Vicksburg MS to Natchitoches, La and around

A couple days'  at Vicksburg reminded me how much I need to reread history about the Civil War.  We toured the Vicksburg, MS  battlefield which was a turning point in the Civil War, along with Gettysburg.  The Union strategy to capture Vicksburg and  the access of the mighty Mississippi would isolate and cripple the south.  We spent most of the afternoon driving around and walking through parts of the entire Battlefield.  All along there are markers to the various infantries, cavalries, from the states and commemorative readings about the soldiers and their commanders. 

Vicksburg Battlefield

One  big surprise was the USS Cairo museum,
It is pronounced Karo here.  This was a Union gunboat, torpedoed
by the Confederacy.  It was sunk in the Mississippi until 1964
when it was hoisted out and restored.  Exhibited here at Vicksburg

Jerry amidst some cannons at Vicksburg

While Georgia is the birthplace of Coca Cola, I learned that it was first bottled  in Vicksburg at the Biedenharn Candy Company as they expanded their business.  Today there is a  small Coca Cola bottling museum in the building which is right near the Smith Drugstore.



Dual bridges new and old across the mighty Mississippi at Vicksburg

While there is plenty to learn traveling around this country there is always fun too.

This Vicksburg Merchant  decorates the outside with party girls
I had to join them

From Vicksburg we  drove on to Natchitoches, LA. home of the famous fried meat pies which we have enjoyed for appetizers and a dinner.  They are similar to an empanada,  a mixture of ground beef, pork, and seasonings  in a pastry similar to pie dough which is all deep friend in peanut oil.  Maybe not health food, but it's a vacation so we indulge. That's the beauty of travel, eating things we don't find at home.  Today it was fried alligatior bites at a pub for mid day snack. 

Canadians plaque to  Natchitoches

We depart this lovely area and best little town of  Natchitoches tomorrow for Marksville, LA.  I say it like it looks, natch--ee-toe--cheez....while the locals say Nakatesh....I bring smiles to their faces when they hear me and I get that puzzled look on my face when I hear them.  This is a different dialect a combination from the early first French settlers to the Indians, Spaniards, Africans, etc.  So the  talk is different.  The area was first settled by the French in 1717 or thereabouts.  Many here have that gorgeous French Cajun Creole look, but there are many retirees here from all over the country, making it a very comfortable place for us.  It is comfortable to be with others who relocate in retirement.  I could easily live here except for the hot humid summers, and the bugs.  Then I'd be happy with MN or north.

Natichitoches from  near the post office.

Steel House in town

 The movie Steel Magnolias was filmed here and the southern atmosphere, the lovely ornate iron scroll work around the homes and the balconies show the French like influence.  Our last visit to Natchitoches was in  December 2004, and the traffic along the  Cane river Front street has increased a lot, indicating an increased  population or excess traffic for the old brick two lane streets to handle. This is a tourist mecca with the multitude of shops offering all sorts of miscellany.  On the other hand,  it reflects the economy of the country with many  places closed, out of business and many others for sale. As one shop owner who has been here for  20 years, relocated from Illinois shared, the last two years have  not been good.  The cost of  gas has decreased the number of people driving and  traveling.  It is also a college town, Northwester University--we seem to be attracted to these college towns, smaller in size and lots of cultural activities.

Tulip trees have  almost finished their spring bloom

We ventured  out along the Cane River drive today south on Louisiana Hwy 1 and stopped along the way to see the new beautiful brick homes, Plantation Development, very nice spread out homes several with motor homes in the driveways and many with  boats.  This area is a recreation dream for  fishing and water sports and many live along the Cane River with their own boat docks and what I can only describe as boat porches.  This is the off season for the historic plantations, some are part of the National Park Service along the Cane River Drive. 

