Friday, August 28, 2009

A Pink birdhouse and a Different Kind of Sightseeing Tour

Saturday is my favorite day of the week when I was in school and it still is. It's becasue I get to flaunt some pinks and get to see other people's lovely pinks. And I get to take everybody on a tour. So come along and get ready. You may join me for Sightseeing Sat. I decided against uploading Mr. Linky cause I feel so bad for him looking very lonely but if you want to share some travel or sightseeing experiences, please email me or leave me a comment. And please copy my SS button into sidebar if you ever want to participate now or in the future. It will serve as a reminder. Thanks.

Pink Sat. is hosted by Beverly of http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/ and check out everybody else's pretty pinks. What I want to share today is a pink and blue ceramic bird house. You know I only bought it last week but I cannot remember where anymore. What happened to my brain? LOL! I think I am losing it. I remember I bought it really cheap, like $3.99, that is why I got it. Maybe it was from TJ Maxx.

I think it is so pretty, don't you?
Thanks Beverly for hosting another week of Pink Saturday.


Now, let's go on a different kind of tour. How about touring Natchez Cemetery? I tell ya, we have the most interesting cemetery. The cemetery was establised in 1821 but graves date back to the 1700's. It's huge, about 95 acres in size. It's not scary nor boring at all because people always go there to tour it. In fact, every Halloween they have an Angel of the Bluff presentation, where people wearing period costumes do a reenactment of the lives of their family buried there.
Wouldn't you want to have those ornate iron fences around your house? Sadly, a lot of the gates are missing because looters take them and sell them to antique stores.
John contacted a tourist guide to give us a private tour. The guide was very good, she gave us so much information but how could I remember all of them when I cannot even remember where I bought the bird house from last week? I do remember a few that I thought are very interesting stories though.
There we are taking the heat with our tour guide, just to tour a cemetery.

This green sign indicates that a soldier from the North and South Revolution is buried here.
A Confederate General was buried here.
Lots of unknown Civil War Confederate soldiers.
Do you know what the cloth draped on the cross mean? We were told that it indicates that the person buried had a life cut short. The same meaning is given to monuments erected with broken columns.
Out of all the grave sites here, I am most touched by the story of this one below. Florence Irene Ford (Sept 3, 1861 - Oct 30, 1871) died of yellow fever. Her family was distraught over her death, but her mother was especially devastated. She had a special coffin constructed for her daughter that had a glass window to display her body. Furthermore, when the grave was dug, Mrs. Ford had a set of concrete steps constructed so that she could go down and look into the grave through a special glass window that she had installed. Her daughter , when she was still alive was terrified of thunderstorms so every time it would rain, Mrs. Ford would go down the steps and sit by her daughter's coffin, separated only by the thin glass wall, to keep her company. She could also gaze at her deceased child through the glass of the coffin. After the mother's death, the glass wall was covered by concrete to prevent vandalism.
Due to vandalism, the grave site had to be sealed off but you can still go down but won't see anything but a solid wall.
Here's another one with a touching love story. The husband was so in love with the wife so that when she died, he vowed to visit her every single day and bring her flowers. He did that every single day until he died. He would stay there for hours and eventually he brought in a park bench where he would often fall asleep. After the husband passed away, the children continued to bring the flowers.
Enlarge the picture and you can see from the inscriptions how much the deceased was loved.
Not everybody here has a good story. This particular one was a prostitute who worked in a brothel down "Under the Hill" so that when she died of tuberculosis, nobody wanted to claim her body until somebody felt bad and paid for her burial. They did not even put her full name and she was just identified here as Louise.
More unknown soldiers of the Confederate Army buried here.
The Turning Angel
"Erected by the Natchez Drug Company to the memory of the unfortunate employees who lost their lives in the great disaster that destroyed its building on march 14, 1908." The five girls who were killed are buried under the watchful gaze of the angel. The Natchez Drug Company commissioned the statue, and the artist carved it in such a way to form an optical illusion. Approaching the statue from the correct angle makes it appear to turn as you grow nearer.
Greg Iles, a NY best selling author wrote a book titled "Turning Angel". If you have not read it and you like mystery novels, it's really a "must read".
I hope you enjoyed this tour. This cemetery is one of the tourists' spots in our city because it has so many interesting stories. I forgot to take a picture of the guy who was buried in his rocking chair, which he requested before his death.

Thank you all for coming!!

27 comments:

Sarah said...

Sweet little pink bird house! You are really on the ball with your Pink Saturday post. I'm still visiting rooster parties! :-)
Have a great weekend ~ Hyacinth

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

You always have the most interesting tours. I really enjoyed this. It is so interesting to hear all the stories. I also love to see all the monuments. The Turning Angel is really interesting. I also really like the cute little birdhouse. So cute. Hugs, Marty

Debby@Just Breathe said...

I really liked this post. I think that cemetery's are extremely peaceful to walk around. The older the better. I really enjoyed your tour, thank you so much. I have been to several but I really like the one at Bodie Ghost Town in California. Thank you for the detailed stories.

Blondie's Journal said...

Christine,

I thought I would cry over the recounting of the story of the mother and daughter, How incredible. And also, does that not show the bond between mother and child (in an extreme case, but I think I could be there sometimes~whooo!) The poor man and his love for his wife is also sad. I don't like cemeteries. But I enjoyed YOUR visit!!

I also love that birdhouse. It is so sweet. Where will you put it? Will you remember where you put it?? lol!!!

