...Natchez to New Orleans, Living on Jacks and Queens

Day 22

Eversince I was a young boy, watching the TV western “Maverick” on Sunday night, I’ve wanted to see the town of Natchez that was mentioned it the theme song.  Today I saw it!

We left our campground at 7:45 and stopped for coffee and a pastry at a café right near the lake. Mandeville is really a pretty town, very upscale, beautiful homes right along the lake.

Lakefront park along Pontchartrain in Mandeville

We arrived in Natchez around 1 pm, so we went straight to a restaurant Joni had researched, “King’s Tavern” which is the oldest standing building in Mississippi, built in 1739. It was charming and our lunch was fabulous.  We shared a humus plate and a brisket flatbread.  For drinks Joni had tea and I had moonshine!  Equally fabulous too.

After lunch we drove around Natchez.  The town was empty but charming nevertheless.  Prior to the Civil War, Natchez was a prosperous port on the Mississippi, and home to many very wealthy cotton farmers who built their mansions high on the bluffs that overlooks the river.  I think it epitomized the Old South.

From Natchez we drove along “Natchez Trace Parkway” which stretches 400+ miles from Nashville to Natchez. 

It is now maintained by the National Park Service and is very similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Along the Parkway there are many historical stops to explore.  We checked out Emerald Mound, the second largest Indian Mound in North America.

Originally the Trace was a route created by the Natchez Indians before the French settled in this part of the US.  We only followed it for about 40 miles as we made our way toward Vicksburg.

We arrived in Vicksburg around 4 pm, stopping at the visitors’ center of the Vicksburg National Battlefield Park where we watched a movie, toured the exhibits, and purchased a audio guide for our self driving tour tomorrow.

The Park closes at 5 pm, so he headed to our campsite for the night in Poverty Point State Park, Louisiana.  It was very nice, spotless & un-crowded since it was Sunday evening and families with kids had to go back to work/school.   After setting up our van for the night we dined inside the van due to the bugs on take-out Mexican.  Pretty good considering we’re in the middle of nowhere!