Mississippi - State #41

We left New Orleans several hours later than planned and missed our Plantation Tour across the river, so we decided to spend the night in Natchez, MS. I asked the girl at the Visitor's Center if there were any Bed & Breakfasts that allowed children, and sure enough, she found us one downtown. That done, we hustled off to catch the day's final tour of

Longwood House -- a supposedly more interesting Antebellum Home tour for the kids.

This was the best introduction to the Southern way of life, and I'm so grateful to the woman who directed us here. The 97-acre estate has sprawling lawns with mature oak and cypress trees where the kids burned off some energy, and the enormous octagonal house is something words cannot adequately describe.

Julia Nutt and her husband had the enormous home built (30,000 square feet) but he died after only the basement was finished. We got to tour the unfinished upstairs which was truly remarkable.

The grandiose ceilings and French doors opening onto the balconies brought an incredible breeze through the house and the architectural plans on display so we could clearly envision what "should have been". Where the kids are standing, for example, would have been a grand staircase leading to the patio within with circle of trees. Think of some Southern Belle's first kiss.

Julia continued to live in the basement of her mansion, which was only 10,000 square feet, with high ceilings and full windows by our standards, raising 8 children alone. I asked if others in High Society looked down on her for living in a basement and the guide said she was actually considered lucky to have a house at all. When husbands were killed in the Civil War, many wives were ironically forced to earn money through their labors: doing laundry for the soldiers or baking and selling pies to the infantry.

Little Man thought it was such a clever design to only have 4 chimneys when there were 26 fireplaces in the house but he was truly delighted when he saw Julia's "evening commode." This consisted of a lovely upholstered chair that when the bottom cushion was lifted, a hole was presented directly over a nice-sized porcelain bowl! He wanted to know if they ever emptied that bowl?!

Peanut was far more interested in why there were only paintings of white people on the walls. (This terminology of "white and black" is brand spankin' new with our entry into the Deep South.) "Did the white people not like them?" she asked. The guide eventually directed us to the dining room and to Frederick, one of only two slave paintings in all of Mississippi! Julia Nutt insisted he be painted along with the rest of the family, and legend has it that after Mr. Nutt died, he stuck around and helped her raise the kids, too. We were listening to the guide talk about Frederick when Peanut whispered to me, "How come all the white people look so pretty and happy and the black guy looks so tired and sad?"