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We drove out of New Orleans along the Mississippi River to see some of the plantation houses along the way. Oak Alley has 28 beautiful oak trees forming an avenue to the house and we also managed to get some photos of Nottoway House. A number of them are on the National Historic Register and showcase antebellum-era architecture but can only been seen as part of a tour.
We headed into Baton Rouge to see the tallest State Capitol building in the US - 450 ft (137 metres) which is a National Historic Landmark and is located on a 27 acre (110,000 m2) tract of land. It was built by Governor Huey Long in 1932 who was murdered there in 1935 and the bullet holes can still be seen. After going up to the top for panoramic views over the city we returned to the ground floor to find that both the Senate and House of Representatives were in session! We have been to numerous State Capitols but this is the first time we have actually seen elected officials working!
Our next stop was across the border into Mississippi where we parked at a Walmart in Natchez. A young man, Trell, parked next to us and obviously had engine problems judging by the amount of steam and smoke billowing out from under the bonnet.
The good news was that he had a Toyota and we are not bad mechanics by now. His radiator had burst and had a very large crack in it. So we taped it up with aluminium tape, told him to take out the valve from the radiator cap so that there is no pressure in the system, gave him extra water and told him to stop every so often to refill the radiator on his 15 mile journey to get the car back to his sister. He would need a new radiator anyway but by following our instructions, at least he could save the engine!
At the visitor centre we picked up information and went down to the river to see the American Queen - an old steam paddle boat ($1400 per person for 7 days.) The next day we took time out to watch the Champions League final where Chelsea beat Bayern Munich!
We visited three plantation houses in Natchez - Melrose, Auburn and Dunleith and then drove along Natchez Trace Parkway. In the late 18th century, Natchez was the starting point of the Natchez Trace overland route, a Native American trail originally established by migrating animals, most likely buffalo, which ran from Natchez to Nashville through what is now Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Produce and goods were transported on the Mississippi River by boatmen who usually sold their wares at Natchez or New Orleans, including their boats (as lumber). They made the long trek back north overland on the Natchez Trace to their homes.
The Parkway is 444 miles long (715 km) and is a pleasant (and quiet) two lane road which follows the approximate path of the Trace with various points of interest and trails along the way.
We only drove along the first 140 miles, stopping to walk along some of the short walking trails and to visit a restored inn. We stayed at Rocky Springs campground (free) for three nights and walked along parts of the Trace to see the site of the former town of Rocky Springs along with Karin and Rainer from Hamburg who were also staying at the campground.
A storm came over so we listened to the weather radio which was forecasting 60 mph winds, ping-pong ball sized hail and heavy rain! So we decided to stay put and ride out the storm. Good decision because the trees around the campground protected us from most of the storm but we still heard a branch falling quite close to us at 2am and went out to investigate. Fortunately there was no damage to us but there was a lot of rain and we had to drive around to get rid of the pooling water on our roof.
