Natchez
I have moved to Mayberry, God help me.
I have arrived safely in Natchez, Mississippi. It's a town of about 1,800 on the cliffs above the Mississippi River. I'm curently residing in a 1830's cottage that is used by an Archeology field school from UNC in the fall. By cottage I mean I have a large living room, a huge kitchen, five bed rooms, three baths and nine beds. Anyone want to come visit me? It's an ungly house, but you can have as many beds as you want! "The Dormitory" as they call the house I'm living in has plenty of fluffy white towels and fresh linens and things, as well as enough cooking equipment to feed a small army. Which, I suppose, archeology grad students tend to be. They also call it "The Ugly One" and "That 1930's travesty" because a mad electrician re-did the place in the 1930's. He had very poor taste and a penchent for light fixtures. The main room has horrible wood paneling and 10 light switches. They supposedly bought the place because they own the house next door, which is very lovely and undergoing renovation, and didn't want to live next to anyone who would want to live in the Dormitory. It's come in handy for the housing of visiting academics. The archeologists find the living room useful for washing field finds, apparently.
I spent most of today walking around exploring the town. I've found a couple of bookstores, and the coffee shop I'm currently sitting in. You realize how spoiled you are by living in a college town when you go to the coffee shop nad it's hours are 8-5 on weekends. Really, who ever heard of a coffee shop that closes at 5? Oh wait, small town. At least the coffee shop exists. Most of the town economy seems to be aimed at tourists. There's a river-boat Casino down below the cliff (NOT approved of by my hosts) and lots of B&B's and historic mansions. Every third store is an antique store, and there are stores dedicated entirely to Hunting and Cooking, (different stores) which at least covers both ends of that spectrum. I was taking pictures of interesting signs and the river, and managed to step in a Fire Ants nest while taking a completely uninteresting picture of the stone that marks the head of the Natchez Trace. I now completely understand the term "Fire Ants" and hate them with a passion.
My hosts here are two of the founding members of the Natchez Historical Foundation, which cares for the records regarding old houses here. There are a lot of old houses here, and since the coutny court house wasn't doing a terribly good job, the Foundation took on the court records too. That's what I'll be working with, alongside a PhD student from somewhere in California. Since non-profit old-building associations don't exactly have kicking pension plans, my hosts also run a Bed and Breakfast out of one of the 1800's gorgeous houses they own. They had me over for breakfast this morning. It's fun to show up and be fed a full three course breakfast with the trimmings. They seem to be worried about me being bored. They're putting in a TV and cable tomorrow, and Mimi is apparently going to introduce me to "every single young man your age" in town, which apparently means 21-35, and there are all of three of them. Should be entertaining, if nothing else.
I have arrived safely in Natchez, Mississippi. It's a town of about 1,800 on the cliffs above the Mississippi River. I'm curently residing in a 1830's cottage that is used by an Archeology field school from UNC in the fall. By cottage I mean I have a large living room, a huge kitchen, five bed rooms, three baths and nine beds. Anyone want to come visit me? It's an ungly house, but you can have as many beds as you want! "The Dormitory" as they call the house I'm living in has plenty of fluffy white towels and fresh linens and things, as well as enough cooking equipment to feed a small army. Which, I suppose, archeology grad students tend to be. They also call it "The Ugly One" and "That 1930's travesty" because a mad electrician re-did the place in the 1930's. He had very poor taste and a penchent for light fixtures. The main room has horrible wood paneling and 10 light switches. They supposedly bought the place because they own the house next door, which is very lovely and undergoing renovation, and didn't want to live next to anyone who would want to live in the Dormitory. It's come in handy for the housing of visiting academics. The archeologists find the living room useful for washing field finds, apparently.
I spent most of today walking around exploring the town. I've found a couple of bookstores, and the coffee shop I'm currently sitting in. You realize how spoiled you are by living in a college town when you go to the coffee shop nad it's hours are 8-5 on weekends. Really, who ever heard of a coffee shop that closes at 5? Oh wait, small town. At least the coffee shop exists. Most of the town economy seems to be aimed at tourists. There's a river-boat Casino down below the cliff (NOT approved of by my hosts) and lots of B&B's and historic mansions. Every third store is an antique store, and there are stores dedicated entirely to Hunting and Cooking, (different stores) which at least covers both ends of that spectrum. I was taking pictures of interesting signs and the river, and managed to step in a Fire Ants nest while taking a completely uninteresting picture of the stone that marks the head of the Natchez Trace. I now completely understand the term "Fire Ants" and hate them with a passion.
My hosts here are two of the founding members of the Natchez Historical Foundation, which cares for the records regarding old houses here. There are a lot of old houses here, and since the coutny court house wasn't doing a terribly good job, the Foundation took on the court records too. That's what I'll be working with, alongside a PhD student from somewhere in California. Since non-profit old-building associations don't exactly have kicking pension plans, my hosts also run a Bed and Breakfast out of one of the 1800's gorgeous houses they own. They had me over for breakfast this morning. It's fun to show up and be fed a full three course breakfast with the trimmings. They seem to be worried about me being bored. They're putting in a TV and cable tomorrow, and Mimi is apparently going to introduce me to "every single young man your age" in town, which apparently means 21-35, and there are all of three of them. Should be entertaining, if nothing else.