Melrose Plantation main house

Clementine Hunter

One print of Clementine's

The Cane River plantations are very different from the famous Nottoway and fancier  antebellum plantations we toured years back out of New Orleans.  These of Cane River have a different harder worked  perspective and are not set up for tour buses.  There are many old building all around, the smoke houses, the weaving houses, the cooking houses, the bindery, etc in addition to the outlying slave quarters.  Our  primary stop was the romantic Melrose Plantation, famous in the life of Clementine Hunter and the legend of  Marie Coincoin who was  born in 1742, a  slave who  became the matriarch of a family of  14 children and the founder of a unique colony of people whose descendants today proudly tell of their heritage.  Marie and several of her children were sold to Thomas  Metoyer who later  freed her and her children.   Between 1794 and 1803 she and her children received multiple land grants and built the Yucca house and other structures. After 1884, Melrose Plantation became a hub of art and education under the ownership of John Hampton Henry and Miss Cammie Garrett Henry. Miss Cammie, as she became known, made Melrose a haven for artists and writers.  At the time there was a field hand and cook at Melrose who also became known as a renowned artist. Clementine Hunter, one of the south’s most primitive artists, began painting the people, life, and scenes of Cane River. Hunter was in her 50′s when she began painting and continued until a few months before her death in 1988. Clementine is Louisiana’s most famous folk artist, and her paintings are on display at the plantation. I had heard of Clementine and purchased a small print of one of her works at a town shop.  Clementine's story is a significant part of history today especially during  Black History Month; she began to paint from memory at night  when everyone else slept.  Looking at her characters evokes a range of emotions and multiple feelings. 

Weaving house at Melrose

Bindery House which is now the Gift Shop at Melrose

Mardi Gras  parade in Clouterville, LA

   We met a group of locals who enticed us to drive on to Clouterville which they pronounce "Clooteeeville"  and enjoy some of their local Mardi Gras parade.  Like  small town events all over the country it was fun.  The kids particularly were having a great fun time, like these two below mid air stepping to catch their place on the float.    Oh the energy!

We are late for our float!

Graceland

February 4 Pat arrives at Graceland

It is an indescribably good feeling to scratch things off one's Bucket list making room for new additions....yesterday in Memphis was a great scratchoff..... .We had a great time yesterday through the sporadic Memphis drizzling rain, spending all day at Graceland, the museums, the venues, the airplanes, the shops, etc...listening to Elvis music everywhere..

I was an Elvis pre teeny bopper rabid fan and recall sitting on the porch with extension cord strung through the door to plug in my 45 RPM record player and listen to Elvis sing Hound dog as loud as that player went.  Never loud enough for us girls, but too loud for Mom who'd shout "turn that noise down, you'll go deaf."   I didn't but she was ahead of her time because we know many young people today who have hearing loss from too loud music.  In one of the exhibit cases of memorabilia yesterday I noticed a plastic type child's wallet, I"d  had one of those, long gone.  But next to it, a gold like charm bracelet with a hound dog and broken heart charms among others, at home I have those two charms on  my old charm bracelet from high school days. I don't know whatever became of the full Elvis bracelet.   

Mary Hudson was our tour guide
at Graceland and knew the
answers to all questions

 We sprung for the VIP tour which escorted us through the front of the line into the mansion which is really a modest house, at 17,000 square feet on 13.8 acres. It does not compare to the Biltmore mansion in  North Carolina but it is impressive as a home.   Elvis bought Graceland in 1957 when he was but 22 for only $102,500 as his home.  He purchased Graceland from the original owners when it was out in the outskirts, in the country.  Today  the area is all very urban, but Graceland is on one side of Elvis Presley Blvd. while the museums, planes, shops, other venues are on the other side. Photos of Christmas time are lovely.  Graceland employs hundreds of people like Mary, here, all of whom have a smile and enjoy working there.  It's a boon for the local economy along with the $$ tourists bring. 

I did not know how philanthropic Elvis was all his life until our tour.  On one wall of exhibits are the  thousands of checks he'd write to any one who needed help from individuals to organizations.   In Lisa's special exhibit at the end which just opened in 2012, she remarks how her dad made money and gave it away as fast as he could.

