Memories of Mississippi - 2010.

We took a tour of Beauvoir, Jefferson Davis's home.  Beauvoir is French and means a "beautiful view".  I was surprised to learn, Jefferson Davis was a U. S. Senator, Congressman and Secretary of War.  After the Civil War was over Confederate soldiers became citizens of the United States again but not Jefferson Davis.  He was a man without a country.

Jefferson Davis home on the Gulf of Mexico, Gulfport, Mississippi.

View of the Gulf of Mexico, sitting on the front porch in white rocking chairs at Jefferson Davis home.  It is said that he loved to sit on the front porch.  Of course, his view was different than this one as the highway was not there.  The Corps of Engineers have made the white sandy beaches that are now in front of the house.  According to a picture we looked at, there was not a beach just rocks and very little sand.  I wonder what Jefferson Davis would say about all the bikinis that stroll by?

Jefferson Davis statue.  Of five children only two daughters survived.

This picture is taken in the back of JD house.  That large green cistern is where rain water was caught and used.  The kitchen where food was prepared and carried to the dining table was outside.  Water had to be carried for cooking, bathing as there was not the luxury of modern day pluming.  There was a bath tub in JD room.  It was big enough for a man to sit with his butt in the water with arms, legs, upper torso and head not in water.  The bath tub for his wife to bathe in was a "tad" larger with a seating area and her feet in the water.  More like a sponge bath.  She was bathed by her servants, I suppose.

Sign marking the Confederate Veterans Cemetery site on the grounds of the JD home.

Headstones of Confederate soldiers in above cemetary at JD home.

Tomb of the unknown Confederate soldier.  If I remember correctly, the last Confederate soldier found was in the 1950's and buried here.  A re-enactment with Confederate uniforms was given to the unknown soldier.

Restoration has started and this site will be Jefferson Davis Presidential Library.  According to the historian, there was a lot of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina.   The surge was 24 feet high and the height of the floor in JD home was 23 feet.  The floor are made from wood and it did not buckle.

 

Another statue of Jefferson Davis on the grounds of his home.

Moss growing on trees in Gulfport, Mississippi.

This southern mansion is along highway 90.  It reminds me of the southern mansion in "Gone With The Wind".

Azaleas are prevalent in Mississippi.  The colors are:  coral, pink and white.  Some are very large.  The pink is my favorite.