound my way up that parkway with my windows open at a pleasant 55 mph.

I stopped off at the Emerald Mound, the second biggest Indian Mound in the country (the biggest is in Illinois). I’ve seen almost as many Indian Mounds on this journey as I have antebellum homes, but this one was definitely worth a stop. It was cool to be able to climb it and think how much work went into building it, one basket-full of dirt at a time. There isn’t much known about the Mississippian cultures that built these mounds a thousand years ago, but their construction shows a sense of permanence in their settlement. As opposed to a hunter/gatherer society, building something of that size and scale meant you planned on sticking around for a while. And the rain had left it so green. It was lovely.

Windsor Ruins

 Just up the road from Emerald Mound, I stopped off at Mount Locust, an historic inn which once served travelers on the Trace and is now preserved in its mid-1800s appearance (it was actually built around 1780). It was cool to wander around the old inn and think of all the travelers making their way up the trail and what a pleasant sight it must have been to see a light on up ahead. This site is now maintained by the National Park Service, and I thought it was a very cool stop.

From there, I headed on to the Windsor Ruins just outside of Port Gibson. The Windsor home was a grand one, with humongous columns with ornate cast iron caps and intricate balustrades. The home survived the Civil War only to burn in 1890. Today, only these columns and some of the balustrades remain. They are fenced off as the whole thing is apparently falling apart, but they are still fascinating and beautiful to see. They definitely reminded me of the old Sheldon Church ruins I saw down in South Carolina.

Old Trace Theater in Port Gibson

Just up the road from the Windsor Ruins is old Port Gibson, a town which General Ulysses S. Grant once called “too beautiful to burn”. There certainly are a number of beautiful old buildings and churches in town, and I spent the afternoon wandering around under sunny skies and taking some great photos. There doesn’t seem to be much going on around Port Gibson these days, especially on a Saturday afternoon, and I enjoyed having much of the town to myself.

Jumping back on the Trace, I made one more stop at the Sunken Trace, a portion of the old walking trail which looks pretty much like it would have two hundred years ago. The old Natchez Trace Trail was a walking trail after all, and led people from Natchez up to Nashville in a time before steam-power made the rivers two way streets. The walking trail, which followed even older Indian trails, took about a month to walk or slightly less if you had a horse to ride. I loved this small look at what the Trace must’ve been like in the good old days.

Mississippi State Capitol

As the daylight was starting to fade, I made a beeline on to Jackson. I knew the weather forecast was pretty grim for the coming days, so I wanted to get there before the sun disappeared so I could at least get some photos of the State Capitol Building. It was wonderful in the dusk light, and I had a good time photographing it. Hungry from a day of exploring the Trace, I had a good recommendation from my friend Tracy for a pizza joint called Sal & Mookies. I’ve got to say they make a pretty fantastic pizza, and I enjoyed half and kept the other half for the next day. After dinner I stopped at Hal & Mal’s for a little flamenco music performed by the incredibly talented Jackson Gypsies before calling it a night.

The Pearl River, which runs through Jackson, was flooding with all the rain we’ve been having, and I definitely made sure I stayed on high ground. The next day they started evacuating some of the low-lying neighborhoods, and sandbags went around the entrances to some of the buildings downtown. High and dry, I spent the day at the Two Museums (The Mississippi History Museum and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum) right there in the heart of downtown. Both are really excellent, and I was only sorry they were only open from 1-5 and closed on Monday as I could’ve spent a whole day in each. Sometimes you have to take what you can get, and I’m glad I had the chance to check them out. Both did a really good job with multi-media displays, and while there was plenty for a reader like me to read, it was great to see this aspect as well.

When I left the museums at 4:59, the weather that greeted me was beautiful. I wandered the streets downtown for the next hour before the sun set, and then had a small dinner and a quiet night. I think I was in bed by 9.