Just one of these urns would look good back in MN

We did not tour the upstairs of the home which  is closed to the public but saw all the  first and lower floors and the out buildings, including  Elvis' racquetball court and bar and the smoke house he had used as a shooting range.  Today a cousin of Elvis is the primary groundskeeper, a full time job with many staff.   
 I remember when Elvis died and have kicked myself many times for not going to see him perform when we had the opportunity in Tahoe, I always felt there would be another time and it wasn't a priority for me at that time of my life.  There was never another time.    On the tour I was reminded he was only 42, but I recall he surely looked older from his lifestyle and drug abuse.  It was oxymoronical to learn how proud Elvis was when President Nixon awarded him a badge from the newly formed Narcotics Enforcement Agency and enlisted Elvis' help in the agency efforts.  Evidently Elvis was the proud collector of police and firemen badges from all over the country and donated heavily to  their benevolent societies.

Elvis Graceland kitchen

       To me the kitchen to me was very modest surprisingly.  We were told Elvis enjoyed having family and friends around and was quite the host, so I imagined this kitchen would have been bigger, notice the cast iron frying pan on top the stove.  But that was by the standards back then just like the TV room where there were 3 maybe 21" screen TV's mounted across a ledge.  Imagine Elvis would have enjoyed today's big screens.  He'd read that President Johnson watched the news on 3 TV's at once so he began to do the same thing.

Perhaps most fabulous were the multiple exhibits of his costumes and clothing.  Talk about  bling, he was the King and for sure da' man!  Looking at the costumes from his younger days when he was svelte and the massive size of the belt buckles, it's hard to fathom how it could have been at all comfortable. 

Elvis added a swimming pool which is not significantly
larger than the one we had at our home in Fair Oaks, CA
I had always wanted a swimming pool and  got that in our first home in CA 

The airplanes were different than any I have ever flown on and of course all set for entertaining, except for the smaller jet which must have been for short quick business trips.  Somehow I always imagines Elvis having his own rail car or tour rig, but there was nothing like that. The Elvis auto museum was a big fave for Jerry especially the Stutz bearcats, while I still favor the original pink Cadillac, Gladys which Elvis gave to his mother.  Although see here, the Rolls Silver Cloud calls my name out loud!

This white Rolls will do

Jerry between white and black Silver Clouds

Graves of Elvis, his parents.grandmother and twin brother  

Elvis grave

Today still people cpontinue to  leave flowers, and all sorts of
memorabilia at the graves

Market at the Memorial Garden

After many hours of walking and enjoying the full Graceland, we returned to our motor home for a brief respite and then departed for Marlowe's where we enjoyed excellent bar-b-que ribs, I tried the  local Southern Pecan beer, a brown nut ale and some take out banana pudding for me.  We met the original owner, Tony Gugliottti who is from Pittsburgh and when I told him I was born and raised in New Ken, he not only gave me a postcard but a cook book from Marlowe's.  I did not take the camera, but because we enjoyed the meal and the conversations and the (what else) Elvis music, Marlowe's is a place to return to when we are in the Memphis area in the future.   This link will take you to their site where you can read and see all about them...only you will not be able to  taste or smell the food.... http://www.marlowesmemphis.com/  


On Don"t Be Cruel Lane

Arrived Graceland about 6:00PM last night and pulled into our rig spot on Don"t Be Cruel Lane.  Liquid sunshine began last night and is to continue all day, so although we are  walking distance to Graceland from here in the RV park, we'll likely drive the HHR.  We have been blessed with decent weather, while to the northwest snow strikes  Denver and Omaha and southwest to Texas and even Alexandria, LA where we  will eventually be  has deluging flooding rains.  We had only some fog yesterday AM which we drove out of in  less than 15 minutes. 

We ate in last night, getting set up for the next three days and having plenty of food along to avoid having to venture around in the dark, although we spotted a KFC right outside the gate.  The advantage of RV motor home travel is we have all the comforts of home, including a good glass of wine for me and a beer for Jerry at our finger tips. And though  I complain about loading up, I sure appreciate having it all here when we stop.

