Natchez Trace

Leaving Montgomery, we thought we could make it to Jackson on Saturday, but we were pretty tired by the time we got to Meridian. We stopped there and armed with a coupon, we found an inexpensive, but very nice and clean room at the Quality Inn. Travel tip: always stop at the welcome center and look for the hotel coupon books—they really can save you money!

Venturing into downtown Meridian, we stumble upon the Weidmann Restaurant, a local eatery since the 19^th century.  We split a delicious catfish meal and black bottom pie, local specialties.  The proprietor stopped by our table, and we had a nice conversation about his life in New Orleans before Katrina, and how he and his family now enjoy life in Meridian. Many evacuees have returned to New Orleans, but others have made new lives elsewhere and will never go back.

Next morning after one of the best omelets we’ve ever eaten (included with the room and made on the spot by a woman who gets a call from a Japanese business man each time he comes to the U.S. to be sure she is working) and a refreshing morning swim, we headed for Natchez, MI. We called ahead to a B&B,  The Wensel House, and the owner, Mimi Miller, suggested we drive part of the Natchez Trace Parkway (kind of a lowland Blue Ridge Parkway— also constructed by the CCC). 

It follows the path taken by native Americans and later Mississippi river boatmen who floated supplies down river and rode back north on the trail to “Kaintuck.”  After a little over an hour and a half on I-20, we were happy to exit onto the Trace--our near 100 mile trip was really pleasant, passing mostly through wooded glens and pastures.  We stopped at Emerald Mound, the second largest Indian Mound in the US, and a small historical exhibition about the original Trace, which was first laid out during the first decade of the 19th century and connected Nashville (and eventually Washington, DC) to Natchez.

The Wensel House was perfect for us--a restored 1888 Victorian with just three bedrooms. Nicely appointed with period furniture, it is not too stuffy or over decorated.  Our hostes was welcoming and full of good information (she and her husband are art historians and historic home restorers).  She sent us to the river front and the Magnolia Grill, and told us we had to get the fried green tomatoes with crawfish remoulade--perhaps one of the best dishes we have ever eaten.  

We stayed two nights in Natchez, spending a full day touring antebellum homes.  Natchez saw little fighting in the Civil War, and when Vicksburg fell in 1863, Natchez’s cotton merchant elite decided it was much better to preserve what they could and the city surrendered without any resistance.  Thus more than forty pre-Civil War homes were spared. We toured Longwood (pictured in our first blog and, to this day, only the ground floor having been completed—very interesting to go upstairs and see the internal structure of what was to have been a 35,000 square foot mansion), Melrose, Stanton and Rosalie. They were all impressive although Melrose and Longwood were our favorites. Melrose is now a part of the Natchez National Historic Park, and the National Parks Rangers provide an outstanding tour.

Touring these wonderful homes, I am glad that they have remained intact over the years for us to see and enjoy, but we were somewhat troubled by the emphasis on the rich people who built and lived in these homes, and the failure to truly acknowledge the horror of slavery. Whenever we tour an antebellum home or plantation, we always see it through the prism of what we learned at Somerset Place, a restored plantation in Eastern NC, which conducts tours from the perspective of the enslaved people.  The life of enslaved people was truly awful-- something that none of us living today can possibly imagine.

We truly enjoyed our time in Natchez and would highly recommend it as a get-away destination, particularly in the spring when they feature “Garden Pilgrimage” when many homes are open and hosts dress in Civil War period costumes to welcome guests. It must be amazing since the few homes we saw were spectacular.