Day 33 - Mississippi

 Day 33

Nov. 13

Clarkco, MS

My Dear Miss Smith,
    I realize that I wrote a letter to you last night, but Amy said that if I would write you this evening, she would write you tomorrow.

    It has been a lovely day. We got on the road early in spite of the lateness of the preceding night. Our first stop of the day was in Biloxi to see the last home of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America. The house was shrouded in a light fog when we arrived, but that quickly burned off when the sun came up a little more. We all loved the outside of the house with its pillars and high veranda. Inside was just as lovely. The house is called “Beauvoir” which is French for beautiful view because the third owner of this house loved the view of the Mississippi Sound from the front porch. I had wondered why it had that name.

    There is a statue of Jefferson Davis with his son Joseph and another boy, Jim Limber behind the house. I believe it was dedicated in 2010.

    After spending much time wandering around the gift shop, we purchased a few things and then went on our way. Each of us now has a penny with Jefferson Davis’ head on it instead of Lincoln’s. I’m contemplating the idea of attaching a pin to the back of mine and adding it to my 50-States hat. I have not decided for sure, however.


    Heading on, our next stop was just north of Lucedale. There we visited the Palestine Gardens.

Oh, Miss Smith, everyone of us enjoyed this stop immensely. The gardens are a miniature replica of the Holy Land. It is a one yard/one mile scale and we were able to see the Dead Sea, Bethlehem and Jerusalem and took a journey to Ceasarea Philippi.
Getting to see what everything looked like, the hills, the streets, the walls around the cities, all made the Bible much more real. There has been a lot of hard work put into this garden and it was well worth our visit. I’m sure we could have remained there much longer, but we had to continue our trip.

    It was several hours later before we reached Clarkco State Park where we had decided to spend the night. It is near Quitman, if you would like to find it on your map. Oh, it is a lovely place. Quiet and peaceful after the noise of the cities. There is a lake and our RV is parked under tall trees.

It wasn’t quite dark when we arrived and everyone was glad to get out of the RV. The dogs were no exception. We have been so busy in cities that this place is a delightful retreat.

    We all agreed to build a fire and roast hot dogs for supper with s’mores afterwards for dessert. It was chilly, so warm jackets were welcome. Penelope couldn’t decide if she wanted to lie down beside Lydia and Natalie or over near me. There was no indecision with Timber; he was overjoyed to be outside with Amy once more.
    Now I have retired to the RV to write as the light of the dying campfire is not bright enough to see. It was with a great deal of giggling and excitement that Amy, Natalie and Lydia came in to get warmer jackets and for Amy to get one of our lanterns. They said they were going to go for a walk with the dogs. I have no fear for them since Timber went along, and I imagine it will be a while before they come back for the novelty of such a walk in the dark with only the light of a lantern will no doubt keep them energized for some time.

    Now, Miss Smith, how are things back home? Is Bekah helping you at all? Are the dogs doing all right without me? I do hope Patches and Perky are staying out of trouble. You haven’t re-organized all my books again, have you? I know I will be gone for a year, but how I will ever find my books on my return remains to be seen. Amy tells me that Bekah had told her that for each state we visit, you post the map of it on the bulletin board and put a colored pin in each place we visit. That is a charming idea and I wish I had a place to do that here. I will just keep my notebooks going, however. I have a feeling they will be full long before we complete our trip. If that is so, I will simply mail them to you to be filed until my return and create new ones.
    But I am growing sleepy. The girls and dogs have not returned yet, but I am going to retire. I’m sure I will hear all about their adventures in the morning. Sleep well, Miss Smith.

With love,

~Priscilla

Day 33 - Mississippi - Postcard

Day 33

Postcard

Dear Miss Smith,

It was fun going to Jefferson Davis' home in Biloxi, Mississippi. The house was big. I counted twenty-six stairs going up to the house. It had nine windows all around the house. Inside there was lots of old furniture. There were silhouettes of Jefferson Davis' family. We saw the furniture in Jefferson Davis' room. We had fun!

