I was so looking forward to arriving in Mississippi... with memories of Mark Twain's novels and the mighty Mississippi fondly imbedded in my mind... tales of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer; characters oozing with curiosity and michief that remind me of my three boys. I was anxious to see the wonder that Twain had imparted on me yet it seemed that as we drove down the Mississippi, my vision of it was fading fast. Truly, there were times when I was downright scared. (John finds that funny but I noticed he wasn't jumping to get out of the car either.) Hurricane Katrina, the economy, crime have all left their mark on this desperate part of the state. We all became rather quiet ( a hard thing to do for our family) driving through the rougher bits and we became a little bit more appreciative of all that we have.
(No, not snow... it's a cotton field, one of many we drove past)
And then we found Natchez and we breathed a sigh of relief! Natchez is a gorgeous little town in the South Western part of the state right on the Mississipi. Known for its fine antebellum architecture but it too was hit hard by Katrina and lost some of its historic structures but the character of the town and its people are thriving. Here I glimpsed the beauty of Twain's writing and reality. There is still wonder here on this mighty river. We ate in this quaint, rustic, seaside restaurant called Magnolia's grill. We filled our bellies with shrimp, grits and fried green tomatoes. Delicious! Just outside was a riverboat waiting to go upstream. Sometimes it is easier to live inside the pages of a book but today's journey gave me a greater sense of appreciation of the people of this State and for the history they have endured.
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