I am so sorry that more people are not taking advantage of their trips on your Saturday event. I am wondering if the name had been something simple like "Vacation Saturday", ot had it been on a day other than when Pink Sat, is on, it might work better. And you could mention in every post for everyone to grab a button from your sidebar. Vacations slow down now but many do holiday travel. Think about it.

Thinking of you often, my friend!

xoxo
Jane

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Christine, I am still laughing about the pretty bird house you bought last week and can't remember where! I'm amazed that you would go on a cemetery tour. Did you see any ghosts? What interesting stories! I'm so glad that guy requested to be buried in his rocking chair while he was still alive instead of coming back and requesting that he be dug up and put in it after he was dead!!! laurie

Chandy said...

Hi Christine! Wow that is such a beautiful cemetery and your pink subject is just as cool.

Sorry for not visiting much again, our household just got crazier with school starting for me and the kids while hubs is being given OT left and right at work. My table is full of papers and my LR is full of things ready for the storage. *sigh*

I should be there for the next TT and SS. I just need to reorganize things over here and be ready for Fall.

I do miss everyone and I'm so missing being able to blog on both daily but with lack of decent sleep and neverending chores, all I can muster is one blog and zone out in Facebook farm games where all I do is click or read my books to stay awake.

Hugs, Chandy

Tara said...

This was wonderful Christine. It looks really beautiful there and it sounds like you had a great tour guide, what a job though! The story of the mother is so sad, I can't even imagine. I can however imagine the bad karma to follow the thieves that steal from cemeteries! Happy Pink and I hope you have a great weekend sitting by your pool! Take a dip for me.

Personalized Sketches and Sentiments said...

I love your sight seeing trips! And you have a great memory! That was a lot of interesting stories! hmmm. I really need to remember to jot down the stories of what we learn about places we've been!

You have the most amazing adventures!!!!

Blessings & Aloha!

by the way...cute pink birdhouse...hmm..where's this pink one nesting?

Unknown said...

I've always found old cemeteries fascinating. I love these pictures. Very interesting stories.

Mary Bergfeld said...

I love the pinks you've chosen to share with us and the tour was wonderful. I hope you are "in the pink" and having a wonderful day.

Debbie said...

Thanks for stopping by and for your sweet comment. Roosters are a sickness of some kind, I think....lol....but I love them. Love that birdhouse too, its adorable. Debbie

Country Wings in Phoenix said...

Happy Pink Saturday, and I so loved this tour. Oh my gosh, the turning angel is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I love these type of statutes. Also loved your little bird house. Thanks so much for sharing. A wonderful story about the woman and her daughter, how she would go down and sit with her. A mother's love story. Please stop by and say hi. Country hugs, Sherry

Gabriela said...

Happy Pink Saturday!


Great trip!



~ Gabriela ~

Anonymous said...

Christine,
Love your birdhouse...so cute and pretty... Happy Pink! The sight Seeing was very interesting...amazzing stores...Thanks for sharing..Katherinellen

Its So Very Cheri said...

What an intriquing tour--thanks you.

Just checking in with everyone and to give an update.
I have a new party starting- Wed Sept 2. So each week I will have the Knock Off Knock Out party on Mondays and the Holiday/Seasonal party on Wed. I hope you come for a visit.
New buttons to grab as well.
Cheri
Its So Very Cheri

Kelly @ Much To Do With Nothing said...

Hi Christine.
I love cemetaries. This was a great tour. Thanks.Such sweet and sad stories. Once I walked around our's in town, just for fun. It was wierd to see the family plots. You could tell by the dates that some died in child birth with mother and child side by side. And then some men with one dead wife and the woman's when he remarried. Just all of that stuff. But not as old as yours. Maybe late 1800's early 1900's but so cool.
Thanks again for that tour.
Kelly

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Hi Christine, the cloche party is on the 11th of Sept. I don't know how the dates got so mixed up. Anyway it is the 11th. I really look forward to what you do. Hugs, Marty

Cass @ That Old House said...

Oh how I enjoyed this tour! The stories from the cemetery are so touching -- I nearly cried right along with the mother of that ten year old girl, and as for Louise The Unfortunate --- oh, poor girl. Not even a last name to go on her headstone.

I used to walk through graveyards -- around here some date back to the 1600s -- but haven't done so lately. I am very sad to hear that there is vandalism. How appalling.
Thanks for this terrific post. And I didn't know about Sightseeing Saturday -- what a GREAT idea! But then, I thought I was already a follower of you, and found out I wasn't. Remedied that fast.
Cass

Kathy said...

A wonderful pink post, Christie, and the travel pics are awesome! Have a perfect weekend...Kathy

Irma's Rose Cottage said...

Happy Pink Saturday! Love the birdhouse. Loved the tour and the Turning Angel Story. I will need to look for this book, sounds very interesting.

Irma:)

Regina said...

Great photos! Thanks for sharing.
Have a great week ahead.

Jany Schindler said...

Beautiful cemetery,interesting stories. And I love the bird house.
Happy Pink Saturday.
ENJOY!
~Jany~
Don't forget to "Look in the Nook"

Connie said...

Hi Christie, Those are the cutest kids. I also enjoyed your cemetery tour and the stories. Very touching.
Thanks for stopping over to see my park. It is serene.

Ldy ~~ Dy said...

Very interesting cemetary tour!

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Cute little bird house, Christine! And I loved the tour of the cemetary! The story of the mom and her daughter was very touching. You always have such interesting travel posts!! Happy week!...Debbie

Lady Katherine said...

I love the pink bird house! This was a very interesting post! Thanks for sharing this!

AMIT said...

So sweet post.Thanks for all the useful information.

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