Beauvoir

Monday April 1st, Biloxi Mississippi

The Sun has returned, the Sun has returned! It’s still cold but a major high pressure system has moved in and brought the beautiful sun shine back for at least a couple of days. 

A really lovely day. 

Before digging into today’s action, I’d like to take a moment to thank those of you reading this, and provide a shout-out to 750words.com. If you’ve ever tried to develop the discipline to write every day you’ll know it isn’t easy. Those of you who know me well know that compulsion, habit and obsession don’t come easily to me. It took me years to develop an obsession over knowing where my car-keys and wallet are and to always return credit cards to the same slot in my wallet (otherwise I lose them). I’ve journaled off and on since I was a teen without ever getting more than a few days in a row; I have fragmentary journals all over my office and have left at least two on airplanes. With 750words.com I finally managed to make it a month of writing more than 750 words. In fact, in March just over 30,000 words came out of this little iPad keyboard and at least a dozen of you read every word I published and as many as 56 who read the most popular entry.  So thanks to you all — having an audience helps and so do the little juvenile stickers and the daily e-mails from 750words. About 460 people took the 750words March challenge of writing every day and I was one of about 190 who made it.  Today’s writing makes 33 days in a row. I also like 750words because they put the date right at the top of the page — when you’re retired and travelling it is a great challenge to remember what day of the week it is.

As the sunshine has returned, I am sitting here outside at the picnic table to write after a day of sightseeing and errands;  kids in the pool across the way are having a lot of fun despite the continued cool weather. It hasn’t made it to 20C today; pleasant, but not adult swimming weather. It is certainly dog walking weather and sightseeing weather. As I walked the dogs this morning I could feel the sunlight refilling my soul — I do hope my friends and family in Ontario can feel the sun again soon. 

Beauvoir, the final home of Jefferson Davis, is just a few hundred metres west of us on Highway so I can’t resist the desire to go there despite some misgivings. As a student of the Civil War,  I’ve always been rather puzzled about Jefferson Davis having a museum and presidential library. None of the other enemies of the United States have libraries and shrines ( yes, there have been reference to Beauvoir as a shrine). Personally, I think the whole concept is just another facet of the Jim Crow legislation and the monuments to the confederacy that are used to continue the oppression of former slaves. I mean, are there monuments and museums in England to the memory of the opposing sides in the different civil wars? Does anyone wax sentimentally for the return of Cromwell and the republic ( actually given the current impasse over brexit maybe this is starting to sound like a good thing. Old Olly would have been able to negotiate with the EU and convince parliament, or else). Regardless, the museum is a little on the lame side — they are still struggling to recover from the exhibits lost during Katrina and so the contents are sparse and the curation is a little light. As they can’t really focus on the mans record and accomplishments they simply present him as an ex-politician of interest, President of the Confederacy seems to be on the same level as congressman, Senator and member of cabinet.  They neither denigrate or glorify his association with the confederacy and his support for the philosophy and literature of the “Lost Cause” and “The War of Northern Aggression” just slip past quietly.

The real highlight of Beauvoir is the house itself and it does tell a sad story of a man of prominence, wealth and power reduced to living off the wealth of a friend who may have been a mistress in a backwater rural vacation area in the middle of nowhere Mississippi. In one of his letters to a friend he comments about the lack of anything to do and the inability to grow grapes worthy of fermentation. He would have been about 2-3 hours from New Orleans by train or about 6 or 7 hours by steamboat; His news would arrive slow and late; important visitors rare. By the same token it did give him lots of time and a beautiful setting to write his memoirs. His wife and daughter moved to New York immediately after he died — despite the daughter having inherited the full 600 acre plantation and two additional plantations in Louisiana.

The house is a fascinating affair and was beautifully maintained and then even more lovingly restored after Katrina. It was designed to be the most beautiful house on the Gulf when it was built in the 1850s and may well retain that title today. It is remarkably modest considering that. There are only 7 rooms in the house itself — a large central reception, parlour, study, 4 bedrooms, and two dining rooms. ( Kids slept in the space under the house — it was cooler there in the summer and warmer in the winter). The kitchens and outhouses were, of course, external to the main house and there were two guest cottages, one used by Davis as his offices. And then servants quarters etc. At the time Katrina hit there were 15 buildings from the original estates reflecting it’s use after Davis’s wife Varina’s death as a residence for indigent elderly Confederate veterans. Only the house was left standing by Katrina and that was badly damaged. The restorations have been so thorough and effective that you wouldn’t really know. The two cottages have been restored beautifully — and one of them is actually for rent for $125 a night. ( This would be fun — there’s room for 4 with a kitchen and cable TV). Most of the furnishings are original including a 250 year old grandfather clock. So I may be ambivalent, at best, about Jeff Davis having a museum and library but the retention of this house and it’s record is well worthwhile. 

There is a charming cemetery for confederate veterans, and their wives, in a back garden area. The residents ( although many articles refer to them as inmates) were mostly over 75 years old and there is a book showing the newspaper announcements of the weddings that took place there. The tomb of the Confederate Unknown Soldier is here as well. It made for a charming walk. 

Given the Sunny weather Lorraine was in the mood for a Margarita with lunch and so we hit Felix’s just down the beach and sat out on a high balcony overlooking the water. It was almost 20C so we were very comfortable in the sun most of the rest of the people outside were wearing winter coats. We split a shrimp cocktail, Lorraine had a Shrimp Scampi Pasta with artichoke hearts and mushrooms — was very good. I had a plate of fried catfish with rice and beans; my first catfish on the trip and it was excellent. The cornmeal breading was light and crispy, the fish inside clean and sweet. The margaritas were pretty good as well.

After that I had my hair cut by a seemingly stoned lady barber — I believe she was in her car smoking up when we entered the sleepy, and empty, little barbershop. I worried a little about letting someone obviously toasted cut my hair for a second... But what wrong can you do with an electric clipper? The shop had a nice view of the Gulf — best view I’ve ever had during a haircut. And she did a fine job despite the slightly incoherent chit-chat and somewhat slow pace.

Then back to the trailer to write this, make dinner and get ready to travel. Minute steak sandwiches on biscuits for dinner tonight!