Historic Beauvoir House....

Our Location: Magic River Rv Resort, Long Beach, Mississippi

A warm night followed by a great day with lots of blue skies, warm temps and little wind. Tonight seems to be a repeat of last night!

Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum

Up at the fire shortly before 6 a.m. to see the usual faces, Buzz, and Mac followed by the regulars in a staggering line. ~laugh~ The chatter was constant and the discussions varied. Jerry, Ron, Linda, Pete, Pat, Swilly, Amanda, and Robert all put in an appearance this morning. 

Glass section in the floor between first and second floor in the Museum

Home by 8:30 am to find that Riley had bagged up the garbage, washed the dishes and had a shower all before I managed to get home. Busy lady she was!!!!! So sweet to do all that work by herself. 

Piano in the museum near the Library.

After breakfast we headed out for a walk, doing 2 miles before we called it off. Both of us were kind of tired at that point. Climbed into the Dogsled to head off for a tour of the Jefferson Davis house known as Beauvoir House in Biloxi. I've toured it before but Riley hasn't so we thought it would be interesting. The fee of $12.50 each covered everything on the grounds. The museum and Presidential Library are new since my last visit a few years ago but the 'house' was the same with a great Docent to lead us thru. He was a fun fellow that encouraged interaction, questions and engaged us often. At one point I ended up as a Volunteer! ~laugh~ Why are the door handles so low on the doors? Because men were required to be gallant and with the handles so low they had to bow to open the door and therefore bowed to the young lady in their company. Chivalry is not dead in the deep south at Beauvoir house. The Docent bowed to me while instructing me to lead the troops out and to the left.   Jim was a delight to lead us through the house and explain all the answers to all questions, even if he didn't know the answer. ~laugh~ 

The funeral carriage that carried Jefferson Davis' body.

Riley and I wandered to the cemetery before we took the tour of the house and ran into another Docent in period dress that talked a great deal about the deep south, the gardens, Beauvoir house and many other things. While a kindly woman I was happy to get away from her as she talked way too much!!!

Cannon, balls, confederate flag in the Museum.

The house was built by Mr. Brown, a rich plantation owner who used it as his summer house for 3 months out of the year. Two separate cottages grace each side of the mansion. One was a schoolhouse/library and the other was a guest cottage used at that time by visiting clergy to the area, latter as a guest house in which J. Davis stayed for 2 years. Both of these cottages were destroyed by Katrina and rebuilt. The marble arches that once graced the front yard were destroyed by Katrina and the larger rescued pieces of marble were made into a smaller arch that now graces the cemetery in the back. Mr Brown sold it to Mrs. Darcy, owner when Jeff Davis used the guest cottage. Mrs. Darcy and Mrs. Jefferson Davis knew each other from 'finishing' school and were about the same age. Mrs. Darcy sold the house to the Davis'. 

View from the front porch of the house.

The cemetery holds confederate soldiers, any family member that may have died at the this location (when it was a Hospital for the confederate soldiers) and even some servants. The cemetery also holds the body of Samuel Davis, Jefferson Davis' father who was fought in the Revolutionary War. The tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier is also located there. 

 

The grand staircase!

 

We spent a couple of hours at this place enjoying the sights and tours. We would strongly recommend a visit to the place if you are in the area, it is well worth the time and money. 

 

Jefferson Davis' father's clock.

 

From there we headed homeward but stopped a a Surf Style just because we could. We both decided against a Wally run today for a couple of reasons. Home we managed to find some lunch, I sat outside reading for a while this afternoon, taking a chair to the pond's edge to sit in the sun. After that it was reading inside for a while, then close up the place as night is falling. 

 

Tomb of the Unknown Confederate Soldier.

 

Dinner was pasta since we haven't had it for a while. It was good, broad noodles with various kinds of cheese. Yummy. We left the dishes again tonight. I'm just exhausted tonight for some reason! 

 

Ceiling in the back parlour/library.

 

So there you have it, thanks for stopping by, feel free to leave a comment. Until next time..be safe, take care...

Busy Monday in Montgomery.....

We are currently in Foley, Alabama, but for a couple of weeks we had no internet so I'm posting my posts in order. I will manage a few a day until I'm caught up. Sorry for the long dry spell. ~laugh~ 

Our Location: Gunter Hill Campground, Montgomery, Al

(Post for Monday, Jan 9, 2017)


Cold morning again but today is the day that it starts to warm up!!! So the weather folks say any way. We start off having a good breakfast of yogurt and granola to help tide us over until lunch.

Blue skies, bright sunshine but cold, below the freezing mark!!!! Brrrrr, even the Dogsled groaned at first. ~laugh~

Out the door by 8:45 am we were headed to Montgomery to see a few things. Our first stop was the Museum of Alabama. A huge stately building with varying shades of marble throughout the whole structure, floor, walls, steps, ceilings, everywhere you looked, it glistened and shone. The brass railings were shiny and elegant as they curved with the staircases. We started off chatting with a gentleman that gave us a heads up about what to see and where to see it. His military uniform from the Korean Conflict is in this building!! He is older than the building, it’s 75.

