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Natchitoches is a pretty town. Downtown has the brick streets and the lore of a town established by the French prior to the Louisiana Purchase. A beautiful river/lake runs through the center. It is a really nice place. A National Park Ranger comes to town daily and gives a 2 hour lecture while walking the streets. A tour of the old town if you will. Around 10 a.m. the next morn, this lady led us through the city. Nice person. The information was good and the company was fine. Two ladies were there from France making the tour. Par-lay-voooo
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I had the question why the National Park Service would have people in Nak-a-tish. East of town is an old slave - type plantation that was in working order before - well way back when. It escaped destruction during the civil war and descendants of the original owner lived in it though the 1990s. The slaves were gone - freed, if you will. The owner gave it to the National Park Service rather than letting it die on the vine.
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That tour was interesting too. It was not a mansion filled with gold. It reminded me of a rather large farm house. The slave quarters reminded me of where my grandparents and great grandmother use to live. Shabby, to say the least. If you get near the joint, go see. A picture is worth a thousand words. I have a picture in my mind; now, you go get one.
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Little aside. One bedroom in the house had two 4 poster beds for the daughters. There was a closet with a trap door. The "mammy" who took care of the children lived under the house in an unfinished basement with rock walls and clap boards. Remember this is before the Civil War. When the girls needed something, she would enter through the trap door. We were told that a couple months ago, a lady came on the tour who was a grandchild of the "mammy" The tour guide took her under the house to see where her grandmother lived. She was quite touched. Times were different then. People did not think as we think today.
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Another thing was in the dining room - long table with 10 - 15 chairs. Hanging from the ceiling was a device. A slave boy, say about 10 yrs old or so, would come to meals and use a rope to make the device swing back and forth creating a breeze for the eaters - and it helped keep the flies off the food. As the child got old, they "let" him work in the fields instead of the dining room. What a joy.
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Downtown Natchitoches has a hardware store. This store had been in continuous operaation since the late 1700s/early 1800s period. The owners had plenty of merchandise to sell but had turned the place into a bit of a museum too. It was a fun store to grapple through. One of their big things were coolers of Cokes (soft drinks) for sale. It was a system where you put the money in a box and got your own coke - just like the good ole days. The cokes were the small 6 oz type bottle drinks. Sdaly, they were out of diet drinks. I would suggest that everyone travel through this town someday and plan to spend a day or two.
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When we left, we headed north towards Shreveport and reentry into Texas. Our last night was spent in the Tyler State Park just outside of ....where? ... guess .... T Y L E R. It is a beautiful State Park. I love it. We've been there twice, and both times were impressive for a camper. The next day was spent in Tyler touring a downtown Mansion - free admission yet - and the city museum a few blocks away - also free. The museum was housed in one of the old Carnegie Library buildings. If you don't know anything about Carnegie (think Steel), that is something you should learn.
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My next entry - soon - will be another trip - this time to Mission Somthing State Park created by the CCC.
As I think of other things from the Louisiana trip, I'll make more entries. Y'all be good now.
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