Vacation October 2014

Oct 15

We checked out Elvis's birth place and church (a tourist trap) and the hardware store and drive in that he frequented (these were Connie's agenda).

Elvis's birth place in Tupelo, MS(photo by Connie)

Then we headed down the Natchez Trace Parkway for Natchez. We didn't stop except for a bio break twice. We wanted to get to Natchez in time to do some touring. We did arrive about 2:30 and toured the Stanton hall.. It is an impressive place, built in 1851 I believe. It was home for years and then a girls finishing school. Eventually it was purchased by the Ladies Garden Club of Natchez and put on display. They have done a nice job of collecting period furnishings, much of them original.


After touring Stanton Hall, we went out to another mansion that is run by the National Park Service. We didn't tour the house but did walk quickly through the slave quarters and the the barn and carriage house. Then we headed back downtown to the William Johnson house. He was a freed slave that had a barber business and built a large house there in Natchez. He actually eventually owned slaves. I read about another case of that in the museum, so it wasn't unheard of.

Looking across the Mississippi river from Natchez:

Dinner at Roux 61, a restaurant south of Natchez on route 61, right on the way to Baton Rouge. We stayed overnight at the Homewood Suites in Baton Rouge.

The slave quarters at Melrose, a plantation owned by John McMurran. (Photo by Connie)

We did not tour the house at Melrose. It cost $10 each and we didn't have the much time. We wanted to get back downtown and see the William Johnson house.

After touring Natchez, we stopped at Roux 61 on route 61 headed South toward Baton Rouge. We had stopped at the carriage house at Devareaux, another plantation that is now like a country club. The carriage house is a swanky restaurant. We arrive at 5:30, fairly famished as we hadn't eaten any lunch, and we learned that they don't start serving until 6PM. We decided to find something else.