Saturday, October 27, 2012 – our last capital

We wanted to pick up the last capital on our route today; Jackson MS. However, when we got there we found it was closed – oh, yes, today is Saturday. And this looked like it would have been a beautiful building to tour. It has two large wings with domes and the central portion also has a cupola with a golden Eagle on top. We were looking in the entrance when the security guard came out to talk to us. He said we could come in and just look up in the rotunda. The carved wood railings and carvings and murals on the walls were gorgeous. I am sorry we could not see more, and, of course, I missed getting another stamp! The guard told us the building was built in 1902 and the former Capitol is now a museum. The extensive grounds were very plain; no huge monuments or floral plantings.

So, we decided to get a National Parks passport stamp and drove on to Vicksburg National Military Park, on the Mississippi River at the border of Louisiana and Mississippi. This was the site of a decisive battle of the Civil War. We first stopped at the Visitor Center to watch a movie about this important period of our United States history. Vicksburg was a Confederate stronghold. The town was located on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and thus had control of traffic at that point on the River. General Grant had been given orders by President Lincoln to capture the town and subdue the rebels. It took Grant almost a year to finally defeat the town with almost constant artillery barrages and a formal siege.

After watching the movie, we drove through the park looking at all the spots where battles had been fought. The most impressive thing was all the monuments from small tombstones to several giant monuments with statues and obelisks. I think they were placed over the years by various regiments, states, and cities to honor soldiers, officers, and troops who had fought in the many battles.

We also spent some time walking around the city of Vicksburg looking at all the historic buildings. The Mississippi has changed course so the city is no longer on the River. We had to drive a little further south to see the mighty Mississippi and cross the bridge into Louisiana.

We made it as far as Monroe, LA before we decided to stop for the night.

Part 2, Capital/Capitols

On Friday we were heading for Montgomery AL when we realized that we were really heading for Birmingham! After a quick course correction we were on local roads again and going south. I can’t tell you how much better it is to find a State Highway that the trucks have not found, even if the road is rough and the speed limit keeps changing.

We got to Montgomery about noon and easily found the State Capitol. It was built in 1850 on the top of Goat Hill, right where the city fathers had envisioned it. This Capitol is all white and also built in the Greek Revival style with a cupola containing a large clock. There are four floors below the rotunda. We started at the top floor to view the dome and admire all the murals. They were painted by Roderick Mackenzie on canvas and then attached to the walls. I thought that was pretty amazing. On either side at the back there are spectacular spiral stairways that go all the way down to the first floor. We took those down to the next floor.

On the next floor down you can see the Senate and House chambers. They have been restored to what they were in the late 1800s. So, this building is part museum and part working capital. The Legislature actually meets across the street in the Alabama Statehouse. I was surprised to see that the House members did not have desks – just beautiful wood chairs. The Senate did have desks. I loved the carpets; they were a red floral pattern. We learned that the Confederate States of America were organized in the Senate chamber and this was the Confederate Capital for three months before being moved to Richmond VI.

Going down the other set of spiral stairways to the main floor we saw more rooms that were now museums. One was the Supreme Court Chamber and library. There were also grand staircases from this level to the second level. On the street level we visited the gift shop and got the Capitol stamp. The main steps in front of the Capitol are the location of the end of the march from Selma to Montgomery that was instrumental in ending segregation in the South.

We left Montgomery and took I-20 to Meridian MS where we settled in for the night.

Thursday, October 25 and Friday, October 26 – more Capitols or is it capitals? Part 1

If you look at the map of the southern states you will note that the capitals and the states are pretty much lined up. We had collected the lower state capitals and the upper states, but not the middle ones. So, we are off to collect Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.

We left Asheville on Thursday morning and headed for Atlanta GA. We passed through Arden NC and I realized that was where my long time friend, Laurie Hamilton, lives. However, we are not on a trip to visit friends, but to do serious sightseeing and get home in a reasonable time! So, I gave her a mental hello and we moved on via SR 25. We got to see some more of South Carolina as we headed for Georgia. We are here at the perfect time of year – the trees are in beautiful color, the weather is comfortable, and traffic is moderate. The Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance were just beautiful. Most of the road was four lanes and it was like driving down a tree lined parkway.

