Historic Vicksburg
Apr 12, 2013 10:24:16 GMT
Post by Deleted on Apr 12, 2013 10:24:16 GMT
One thing you need to know about me -- I was born and raised in Mississippi, but I know nothing about Mississippi. Except for my local area, I was raised with a total aversion to it, and as far as I was concerned, there was no civilisation north of Hattiesburg. The fact that I even considered Hattiesburg to be civilised is due to the fact that I lived there for about 6 months when I was six years old. The family moved up there temporarily for my mother to finish her university degree which had been interrupted by the war. She had decided to become a teacher, so it was a must. I wasn't paying much attention at that age to what adults were doing, but I remember that she gave a speech at graduation, which conceivably means that she was the valedictorian. Unfortunately, I can no longer ask her about such things.
I had my own traumatic experience in Hattiesburg, because after starting 1st grade in Catholic school with a rather sweet young nun, I found myself for the second half of the year in a public school with a very severe old woman as the teacher (my mental image shows her to be at least 75 years old, so I assume that maybe she was about 50). French being my first language (since that's where I was when I learned to talk), I had the annoying habit of saying 'ze' instead of 'the' and in fact replaced all of the 'th' sounds with 'z' which drove the teacher crazy, especially since I had completely forgotten most of my French.
One day at recess, she wouldn't let me leave with the others. "You are staying here with me and you are going to learn to pronounce 'th'!" We proceeded to go through a very scary routine of proper pronunciation. I say scary because she was holding my face with her hands and contorting her own face to show me how my mouth and lips should be placed. Well, believe it or not, I learned to pronounce 'th' correctly within 20 minutes and it was never an issue again. But I never forgot that session.
Anyway, during the entire time that I lived in Mississippi, I never ever saw the Mississippi river, never saw a cotton field, spent a grand total on one night on a school trip in Jackson (the highlight being the discovery of White Castle and its burgers that were sold for 12.5 cents while our luxurious brand new coastal McDonald's was charging 15 cents for a hamburger!), and one weekend in Meridian. I have no idea why we went to Meridian. We stayed in a railroad lodging house because my father was working, but there was no reason for the rest of us to be there, because he had to go to Meridian for the night from time to time and all of the other times my mother and brother and I just stayed at home. I figure that adult issues may have been in play. Shortly afterwards, my father was transferred to a permanent post in Gulfport and spent the entire rest of his career pushing freight cars around at the banana terminal, Gulfport being where nearly all of the bananas in the United States arrive.
What does all of this have to do with Vicksburg? Absolutely nothing, except for the fact that I decided on this trip that the time had come to see a bit more of Mississippi. And so after spending two nights in Biloxi, I drove north on US 49 to see something new. Since the University of Southern Mississippi is in downtown Hattiesburg, I was able to see the damage caused by the tornado that ripped through the campus in February. Frankly, it looked as though it had been bombed.
I had my own traumatic experience in Hattiesburg, because after starting 1st grade in Catholic school with a rather sweet young nun, I found myself for the second half of the year in a public school with a very severe old woman as the teacher (my mental image shows her to be at least 75 years old, so I assume that maybe she was about 50). French being my first language (since that's where I was when I learned to talk), I had the annoying habit of saying 'ze' instead of 'the' and in fact replaced all of the 'th' sounds with 'z' which drove the teacher crazy, especially since I had completely forgotten most of my French.
One day at recess, she wouldn't let me leave with the others. "You are staying here with me and you are going to learn to pronounce 'th'!" We proceeded to go through a very scary routine of proper pronunciation. I say scary because she was holding my face with her hands and contorting her own face to show me how my mouth and lips should be placed. Well, believe it or not, I learned to pronounce 'th' correctly within 20 minutes and it was never an issue again. But I never forgot that session.
Anyway, during the entire time that I lived in Mississippi, I never ever saw the Mississippi river, never saw a cotton field, spent a grand total on one night on a school trip in Jackson (the highlight being the discovery of White Castle and its burgers that were sold for 12.5 cents while our luxurious brand new coastal McDonald's was charging 15 cents for a hamburger!), and one weekend in Meridian. I have no idea why we went to Meridian. We stayed in a railroad lodging house because my father was working, but there was no reason for the rest of us to be there, because he had to go to Meridian for the night from time to time and all of the other times my mother and brother and I just stayed at home. I figure that adult issues may have been in play. Shortly afterwards, my father was transferred to a permanent post in Gulfport and spent the entire rest of his career pushing freight cars around at the banana terminal, Gulfport being where nearly all of the bananas in the United States arrive.
What does all of this have to do with Vicksburg? Absolutely nothing, except for the fact that I decided on this trip that the time had come to see a bit more of Mississippi. And so after spending two nights in Biloxi, I drove north on US 49 to see something new. Since the University of Southern Mississippi is in downtown Hattiesburg, I was able to see the damage caused by the tornado that ripped through the campus in February. Frankly, it looked as though it had been bombed.
I took some other roads to avoid Jackson and finally arrived in Vicksburg.
Well, Vicksburg isn't in the uncivilised wilds at all. The historic downtown is charming.
At last, the mighty Mississippi... and the uncharted wilds of Louisiana on the other side.
Well, Vicksburg isn't in the uncivilised wilds at all. The historic downtown is charming.
At last, the mighty Mississippi... and the uncharted wilds of Louisiana on the other side.
