Day 29 - Mississippi

Day 29

Nov. 9

Vicksburg, Mississippi

My Dear Miss Smith,
It is raining out and has been most of the day. This is the first real rainy day of the trip. We were very glad our plans for today did not involve being outside except for the brief moments between the RV and our destinations.
    We arrived here in Vicksburg with Lydia and Natalie eager for more adventures. It truly is a delight to have these two girls with us once again. They are both so sweet and full of energy. The dogs were excited to see them too.


    Our first stop was the Annabella Mansion. A large brick Victorian-Italianate residence which stands overlooking the river valley, and was built just after the Civil War, or I suppose I should say, since I am in the South, the War for Southern Independence, by John Alexander Klein for his son.

    We didn’t get to tour the gardens since it was raining and we were told that since it was November, there were not many green things about. Ah, well, the inside was well worth the two hours we spent there. Yes, Miss Smith, it would have been delightful had we decided to remain the night there, but alas, our plans didn’t allow that.

Parlor

    The parlor walls were of a salmon-pink color; quite lovely with the silvery drapes, green and rose furniture and dark brown wood accents. One large painting of a woman was hanging quite prominently though I cannot recall just which relation it was.

    If you thought the parlor was lovely, you should have seen the dining room!


Its walls and drapes were the same as the parlor, but the chandelier was exquisite. And the set of the table was . . . beyond my ability to describe it.

Dining Room

    It was with reluctance that I departed, but the girls were eager to move on, so on we went.



    Stopping for a quick lunch, everyone ate rapidly, eager to visit Yesterday’s Children which is an antique doll and toy museum.

    I must say Natalie and Lydia were speechless for a full ten minutes after we had entered the museum. There were over one thousand dolls in that museum, some dating to 1843! There were dolls of every description, size and age.

A collection of the Shirley Temple dolls brought back many memories of when I was young and played with my grandmother’s dolls. There were French and German dolls, old dolls, modern dolls, baby dolls and more. Once Lydia and Natalie found their tongues, their exclamations were continuous.

    “Oh, look at this one!”
    “Did you see this dress?”
    “Isn’t she sweet?”
    “I wish I had a dress just like that!”

    And they were sure to point out when they saw a doll with a hat which they thought looked like something I would wear. Amy and I enjoyed ourselves as much as the girls, I do believe.

    Now, Miss Smith, don’t think that the only thing in the museum was dolls. No, there was an entire section for the menfolk.

Trains, boats, fire engines, GI Joes, guns, construction and road building equipment and much more.

    They even had a doll and toy store. I verily believe, Miss Smith, that had each of the little girls one hundred dollars they would have spent every last penny in that store. I treated them to a book of paper dolls each. Paper dolls are easy to play with in a vehicle.

In fact, I might as well confess I bought two sets of paper dolls for myself and one for Amy. As a child there was nothing I liked better to do on a rainy day than cut out and play with my collection of paper dolls. Blame it on the rain if you must, Miss Smith. I simply couldn’t decide whether to get the 1940s set

or the Victorian set, so I let Natalie and Lydia talk me into both. I know the girls will play with the dolls more than I will, but I’ll at least have the pleasure of cutting them out.

    At last, the pangs of hunger sent us back to the RV where, after donning rain coats and boots, we all took the dogs for a run before the three girls prepared supper. Now, as the rain drums on the roof of our snug little home away from home, the three girls are sitting on the floor cutting and dressing their paper dolls. I will end this now, Miss Smith, for I have a great longing to join them. Tomorrow we are heading to Jackson.

Sleep well,

~Priscilla