Natchitoches

Due west of Vicksburg, across the Mississippi, on the banks of the Cane River is the picturesque little town of Natchitoches (pronounced /'NAK-e-tesh), Louisiana.  The setting for the movie Steel Magnolia's, Natchitoches is one of the oldest permanent settlements in the Louisiana Purchase - dating back to 1714.

My arrival in Natchitoches was first met with frustration as there appeared to be no available tent camping.

However, having been in that position before, I stopped at a service station and asked a patron if he would be able to help me.  Not only did be oblige, but he led me down the road
to a nearby RV Park on the shore of Sibley Lake where his friend not only offered me a campsite, but a plate of rice and catfish as well - Gotta Love that Southern Hospitality.

The Cane River runs adjacent to Main Street in the old Historic District of
Natchitoches and provides the backdrop for the towns idyllic setting and attracts scores of week-end travelers.

Natchitoches is site of three historic plantations: the Oakland Plantation, Melrose Plantation and Magnolia Plantation.  All three are located over ten mile stretch of highway 437, beginning about eleven miles south of Natchitoches along the Cane River.

Following along the plantation route I was only able to visit the Oakland Plantation and the Melrose Plantation before running out time; the Magnolia Plantation will have to wait for another day.  

All three of the plantations have there own unique place in the history of the Cane River, but none more interesting than Melrose Plantation.

The oldest of the three plantations, the Yucca Plantation (as it was first known) was built by Louis Métoyer the son of Claude Thomas Pierre Métoyer and Marie Thereze Coincoin.

Marie Thereze Coincoin was a former slave who for nineteen years lived with a wealthy merchant, Claude Thomas Pierre Métoyer and bore him ten children before he bought for her the gift of freedom.

Original leased as a concubine, Marie Thereze remained in consenting liaison for ten years after he bought her freedom.  The relationship only ended when it was forcibly terminated by the church.

When Claude Thomas Pierre Métoyer bought Marie Thereze her freedom, he also gave to her 68 acres of land and paid her an annual allowance.  From this, relatively, humble beginning Marie Therese built estate of some 12,000 acres became a woman of considerable wealth and bought the freedom of all of her children.  In fact, the Métoyer went on to become one of the wealthiest families of color in the nation.

Despite her success she remained a frugal woman and, therefore, we owe the existence of Melrose Plantation to her son Louis Métoyer, who acquired the property in 1796, built first the Yucca House and later (in 1833) the Melrose.

The Wonders of Vicksburg

Vicksburg, Mississippi was not what I had expected; I had eagerly anticipated visiting that great battlefield of the Civil War, but came away from Vicksburg with memories of - coca-Cola, Riverfront Murals, the Old Courthouse Museum and the Duff Green Mansion - and yes, the Vicksburg Battlefield.

The Vicksburg National Military Park is a sprawling 117 acres of pristine park.  A 16 mile tour road that meanders through an area lined with more than 1,340 (sometimes spectacular - an in the domed Illinois Memorial) monuments that honor the various regiments and leaders of both the Union and Confederate armies.  Battlefield placards identify particular regiments, infantry and artillery.  Cannons are displayed along the battle lines of both the Confederate and Union armies and the true  aficionado  can read accounts of each battle scene or encampment.

For 48 days, Union soldiers laid siege upon the city of Vicksburg, but never succeeded in breaching the city itself (which was a veritable fortress); a testament to the resolve of the Confederacy.  In the end, broken by the many days of the long siege, with the townspeople facing starvation and seeing no end in sight - on July the 4th of 1863, General John C. Pemberton surrendered Vicksburg to Major General Grant, and from this day forward was labeled as a Confederate traitor.

In addition to the battlefield monuments and the Vicksburg National Cemetery (where 17,077 Union and Confederate soldiers are laid to rest), the ironclad gunboat Cairo is housed at the museum which bears its name on the grounds of the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Not to be missed by anyone visiting the park, the gunboat USS Cairo was salvaged from the depths of the Yazoo River in 1965.

In 1863 while attempting to clear mines from the Yazoo River the Cairo itself became a victim of a mine and sunk in less than 12 minutes.

Today the Cairo holds its place in history owing to that Confederate triumph, and became the first warship in history sunk by an electronically detonated mine.

Not a particularly large city (population: 26,407), Vicksburg, nonetheless, has a lot to offer beyond the mandatory battlefield.  I was surprised to learn that Vicksburg is where the bottling of Coca-Cola began.

Candy maker Joseph A. Biedenharn took note of the brisk sales fountain Coca-Cola and began to bottle Coca-Cola in 1894.  Unfortunately, he never secured the bottling rights which went to two Chattanooga entrepreneurial attorneys for the sum of (yes) - One Dollar.

Today you can tour Biedenharn's small candy store museum and learn how Coca-Cola was originally bottled and distributed; a short, but interesting tour.


Within walking distance of the Coca-Cola Museum, a must see, the Riverfront Murals a fantastic wall display of 32 individual murals painted depicting Vicksburg's history (including Theodore Roosevelt's refusal to shoot the tied-up - "Teddy Bear").  The 12 x 20 foot murals are the brain-child of Robert Dafford who oversees all the murals painted by the various artists (check out the link to see them all).