Love,

Natalie

Day 32 - Mississippi - Evening

Day 32

November 12

Gulfport, Mississippi

Dear Miss Smith,
    I don’t have much time to write as it is already late and we have a busy day tomorrow; I don’t want the girls to stay up too late. It would never do to have sleepy girls.
    We just got back from the Gulfport Symphony! [Note from Miss Smith: Click on the Symphony and have your speakers on to listen to a bit of the symphony itself!] Oh, Miss Smith! It was enchanting, exquisite, delightful, soothing, invigorating, refreshing, need I say more? It was with astonishment that I learned that neither Lydia or Natalie, nor Amy, had ever been to a symphony. That was something that could not be allowed to continue, so after supper we prepared.
    I insisted that we all must wear our best, for you know, Miss Smith, that attending a symphony is a gala occasion. Amy did the girls’ hair for them and they looked quite sweet. They even delighted me by agreeing to wear hats! Now, do have no worries, I beg of you. These hats were the small ones and in no way did they obstruct the view of those sitting behind us. Amy could not be persuaded to wear a hat of any kind, so at last we departed in style for the concert hall.

    Upon arriving and entering, all three of my companions fell into an awed silence, for the grandeur of the place, the essence of past concerts that seemed to linger in the air, and the notes of instruments tuning on the stage held them in its mighty symphony grasp, nor did it leave them through the entire concert.

Ivan Zenaty - Soloist

    The soloist, Ivan Zenaty, was marvelous and you could tell playing his violin was pure joy to him. The conductor did a brilliant job. We were treated to Debussy’s Afternoon of a Faun, David Ott’s Music for the Canvas and Aram Khachaturian’s Violin Concerto in D minor. I simply cannot describe the music, Miss Smith. I get shivers up and down my spine just recalling it.
    All the way home and even now, the conversation is the music. I don’t think these girls will ever forget their night at the symphony.
    Good Night, Miss Smith, I’ll write more soon.

~Priscilla

[Note from Miss Smith: Priscilla couldn't take any pictures for you, so please stop by the web site to see pictures.]

Day 32 - Mississippi

 Day 32

Nov. 12

Gulfport, MS

Dear Miss Smith,

You know, I never thought I could get a sunburn this late in the year... but I assure it IS possible!

Today was a great day to go to ship island: sunny and surprisingly warm. Riding the ferry across we got to see dolphins. They swam right next to us! It reminded me of when I was in California several years ago and saw several dolphins just off the beach. Only this time they were a lot closer!

There weren't many swimmers there but plenty of people were around the island. We got there just a bit before lunch and so found a quiet spot on the beach to have a little picnic with sandwiches we'd brought along. After lunch we ran around on the beach. The dogs loved it! THEY didn't mind swimming even if the rest of us did. We did wade around in the water though.

Then we wandered around the island, exploring the old fort, boats, etc until about mid-afternoon when we headed back on the ferry to get ready for the symphony after supper.

Captain and crew (father and sons)

The story of our trip just wouldn't be the same without the excitement of the return trip. We were at the edge of the ferry, looking out over the water. There was a cool breeze ruffling our hair and skirts. 'Cila was afraid her hat might blow off so she took it off and held it in her hand. I think it might have been safer on her head. Just a few minutes later a larger gust of wind tore it from her hands straight into the water! I'm sure you can imagine how shocked and horrified Priscilla was as she saw her hat floating there in the water! I must admit, I found the situation rather amusing though I couldn't think of allowing it to show!
Thankfully one of the crew members was nearby and fished the hat out of the water with a fishing pole. THAT was when I had to laugh! Imagine seeing that turquoise hat hanging on the end of a fishign line! Pretty fancy fish, I'd say. Thankfully it was relatively unharmed. It was drenched of course but Priscilla has it nearly back to normal by now.

We had supper and then headed to the Symphony . Priscilla and I enjoyed it very much but the girls were so exhausted after the long day on the beach that they were asleep long before it was over. At last we got them back to the RV and now they're fast asleep in bed and I feel like I'm about to be asleep too so I should probably close this before I can't do anymore at all tonight.

Sincerely,
Amy

Day 32 - Mississippi - Postcard

Day 32

Dear Miss Smith,
    I had so much fun in Gulfport Mississippi. On the boat ride to Ship Island I saw dolphins. I wanted to get in and swim with them but for one, I couldn't just jump off the boat and for two, I would probably scare the dolphins away in the process of jumping off the boat. When we got there, Lydia and I picked purple flowers and put them in our hair. Then we raced along the seashore and after that we collected seashells. We picked up a seashell for you; can't wait to see you.

Love,

Natalie