Many 5th wheels and trailers here too, a phenomena we have seen elsewhere in the country--the industrious young (and not so young) men and  families who are industrious construction workers travel to the work while those who are content to squat and collect never ending  unemployment welfare checks do so. 

I know we are in the south, because yesterday I purchased what I thought was an apple fritter but when I bit into it back in the motor home, it was pink inside, with flecks of cherry.  Certainly a different fritter to me and I wonder if it is to honor Valentines Day, or breast cancer pink? 

We had a good two day drive and except for a loose mudflap on the rig which Jerry fixed yesterday morning in the Wal Mart lot before we departed and the hour wasted at the Alorton,IL Flying J where the diesel pumps were not working, we had a good  drive.  I felt much sympathy for the Flying J attendant, running all about in and out, to the trucks at the diesel pumps and the motor coaches at the RV diesel pumps trying to fix what he could not.  Maybe the diesel pumps were all in cahoots in a protest movement?  Occupier pumps, now there's a thought to boggle the mind.  The attendant told us to go over to the  trucker lanes, so we did but after two more non-working pump nozzles, Jerry decided it was time to go.  We had been fortunate to have diesel in the tank and with another  20.2 gallons purchased before the Occupier pumps took over, we could make it.  An inconvenience for us with a waste of an hour that could have been spent on the highway, but the  big rig truckers were stuck.  And their faces showed their disgust.  Pity the attendants, who scurry beyond their minimum wage pay grade and courteously handle the scowls and worse, yet one example of how unreasonable customers can take their anger out on the person who is trying to help them.  Frustrating, yes, but a reason to be cruel, not.  We continued on to Mathews, MO Flying J and  filled up though we could have made it easily to Memphis.

In two days we've driven  816 miles in 14 hours drive time, 15 1/2 hours total time' purchased 107.9 gallons of diesel for $402 and only $2.85 tolls in a small stretch of highway through IL.  Along the road, I tallied last years journeys from when we purchased this motor home in Tucson and brought it home--in 2011 we logged 9600 miles.   

Photos later today as we enjoy Graceland where we are headed for brunch right now.

On the road tomorrow

Graceland RV

Finally we are heading south....I was not at all that enthused about leaving because it has been an easy nice winter with only occasional white snow dusting and I really have projects up the ying yang to keep myself more than busy... Still Jerry planned on  a trip, recalling that at times I am prone to remind him that I did not sign up to live in winter wonderland and that when we moved here it was our stated intention to head for warmer  climates in winter.  Life being as it has been the last  several years we haven't done the snowbird routine, but this year, Jerry has had  hitch itch--wants to get behind the wheel of the diesel and go  that along with his wanting to alleviate a later taunt by someone like me "You said we'd leave for winter..."  Would I really whine like that?  I admit, guilty as suspected. 

So we are on our way via St Louis area, where maybe we can check in with Earl and Ed, longtime rosarian friends  from CA who now live in Collinsville.  Oh how Earl tormented me when I announced that we were moving to Minnesota when I retired,  I can still hear him, "What!   You will freeze and what about your roses....!"  It was after we moved in 2005 that guess who sold out from San Francisco and headed home to Collinsville, another California deserter heading home....We've been to their place  and I reminded him. "Who said we can't leave CA?"  They have been quite happy back in the Midwest, better life quality and Earl's hometown.  But Earl has been ill, and so we are curious how he's doing.

