Historical Natchez and Jewelry Making

We have a very close friend who knows a lot about Natchez and sad to say that he is moving to another state soon. He gave us a personalized tour of Natchez a few weeks ago.

Last week, I showed you the Forks of the Road, where the chains used for slaves still exist. I am not showing them again because my chest gets heavy reading about it.

But I am showing you the rest of historic Natchez today.

Before I do that, let me show you my pink contribution.

I have a new hobby, jewelry making. I joined an hour of jewelry making session when we were cruising on the Oasis of the Seas and learned the basics and just went from there. I am sure there is much more to be learned but I am actually able to create some. Last weekend, in addition to the Balloon Festival going on in town, there was a jewelry show at the convention center. They sold lots of jewelry supplies and I bought natural rocks, stones and crystals.

I picked the pink stones and supplies to show you today. I will show some finished products on Monday for Metamorphosis Monday.

Now, let's go sightseeing in Natchez. This is one of the restaurants we frequent downtown, Biscuits and Blues. Greg Iles, a NY best selling author who lives in town, often mentions their crawfish and mushroom topped beignets in his books. And they are super good! In fact, that's where we ate after the tour and both John and Clyde ordered that appetizer.



I love downtown Natchez. It is very quaint and charming and it has so many good restaurants and lots of antique shops. Parking is no problem.

Below is William Johnson's building. He is the famous Barber of Natchez. If you want to know about Natchez' history first hand, you should read "The Barber of Natchez". William Johnson was a slave who rose to freedom and became a successful businessman, first as a barber and then went into real estate and other businesses, owned his own slaves, all before 1850. He kept a 2000 page diary of his day to day life including the exact amounts of what he spent and all his business records. It is really very interesting and Natchez owes a lot to him. Because of what he recorded, Natchez became aware of its past history.

These are houses that are very typical of what you see around downtown. The background picture is a bluff full of kudzu, which is everywhere here too.

Magnolia Hall, one of the grand antebellum mansions downtown.

Sorry, I have to show you this tree but it is part of history. This tree in front of City Hall was the same one where outlaws were actually hung. Their loved ones stood on the ground tearfully hugging them as they hang down to their last breathe. I am glad that practice does not exist anymore.

Prentiss Hall: We always held physicians' Christmas parties here in the past but the building has just sold so I am not sure if we will continue having them here, but the building and all its furnishing are really exquisite and so beautiful. It is full of antiques.

This is a private home and I am sure the owner does not believe in "less is more", lol. AJ gets a kick out of this house everytime we see it and you will never miss it driving by towards the Mississippi River.

These are houses along the Mississippi River. Don't they just have the most breathtaking view?

A tour in Natchez is not complete without a ride to the Natchez cemetery. It's famous and it houses the famous "Turning Angel". Angels on the Bluff is also held every year where a reenactment of peoples' lives in the olden days as acted upon by the descendants of the ones buried there, in period costumes. We are going to see it for the first time next month after Halloween and we are meeting with Carol, a blogger from Hattiesburg. It is supposed to be a real good event, in fact, tickets are always sold out that is why we reserve early. People come from all over to experience it.

Have you read Greg Iles' latest novel, "The Devil's Punchbowl"? I asked our friend to take us there and so he did. It is just north of the cemetery. It was kinda spooky. The devil's punchbowl is a very deep semi circular pit and was said to be used as a hiding place by the river pirates. Some still believes that there are still some hidden treasures in there along with some skeletons and dead bodies but I am not going down there to find out.

Natchez' Little Theater.

I hope you enjoyed this little tour of our historical town. Thanks a lot for joining me and thanks, Beverly for another Pink Saturday.