Before finishing my two days in Vicksburg a tour was made of the Old Courthouse Museum and the Duff Green (just one of a host of mansion tours available in Vicksburg).

Were it devoid of any museum artifacts the Old Courthouse Museum would still be worth the walk through.  The entire top floor, where the original courtroom remains intact, would appear to be the perfect setting for the - "Scopes Monkey Trial."

Making Amends in Lake Charles

For the first two weeks after leaving Michigan, I had the pleasure of staying with Bernie and Carrie while exploring New Orleans with their home serving as my outpost (many thanks, Bernie and Carrie).  Now, however, I'm on my own.

Life on the road is not a discomfort (most of the time) save the task of finding a campground; but, that too, should be less of a burden than I make it.  If more time were spent planning my direction and searching (via the internet) for campgrounds along the way, my burden would be substantially reduced.

My tent is much larger than needed, but it is what I had, is lightweight, packs compactly and is a breeze to erect - so why change?  Since most campgrounds have laundry facilities, that too is not big a problem.  Laundry time is blogging time.

Sleeping on the ground without an air mattress (too much trouble), as has been said before, is no discomfort at all; and rolling up and packing the sleeping bag is (almost) as easy as making one's bed.

The one comfort that is most regrettable is not having the ability to prepare my own meals.  That too, may be possible with a little more planning, but it's hard to imagine just how this can be done.  There is just not room for packing food and cooking utensils (however small).  

A week after leaving Mandeville and I've have thus far traveled through Natchez and Vicksburg, Mississippi, Natchitoches, Lafayette and finally to Lake Charles, Louisiana where the night was spent at the beautiful Sam Houston Jones State Park.

The question is - Am I going to fast or too slow?  The sense is that, most likely, the pace is to fast; but it's hard to convince myself to - Slow Down!

After leaving Mandeville (north of New Orleans) their is still the lingering feeling that after two weeks, justice has  still not been done to the New Orleans area.  It's too late now, the solution is to correct my errant ways and do better in the future.  The real problem is - what has been for me, an ongoing problem - keeping abreast of my blog.  Thus far, it seems to have been impossible to force myself to finish the blog before leaving the area.

It is the definition of insanity - repeating the same mistake and expecting a different result.  I keep leaving the area before the job is done and expect that it will not be a problem.

In the past there was justification for not staying in the area and finishing the blog before going on to the next stop.  However, since coming to Louisiana,  there has been ample opportunity to - Do it right; but have, thus far, I've failed to do so.

Today begins my quest to make amends; I vow to finish the Vicksburg, Natchitoches, Lafayette and Lake Charles blogs before leaving Lake Charles, and then take it one day at a time - the pressure is on.

The Ride to Natchez, Mississippi

The ride northwest from Mandeville was an unexpected treat.  By traveling the back roads you gain in interest far more than you lose in travel time, especially on a motorcycle.  I have never understood why you would want to  race  across the country and miss all that there is to see.

The chosen route of travel was west on Highway 10 a few miles south of the Mississippi border.  This was the highway of choice, being that it was marked on the map as the scenic route.  It was a curvy road that wound its way through miles forest areas that lined both sides of the highway and providing shade to the highway that was much appreciated in the day's almost stifling heat.

Along the way a beautiful little church and the decaying remnants of the Church Hill post office were too much pass by unphotograghed - and so I didn't!

Just before connecting with Highway 61 (the northern route to Natchez), the highway became ever more a site of beauty, the road became ever more twisting and the tall trees now draped over the highway.

In this same area, a sign advertised for the Bluffs Golf Course Resort.  Having only seen one other golf course in all of Louisiana and being an aspiring golfer myself (there only two kinds of golfers - those who are and those who aspire to be}, I felt a driving urge to explore.

It appeared to be a beautiful golf course, but one never knows without taking the day to give the total going over.  However, in spite of the fact that is was noon on a beautiful blue sky day, there was nay a car in the parking lot, nor anyone to be seen on the course - how strange.  The homes within the resort where all up scale, but appeared to ranged from the moderately affordable to the totally unreasonable.

A few miles south of Natchez I saw a sign for the Springfield Mansion just 11 miles west of Highway 61; post haste I made the turn.  Unfortunately, the mansion was undergoing a major restoration and was closed to visits inside the mansion.  Not totally defeated, I was able to walk the grounds and take photographs of the historic mansion which was built between 1786 and 1791 and survived the civil war.

One interesting fact about the mansion, built by the wealthy Virginia planter, Thomas M Green Jr., to flaunt his wealth, served as the setting for the wedding of Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson in 1791.

After arriving in Natchez in the early evening, there was still a couple of hours of daylight; enough to allow me to ride up and down the streets to admire the architecture before crossing the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge to the nights campsite.

All That Jazz!

The third time is a charm!  After two other attempts I was finally able to download the pictures from over a week ago.
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The following blog was written two days after the attending the New Orleans Jazz Festival, but I wasn't able to get the videos to download and the blog was never posted.  Today I'm going to post the blog without the video that was intended and then, after the fact, try to edit the post and add the video - What you see is what you get!

