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