Mississippi

Dinner at Drago's was the icing on the cake! We shared a dozen chargrilled, butter flambéd, smoky oysters, and relived the day over a chaser of chardonnay and crabmeat au gratin.

James had reserved a rental car and generously drove us to Natchez so I could see the city where Greg Iles set his haunting Mississippi trilogy and where he grew up and currently lives with his family. It was exactly how I envisioned it.

On the way, we made a few stops. Baton Rouge was a surprise. We began by visiting the newly named LSU Campus Mounds (previously the Indian Mounds), now thought to be 11,300 years old, which makes them older than the Egyptian pyramids!

At lunchtime Phil & I had the shrimp po'boy and James had the local gumbo, at the very elegant Watermark Hotel, We mooched through the downtown area - it's got a very smart, modern feel, with beautiful, mature trees near the old capitol "castle" facing out to the river - and a Rotary-built lookout point. We were dodging marathon runners whilst we were there, which made navigation very tricky, and it took a bit of winging it to find the scenic highway.

But, with only a quick drink stop at Woodville, Mississippi, we made it to Longwood in time for the very last tour of the day.

The potted history of the unfinished "town" (party) house set on 90 acres of land is that it was built in part by slave labour for Julia & Haller Nutt in 1860, but never finished - due to the Civil War. The estimated cost of the completed octagonal house would have been over $200,000 due to the size, opulence, and ahead-of-their-time features such as pocket doors, inbuilt insect screens and insulation.

In 1864, Haller died of pneumonia, shortly after his infant son, and his $3,000,000 fortune evaporated. Though Julia tried to gain full reparation post-war, she was awarded approx $90,000, which she used to pay debts. She and some of her children lived in the basement of the unfinished house for the rest of their lives - until it was sold and subsequently gifted to the Pilgrimage Garden Club in 1970.

The funny story of the day goes to our breakfast stop for beignets and coffee on the outskirts of town. James ordered for us, then had to go and get his backpack out of the car. The elderly waiter - who had a slight resemblance to Manuel - brought us our breakfast and headed back to the kitchen. We were munching away on our beignets when he came RUNNING back ... "No, no - you have to put the sugar on" and he proceeded to slap the back of the shaker so hard there was an icing sugar storm all over the table, the floor, Phil's shirt, everywhere .... He looked very gratified when we sampled his handiwork and thanked him for his help 🤣Read more