Natchez

On our way south to New Orleans, we stopped in Natchez where we spent the night.
Natchez is a delightful city on the eastern bank of the Mississippi River. The Elms, the amazing B&B where we stayed, is a beautiful mansion with a large garden surrounding it.
The house is elegant and reminiscent of a lavish past. According to Wikipedia, “established by French colonists in 1716, Natchez is one of the oldest and most important European settlements in the lower Mississippi River Valley. After the French lost the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War), they ceded Natchez and near territory to Spain in the Treaty of Paris of 1763 (which later traded other territory east of the Mississippi River with Great Britain). After the United States acquired this area following the American Revolutionary War, the city served as the capital of the American Mississippi Territory and then of the state of Mississippi. It predates Jackson by more than a century; the latter replaced Natchez as the capital in 1822, as it was more centrally located in the developing state.”
As you can tell this place breaths history and that house is a true legacy of that past.
A lovely lady welcome us in and showed us around the house. Memorabilia of all sorts were on display on the antique furniture and full size portraits of men in uniform and women in gowns adorned the walls. She handed out two breakfast vouchers, explaining that the next morning breakfast would be served in a mansion on the other side of the city as the B&B kitchen would be closed. She said that our suite, the Drake Room, was on the first floor. “In the master bedroom – she said – there is a door opening to the balcony overlooking the front lawn of ancient oak trees, just above the main entrance of the house.” She gave us the keys and disappeared in the kitchen.
We went upstairs, found the room and got inside. Our suite, the Drake Room, was very large and had wooden floors and hand-stencilled walls. The en-suite shower room had marble walls, floors, sink and shower room. A huge pole bed was the central piece of the master bedroom, located just in front a stunning fireplace. A wide screen TV hung above it gave away the fact that we had not entered a time warp and were still in the 21st century but that was just about the only thing which did not belong to the past. Everything else was an antique or a pretty good imitation. In the second bedroom there were two single beds, a desk and a wardrobe. We chilled out for a bit, then had a shower, got changed and went out searching for a place where to dine. Little we knew that day was a bank holiday and pretty much every restaurant in the city was closed. After driving around for a while, we managed to find a hotel with a restaurant where we finally had a decent dinner.
After a good night sleep, we said goodbye to the lady owner, loaded the car and drove away. We were now on the lookout for that breakfast place. That turned out to be a huge white mansion on the top of a lawned hill, a fine example of neo-classical Greek Revival architecture. We drove up hill and followed directions to the back of the building where the breakfast hall was located. We got in and realised we were pretty much the only guests, apart from a table were five elegant old ladies were playing cards. We presented the vouchers to a waitress who escorted us to a table in front of a window facing the park. What can I say, that place was stunning and we had one of the best breakfast experiences ever. We got one last glass of orange juice and left, heading South.
Next stop, the Big Easy…