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How fortunate, for the past two weeks New Orleans has hosted the "New Orleans Jazz Festival 2010."

I have always wanted to go the Jazz Festival, but have never had the good fortune to do so - until now; and what a treat it was.

It surprised me (although, in retrospect, it should not have) to discover such a fair-like atmosphere at the "Jazz Fest." There booths with vendors displaying and selling their arts and crafts, revelers toting parasols and of course, what would an event in Louisiana be without - food, food and more food.

Though I'm no art critic, I enjoy in particular the very unusual and unique variety of African Art; particularly the art from Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Although I only spent one day I enjoyed it all.  A very special treat was the brass and woodwind sounds of the likes of Pete Fountain and all of the dancing and parading that accompanied it.

Enough said!  I hope that the pictures and accompanying video give you a taste of the spirit of the New Orleans Jazz Festival 2010.

Grand Isle - Say No More!

To the west of Venice and separated by Lake Salvador and miles of swampland are Highway 1 and Grand Isle, Louisiana.

Grand Isle is about a 2 1/2 hours south of New Orleans.  The first hour of the ride was nothing special, but that all ends just south of Raceland.  From Raceland, Highway 1 follows the west side of the waterway as it flows southward to the Gulf of Mexico at Grand Isle.

The narrow waterway passes through several small quaint looking fishing villages on its route southward.  All along the way there are fishing and shrimp boats as well as some small barges rolling lazily down the river.  Along the way, there are several lift bridges tying to the east bank.  The east bank is more rural in appearance with farmland and upscale homes.  My suggestion is to take the west side down and return via the east side to gather the total picture.

The approach Grand Isle is across a beautiful 3 - 4 mile expanse of causeway bridge that completes the journey.  The causeway, itself, is a bit of anomaly unlike any bridge I have ever seen; it makes a sharp 90 degree bend to the left, makes a broad sweeping turn to the right and finishes with another, and final, 90 degree bend to right.  It is beautiful, though (to this admittedly untrained eye) an inexplicable work of bridge building.

Grand Isle is a state of Louisiana, and indeed, national treasure.  It is (to my knowledge) the site of the only beaches in the state of Louisiana - and they are truly beautiful.  For me they brought back memories of the beaches of the Cape of Hatteras.

Once again, Grand Isle, like the Venice area is a testimony of man's resolute determination overcome, in spite of all obstacles.  Despite having been virtually leveled by hurricane Katrina - after a scant five years - it is for the unknowing observer to even know that there was ever any hurricane.

Chalmette, the Battle of New Orleans and the Pirate Jean Lafitte

New Orleans is such a historic city, every where you go there is another story and another moment in history.  Just south of New Orleans is Chalmette and the Chalmette Battlefield, the source of one such story.  Not far from Chalmette, are the small town of Jean Lafitte and the Jean Lafitte National Park both named for the pirate-patriot Jean Lafitte and the source for yet another story. 

The city of Chalmette is where, during the War of 1812, the Americans defeated the British and saved New Orleans in - the Battle of New Orleans.

The Battle of New Orleans had no influence on the signing of the Treaty of Ghent which ostensibly ended the War of 1812.  The treaty was signed on 24th of December, 1814, but news of the signing would not reach America until February, after the Battle of New Orleans.

Grossly outnumber the Americans, under the command of Major General Andrew Jackson, set up there defenses behind the Rodriguez Canal (on the grounds of the Chalmette Plantation) and won a decisive battle.      

With the defeat of the British, Jackson became a national hero and paved his path for "Old Hickory" becoming our 7th President of the United States.

As you walks along the now dry Rodriguez Canal one has to imagine that the earthen works that back up the canal were much larger at the actual time of the battle; for they are said to have been a major obstacle against the British who lacked ladders to both forge the canal and climb over the earthen works.  

The "sky-blue" painted cannons are the actual colors used by the army to identify army cannons, while the red cannons like-wise are colored to identify them as navy cannons.   

Major General Jackson was supported in his efforts by the unseemly pirate-patriot character named Jean Lafitte.

A bit of a contradiction in terms, Jean Lafitte was said to be - a ruthless pirate who together with his two brothers plundered the seas south of New Orleans and was said to be the richest man in America at the time.

Despite his pirating ways, he excluded American ships from his plunder. 

He was also a "true American" - a patriot who turned a down a purported $30,000 offer from the British to utilize his fleet of 500 ships and 5000 sailors.

Further, he was a patriot who boldly (despite outstanding rewards for his arrest) "raided the Louisiana Governors' home" in order to alert the Governor of the British planned attack. 

He was a defender of America who added his sailors in support of Major General Jackson's Army at Chalmette.

For his patriotic efforts Jean Lafitte received a full pardon from, then President, James Madison.

In order to really appreciate the beauty of the Jean Lafitte National Park one would need to walk along its many trails and spend more time either I or most tourist are willing give to such an adventure.  I myself found more enjoyment in reading and hearing of the exploits and life of the remarkable Jean Lafitte and taking few pictures along the way.