Then just last night I figured that if we were spending the weekend and through Monday in Memphis, we could just as well park our rig at Graceland!  And well, Elvis!  Now I'm all shook up.....ummm  huhh...hmm..  yeah yea.....Graceland has been on my bucket list so this makes space for another list item....When I discovered the RV park, well what a deal!  "  Located within walking distance of Graceland, Elvis Presley’s home, Memphis-Graceland RV Park & Campground is a haven of relaxation you're not likely to forget anytime soon.   The Memphis-Graceland RV Park & Campground is located on 19 acres just off Elvis Presley Boulevard behind Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel and conveniently located across the street from Elvis Presley's Graceland. "

This looks promising, better than the RV parks last trip to North Carolina.....We have many friends to see and many places of interest....as usual I am never  as ready as I should be....so it will not be a very early AM start tomorrow...there are some things yet to go in the motor home, like my 3 bottles of wine. That is an essential for me.   I ponder after a day of hustling and loading  if I will ever just leave without  taking so much along and preparing.  Throw caution to the winds and shop for what I want...but I am conservative with the $$ and hate to buy what I have at the house and could take along, so I doubt it.  Besides, after all, I am Rose's grand daughter and I remember our train trips from PA to Milwaukie,WI; a basket of food with us.  Shopping is easy, but Jerry likes to hit the road and go....and since I never know for sure what munchies I'll want, I go well prepared.  Just so we don't take all that  food for a ride....loading and unloading it, not a good thing.     The RV travelin" bears,  Blondie, Cinnamon and Louie are ready to go, they have permanent residence in the motor home:

Beignets

 
 
So tomorrow off we go...Louie, the eldest bear was born in Louisiana in 2004, a gift from Mary Ann for my  Birthday.  He's anxious to get  back home for a spell and like me, looking forward to a begniet at Cafe du Monde in New Orleans... It is an original French Market Coffee Stand "World famous for its cafe' au lait, beignets, and the opportunity to people watch."   I am salivating just looking at the photo of a plate of Beignets....
 
I will post as I can during free time, but then again......

Sepia Saturday 110 Movie Theaters and how we were



About 1954 me and my Grandma
ready to go to the movies

 A challenge this week with Theater as our theme, but I think back to growing up in New Kensingon, PA in it's glory days when we had 3 movie theaters in a town that is all ashambles to the dregs today. Stroll along my memories with me to back before televisions became  a standard home furnishing, many Sundays, after mass and family dinner, from as early as I can remember, my grandmother,  Rose and I went to the matinee movies downtown and would stop for a big ice cream cone on our way home.  She enjoyed her movie theaters which she always referred to as just that, "movie theaters".  Some Sundays we'd  catch  two, a musical or drama  for her and cowboys and Indians  in technicolor for me.

Baba which I called her all my life, from the Polish word for Grandmother, made her money for our day out and about by playing the numbers at the local bookie who took bets at the butcher shop.  She was quite lucky most times and kept her stash for our treats, saying that was for us to have fun.  I spent lots of my time at their house and each morning when I awoke she'd ask me about my dreams and then get a small black book from the cupboard drawer.  I learned years later from her that was her Dream Book which translated the subject of dreams into numbers and those were the bets she placed,  always winning when she played Patty's dreams.  How I wish I knew what became of that book, imagine if  today I could use it for the lottery.

 I  learned that the reason we could afford two movies was we frequently got in free at the Liberty where her brother Bill worked as a projectionist, when movies came on the big reels.  I have shared photos of Bill before, here's a newspaper clipping she  saved of the  man at work.  Notice the name Walter Austin, somehow Bill came from Walter and he'd changed the  Polish Ostroski aka Ostrowski to Austin, generating much  fuss and disdain from his sisters.   But today's theater theme  showed photos of the buildings and I  had to dig and  search to find any photographs of the big time days in New Kensington when we had the Liberty, the Dattola, the Circle and the Ritz theaters.  I was amazed to find a Library of Congress photo of our own old Liberty theater which was demolished.   These movie theaters were grand seating from 700 to 1000 with more balcony seating, plush carpets, draperies, gilded to the max.  Wish I had photos of the insides, they sure don't make 'em like that anymore.  Todays movie theaters  use a sardine pack seating system,  superior technology does not make up for lack of grandeur and class. 

Downstairs  where I watch movies today
Back of my recliner looking toward the big screen

Today, I wait for DVD's and the latest Netflix offerings and take my self downstairs to our own big screen, surround sound put my feet up in the recliner and enjoy the movies, I often think how Baba would have loved this.   