Downtown Meridian

Monday was Presidents Day, meaning most of what I would have liked to see and/or do in Jackson was closed, and with the rising waters I decided to get out of town. I boogied on down the highway to Meridian, a town I’ve been to a couple of times, but never really had the chance to photograph. It’s got some beautiful old buildings and some wonderful new ones as well. I got an unexpected break in the weather and really enjoyed walking the streets and shooting this historic rail town and the hometown of Jimmie Rodgers, the Father of Country Music. I was happy his hometown portrayed him as more of a blues-man, which he definitely was, although the fact that he was white has gotten him classified as country. When I’m giving music tours of the area, I tell people Jimmie Rodgers was Elvis 20 years before Elvis was born. After the sun went down, I stopped in for a wonderful meal at Weidman’s, one of my favorite restaurants in the country. Open since 1870, the food is always top-notch and I really like it there. I had a wonderful Redfish Hannah, and a slice of their famous Black-Bottom Pie for dessert.

Choctaw Cultural Center

Tuesday was going to be a busy day, so I got up and out as early as I could. It was a warm day so I enjoyed driving with my windows down and I even swapped out my jeans for shorts. I made my way up to Philadelphia, and then west along Route 16 to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ Reservation. While most probably come for the casinos, I came for the Chahta Immi Cultural Center and to learn more about the only Indian tribe recognized in the state. I was really glad I did, as this was a small but fascinating museum. There was a concise but thorough display on their tribe’s history, from their two different creation myths through pre-history and up to modern times. Their displays were well researched, and I really learned a lot. I know I’ve been doing some reading on one of their Chiefs, Pushmataha, who served under Andrew Jackson at the Battle of New Orleans. He died during a visit to my hometown of Washington D.C, and was buried with full military honors at Congressional Cemetery. Other displays at the center looked at traditional dress, music, dancing, cooking, arts and sports – including stickball, a fascinating sport which is a little like lacrosse and was often played historically to settle disputes. There were iPads set up around the room with some wonderful short videos to supplement the displays. I came away with a far better understanding of Choctaw culture and I was glad I backtracked north to visit – it was well worth the drive.

Smoot’s Grocery in Natchez

The weather was still fine when I left the Reservation, so even though I had only planned on making it to Hattiesburg last night, I put on a good podcast and came all the way to the coast at Pascagoula. The fog was pretty intense when I arrived, and it was starting to get dark. I pulled into the library which was open until 8 and got some work done. It was so warm last night I slept with my window open. Today I took a quick drive to the beach which is named after Pascagoula’s most famous native son - Jimmy Buffett. I enjoyed my coffee on the gulf and read a chapter from my book. It was a very enlightening chapter. I’m re-reading the book Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horowitz, which is excellent, and this chapter had him speaking with author and Greenville, Mississippi native Shelby Foote. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking and considering the South and the Confederacy during the two years I’ve been traveling intensely in this region, and Foote essentially echoed most of the conclusions I’ve come to on my own. It was enlightening. Feeling pretty good about that, I made my way back to the library to finish this post and edit some photos.

This week will be my last in Mississippi. It’s hard to believe it’s been a month already, but it has. It’s gone by really quickly and I think I could have spent at least twice that long exploring the Magnolia State. This week I’ll finish up my visit with a few days along the Gulf Coast and I’m hoping for at least a little sunshine as I go. I’ve been looking forward to a few days at the beach and I hope I’m not completely washed out. This weekend I’ll cross back into Louisiana so I can make it to hang out with my friends at Mardi Gras in New Orleans which is next Tuesday. I’m going to hole up in New Orleans for a few days, catch up with some people, eat some king’s cake, do some laundry and try and get caught up on all my photos. Then I’ll be heading across the Pelican State to start my exploration of the great state of Texas. When I catch up with y’all next week, I will definitely be in New Orleans, and I’m looking forward to it. I don’t know if I’ll get out and take any photos while I’m there, I may just try and rest up, but it’s a hard place to leave your camera in the bag. Either way, it’ll be great to be there as always. I hope y’all have a wonderful week wherever you are, a great Mardi Gras if you’re in the celebrating mood, and that the weather is warming up for you as much as it is here in the Deep South. Thanks, as always, for reading.

-Mike

Mississippi State Capitol at Night

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