16-Oversized Eating Utensils

Oak Alley was a very special plantation. Our paddle wheel tied up at the levee and we came down the gangway in awe! The most fantastic scene emerged with twelve Virginia Oaks on the right, twelve on the left. They stood as sentinels leading us up to the main house. It was breathtaking!
This is a Cajun plantation. Built below Baton Rouge, it's Catholic owners grew sugarcane. Above Baton Rouge, the Scottish Protestant owners grew cotton. Cajun owners were small, barely 5'4". Women were under 5'. But they had oversized eating utensils. That was how they announced their prosperity to the neighborhood.
I was intrigued by a mirror at one end of the parlor. It was a fish-eye, any seat in the room saw the entire room. It's name...the Chaperone Mirror!

15-Slave Culture

'Ask and you shall receive.' I was whining that the river plantations decided if they couldn't keep their slaves then they wouldn't keep slave history. Little did I suspect that Louisiana State University has a Rural Museum where they actively study slave culture. 
They have built a complete slave village from decaying slave quarters of surrounding plantations. It was rewarding to find our past venerated with such care!

14-Stairs of Drudgery

                                               

These are the back steps. For a hundred years there was no light in them. A hand rail wouldn't have helped because chamber pots and linens were so heavy they took both hands.

The gracious home is Rosedown Plantation of St. Francisville Parish, Louisiana. Built in the 1830's, it would have over 400 people...who weren't people. The plantation would accommodate the master, his wife and 11 children. Then there were 400 people...who weren't people.

In the 1950's, a decision was made. The slave quarters were torn down and bulldozed. These 400 people...who weren't people, now had no history. If these people, who aren't people and have no history, why should we give them a second thought

13-Chasm of Character!

Natchez-In 1861, a convention in Mississippi voted to secede from the Union. All the delegates from Natchez voted to stay with the Union.
In 1863, Grant had Vicksburg under siege 43 days. The city ran out of food. Dogs, cats, even rats were not safe. Gracious homes were torched by advancing Union armies. The hunger, the homelessness were a source of great pride for the citizens surviving the siege.
Down the river in Natchez, gracious living remained gracious. When Yankees arrived on the dock, they were met with hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. The Yankee general was provided a river front mansion. Only two homes were destroyed. The provisions and graciousness were a source of great pride for the citizens surviving the occupation.
Only 75 miles might separate the cities, but a very wide chasm of character!

12-The Very First 'Teddy' Bear

Vicksburg-This painting is almost accurate. Teddy Roosevelt came to Vicksburg in 1902 to shoot a bear and shore up his base. He hunted several days and found no bears. Finally his guide tracked a mangy old bear into the middle of a pond, called Teddy away from his lunch indicating it was the best he could do.
It was lucky day for the bear. Teddy was disgusted! He refused to shoot and went back to Washington empty handed. I don't know where the original of this painting is. It might be a composite from old pictures. I photographed it off the sea wall in Vicksburg.

11-That's 43 to 1!

This gator is the first thing to greet you as you enter the Magnolia Lounge on the Mississippi Queen. I came on board wearing a "Cal" cap. I found a gaggle of 43 Stanford alums boarding at the same time. 
43 to 1? Those are good odds! Go Bears!!