A Westmoreland county historical site shows  that:  On May 2, 1921, the first of the new theaters, the Liberty Theater (demolished 1996) opened on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Eighth Street and the Ritz Theater (958 Fifth Avenue) opened the next year.


The Liberty courtesy of the Library of Congress



Dowtown  Fifth Avenue as it looked when we walked to the movies
The old Liberty  is on the left

From a historic website the Dattola theater



The Dattola movie Theater on the other end of Fifth Avenue
Photo from 1969 coverage in the Valley Dispatch,
taken sometime in the  1960's.



The newspaper article tells the sad tale of the Dattola.

I have no photos of the Circle nor the Ritz.  At one time they had both become bingo halls and today that is likely gone as well.  Will New Kensington ever  be revivied to it's glory days when  we grew up in the  50's and 60's.  Who knows

To see more wonderful Sepia posts go to the Sepi site here:

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Dolls for Sepia Saturday 109



About 1947 me with doll



Our prompt this week is Dolls which should be easy for me because I was the oh so very typical little girl with dolls, dolls, dolls.  Being from the sheltered good old days, times of  years ago, in a small town in Pennsylvania, I enjoyed my dolls a long time, and had them across my bed into my teen years.  But I have few photos of me with my dolls, as you can see I was not a very careful mama here....

I took a doll or two with me everywhere I went which was not that far in that town,  mostly down the hill to my grandparents. I had another stash of dolls at their house as well as dolls at home....someone (likely my aunt Jinx who was a working bachelorette for many years, living with her parents)  decided that it would be easier for all concerned that I keep dolls at their house where I spent most of my time anyway.  This decision came likely after I was walking in the rain with my grandma and dropped one of my dolls, soaking  her and generating my tears and fussing.  Shortly after that, my Granpap fashioned a miniature umbrella for my dollies, wonder what ever became of that.  My dolls had an extensive wardrobe made by my grandmother and aunt and even myself, who learned to sew early and had my own miniature sewing machine, something else I wish I had today.



About 1949 me and my talking doll, Marcella
I  still have this doll today



These next photos show me at my grandparents' with dolls; I am guessing the years because they were not marked on the photos..



About 1950 with  2 dolls, the one on the
left survived from a few years





Prize bride doll today
original dres, shoes and a
green plastic  trim I  glued on her veil  to the consternation of
my aunt.



Still today I have two of my most cherished dolls, Marcella, a  talking doll who still utters a few words, "pick me up"  and my  prize bride doll acquired from a tantrum I demonstrated in the  former GCMurphy Five and Ten Store while shopping  with my aunt Jinx when  I was about 9 years old.. I spotted this bride doll and had to have her; while my aunt tried to reason with me to wait until my birthday, I was not to be dissuaded and she could not bear my pout or worse so she bought her on the spot.  The first time my aunt Jinx met Jerry, husband, she told  that story of when she was forced to buy me that bride doll as an example of how far back (and thereby well ingrained) my stubbornness and determination could be, this was to warn him about my traits, and that I would pull out all stops to get my way as I was used to having it....but it was too late, he'd already experienced the same by then.  She talked about the bride doll until she died in 2009, so you know it was really a master tantrum and an example of how I could get my way as a child.  Such a shock to grow up and learn life doesn't work always the way we want, expect, demand...



Marcella today, talking doll..Like the bride doll all original dress & shoes



While scanning other photos I  found these of my cousin Paula Jean with her father and her own big dolly, across the country in California in about 1952. 

About 1952 Paul and Paula Jean

I don't ever recall having a doll bigger than me, but her mother, my aunt had written across the back, "I won this at the Carnival for her, it's bigger than her but she drags it all around."     Our family genes have determination embedded, here follows Paula with Big Dolly, "stay there," she seems to demand.  She will get a laugh when she sees these two photos, especially with the "babushka" on her head, no match for the Big Dolly's big hat!

Paula Jean positioning her Big Dolly

Clck here to go to the Sepia Site to see what else is shared this week.  

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