We arrived in Atlanta around noon and everything I said above was untrue – lots of traffic, not much green, and the weather suddenly got hot! But we found a place to park on the street and went to look at the Capitol. We went through security and took the elevator to the fourth floor (the highest the public is allowed). That floor has been designated a museum almost from the opening of the building in 1889. The hall is filled with display cases with artifacts and information about the history, people, and products of Georgia. The building has a triple dome, covered with gold, and has a statue of Miss Freedom on top. There was a model of the statue, not to be confused with the Statue of Liberty, on this floor.

The third floor is where the House and Senate chambers are located. They are not as highly decorated as some. They have been restored to look very much like they did originally. The large press box in the back, and the long beautiful wood desk at the front for the speaker or presider were most impressive.

On the second floor, looking up at the rotunda and at all the paintings and murals you could feel the pride of the Georgians for their place in the history of the Civil War and the fight for civil liberties. I was also impressed by the lower level of the Capitol, which contained quite a few beautifully done dioramas of the flora and fauna of the state.

We continued our exploration of the history of Civil Rights by visiting the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site on Auburn Street. This is the place where his family home is located and the Baptist Church where he, his father, and grandfather preached. It is a National Park service

site so there is a visitor center with a movie and exhibits. You can also walk along Auburn Street to see some of the original houses that were there when he was growing up.

Because of all the confusion in trying to get around in Atlanta, we were anxious to leave and I did not take the time to contact my two friends, Carol Ann Ward, and Pat Clement who live in the area. We left town on I-20 and found a real campground in Bremen GA to spend the night.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 - Upstairs, downstairs

We spent the night in Spartanburg SC at our favorite camp ground! We ended up at another Waffle House for breakfast. This is getting boring! We got to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville NC about 11 a.m. What a lovely, long, and tiring day we had there!

Biltmore is the home of George Washington Vanderbilt, the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, the railroad magnate. George fell in love with this gorgeous spot in the Blue Ridge Mountains and built his home here. He brought his bride, Edith, to this 250 room mansion in the late 1800’s and it has been in the family ever since. It is a home designed by architect, Richard Morris Hunt. It was built for entertaining; with billiard room, bowling alley, swimming pool, exercise room, and land for hunting and organizing all sorts of outdoor games, and, of course, special rooms for eating, drinking, and smoking.

George’s landscape architect, Frederick Low Olmsted, told him to make part of the land formal gardens, part of it a farm, and leave the rest as forest. George died at age 51, leaving his wife and daughter, Cornelia, to manage the estate. They tried many businesses including selling some of the land. Cornelia married and her husband and children also worked the estate. In the 1930’s they opened it to the public to help promote tourism in the area and to support the estate. It is now a family owned, for profit, business, run by the grandson and his children. They have kept everything in beautiful condition, but some of the business enterprises (winery, gift shop, restaurant, tours, etc) got to be a little overpowering.

However, the mansion is quite spectacular. We toured the first floor with banquet hall, breakfast room, salon, organ loft, music room, and library; all in pristine condition. We took the grand staircase to the second floor where the private family rooms are located; the bedrooms and sitting rooms of the Vanderbilts. A less pretentious staircase led to the third floor. On this floor the guests had their own living quarters. There were bedrooms and bathrooms and a beautiful lounge area for reading and relaxing. Guests would dress formally and go for dinner every evening at 8 p.m.

The servant’s quarters were in the basement. They had private rooms; the women on this floor, the men over the stable; and a separate dining hall. There were several kitchens-pastry,

rotisserie, and main; separate food storage areas for vegetables, canned goods, dry goods, home canned goods, and also refrigerated storage. There was a dumb waiter to bring items to the dining area on the first floor. There was also a huge laundry area, which even had a belt-driven barrel washer and a dryer of sorts.

After taking a break in our camper, we were able to take Mickey as we walked around the gardens. There is a conservatory with beautiful decorative plants, a rose garden, wisteria trellis, the Italian gardens with three formal water gardens, and flower beds of mums planted in the “bedding out” style popular in the 1800s, plus many other trees, shrubs, and flowering plants.