Museum of Alabama, stately columns, elegant marble and glittering brass.

We start off in a room that depicts the landscape of the time, moving on to the first inhabitants of the area, and moved up to the modern times. An interesting time line that offered a vast range of items and information on the lives, rites, survival, and changes in a period from the early 1200 to modern times. Small replicas of Indian villages, various artifacts from their villages, arrowheads, pots, spears, cloth, bowls, grinding stones, etc. The information was laid out in an interesting  fashion, allowing us to take in most of the information without suffering overload.



The pictures taken here were difficult to take as most had a reflection or a glare from the low level lighting, and glass cases.

Handwoven baskets of this style were used as early as the 1500's. 

The next room moved on to the time just before, during and after the the civil war and it’s many weapons, uniforms, various pieces and types of correspondence, chains, manacles, and of course cotton, coal, and industry. Spread among the exhibits were flat screens that told of various times in history, lasting only about 3 or 4 minutes but giving enough information to outline the times, disruptions, upheavals, confrontations, solutions, etc.

From there we moved forward into the modern age of computers, industry, government, and transportation of the city. Of course since Martin Luther King, Jr’s march ended here in this city, and Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat in this city, it has a rich history of civil rights movement as well.

Indian stone disk carving depicting a snake, used for certain rites and a status symbol. 

From there we moved on to the First White House of the Confederacy, right next door to the Museum of Alabama. A small unassuming house it offers a glimpse into the life of Jefferson Davis the President of the Confederacy. It shows well in the rich and graceful furnishing, curtains, china and artifacts of the time. Ironically the volunteer working today was from up state New York, a Yankee!!!! ~laugh~

This pistol has four barrels, wonder how accurate it was? 

The house boasts 5 bedrooms, all with heavy furniture, ornate moldings, spacious rooms with amazingly large windows and doors. Jefferson Davis’ home office with numerous cabinets for his books, various tables and chairs grouped to provide a place to sit and write, read or discuss business. Rich dark wood, numerous chandeliers and thick carpets. This White House was eventually left behind when the Confederacy moved it’s ‘White House’ to Richmond.

2nd parlour in the First White House of the Confederacy.

From here we walked across the wide boulevard to the State Capital Building. A large, regal, imposing white columned  building with marble steps leading to the front door. At the top of these steps is a gold star depicting the spot  Jefferson Davis was sworn in as President of the Confederacy. This was also known as the CSA, the Confederate States of America. This building has security measures in place with Military or Troopers standing by to check your bag and assist you thru the metal detector. Asking for any and all weapons before allowing you cross the great divide. ~laugh~ We toured this grand old building with it’s stately rooms, ceilings were easily 20ft in each of the rooms, again marble everywhere, sweeping curved staircases, massive chandeliers, tall graceful windows and doors that must have easily reached 15 feet in height. A number of ‘old’ rooms here are preserved as they once were, senate chambers, house of representatives, etc. The seating is heavy, imposing, ornamental but also stark. A place of business with a goal in mind. An upper gallery that allowed people to stand and listen to the day’s proceeding at a time when politicians  worried about getting it right for the people. The beautiful rotunda is ornate with paintings/murals depicting the passing years of the area, it soars for 3 levels making one dizzy just looking up.

Mrs. Davis died in a hotel room in New York City, these furnishings were in her room at the time and were given to the museum. 

From there we headed home. Enough for one day. Back at the Igloo by 1:00 pm we were happy as the temps were soaring into more comfortable ranges. Riley opted to stay and have some lunch while I opted to go for a walk instead. I walked from here to the other loop in the campground, which is closed at this time of the year. It was a fairly long walk, took me about 45 minutes to reach the other campground. A quick walk thru it and back home to do some work before heading inside. Finally warm enough to hook up the sewer and take out the mat, BBQ, lights, chairs, etc. We will be here fore 11 nights so will make it cozy. No night time lights in this park so I put out our solar lights, a string of small lights to help light up the area when I barbecue.

These doors are massive, note where the knobs are located and they are at proper height. 

Inside to have lunch, it’s now 3 pm. Had a quick snack and read my book. Enjoyed just sitting and relaxing. Dinner tonight was left over soup, delish!!!!!!!

Looks tasty huh?

We’re having a problem with lady bugs and ants, that we picked up at Albany. I think I’ve managed to get most of the lady bugs out of the Igloo but they keep popping up, one or five at a time. The ants come and go, tiny black sugar ants but they do bite, so we need to get rid of them soon. We’ve been spraying but I don’t want to spray too much as it might bother the cat. Oh well, eventually I’ll get rid of them.

After dinner we played Yahtzee….one game. No one rolled a Yahtzee. ~laugh~

A very happy birthday wish going out to my oldest niece Amber, celebrating today. I hope you have had an excellent day!!

We’re both tired and off to bed. Riley to do whatever it is she does and me to write my blog. Thanks for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit. Feel free to leave a comment. Until next time..be safe, take care…..