COVID-19 ... We have been locked down in Louisiana ... but while here, we did manage to see some of the South ... summer of 2020

To see our habitat during the lockdown, in and around Abita Springs, please click here

 

 

A Segway tour around Belle Meade in Nashville, TN, with friend Margaret Hansen.
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USS Alabama in Mobile, AL.
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July 4 in our new home, Abita Springs, LA.
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Parthenon, in Greece ?  A full-size copy built 1897 in Nashville.  In much better condition than the original in Athens.
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"The Hermitage", home of Andrew Jackson, the 7th president, in Nashville, TN.
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Confederate flags flying at "Beauvoir", the home of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, in Biloxi, MS.
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In March 2020, we went, as usual, to Austin, to see Jenny for her birthday and then to Louisiana  Lorraine's mother's 99th birthday.  We ended up here for several months.  To see our habitat during this time, please click here.  But, as the lockdown started easing in May, we first went to open-air restaurants and then started making trips around the South.  (We also lost a trip to Spain, to see my mother in Germany and to Croatia during this time).

 Here we are in June when Longvue House in New Orleans reopened its gardens.  This one is modeled on fountains at the Generalissimo at Alhambra.  Given that there are few people, I can no longer give my phone to people and ask them to take a photo of us. Click on this photo for an even larger image.
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Longvue House during Covid-19.  A couple of rich New Orleanians built in 1939-42. 
Touring the gardens with restrictions, masks and all.  Click to see a larger image.
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A beautiful house right in New Orleans.
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This was the first time we saw it, out of my 33 grips to New Orleans in the past 7-1/2 years.  Beautiful gardens. Click to see a larger image.
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 In New Orleans, from May on, we have been lucky to go to a number of OPEN AIR restaurants.  They have plenty of people indoor, but we only stay outside, even if it is hot.  We wear masks to get in, but you have to take them off to eat.  This with Lorraine's brother Ralph in "Velvet Cactus" Click for an even larger image.
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 Some of our travels have been virtual.  We attended "For the love of Wine and Cheese" sessions, with the actual cheeses and wines from Aquistapaces, a local supermarket, hosted by Lorraine's niece over Zoom, with about 200 people and experts telling us all about it for two hours, as everyone tasted cheeses and drank wine.  Really interesting and good fun. Click for an even larger image.
 
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 Then we drove to Mississippi. Near Biloxi, there is a road sign which I wonder, in this day and age,  if they will soon remove ... pointing to "Beauvoir", the home the last 10 years of his life to Jefferson Davis, who was the President of the Confederacy. Click to see a larger image.
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"Beauvoir". Click on the photo to see a larger one.
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This is Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy 1861-65. Click to see a larger photo.
 
We took and interesting guided tour of "Beauvoir".  An challenging time to be tourists.
 
We took and interesting guided tour of "Beauvoir".
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On the way out ("Beauvoir" is on the beach), I saw something I've never seen outside of a museum.  All the Confederate flags flying.  Since we visited in June, Mississippi decided to change their state flag, the last state to keep Confederate symbols.  Click to see a larger image.
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A 4th July party in our apartment in Abita Springs.  Click to see a larger image.
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Happy 4th July!  Click to see a larger image.
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Another trip in the South.  This time no controversial historical figures to upset friends.  Here we are in Fairhope, Alabama, on Mobile Bay, a lovely lunch in the marina. Click to see a larger image.
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After lunch, an excellent espresso and a cappuccino in the splendid Grant Hotel Clear Point.  It has been there, in several forms since the 1820's, always fancy. Click to see a larger image.
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Mobile Cathedral.  "Spot of Tea", a splendid breakfast place, is just to the right.  It was so good, we went a couple of times.  A couple of blocks from our Airbnb.com apartment, the first one since February in Mexico City. Click to see a larger image.
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Another trip in the South.  USS Alabama in Mobile, Alabama, a WWII destroyer. Click to see a larger image.
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USS Alabama, while practicing Social Distancing. Click to see a larger image.
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USS Alabama, built in 1942, sailed into the Northern Atlantic and then a couple of years in the major theaters of war in the Pacific, defending aircraft carriers, bombing land positions.  Now a museum here in Mobile, Alabama. Click to see a larger image.
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USS Alabama. Click to see a larger image.
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USS Alabama.  Learning incredible WWII history. Click to see a larger image.
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At night, we had dinner in a seaside restaurant with a splendid view of the USS Alabama. Click to see a larger image.
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As it got darker over dinner, the warship seemed to get closer to us.  An interesting visit. Click to see a larger image.
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On our way out, we stopped at the Mobile Botanical Gardens.  Very nice, we were the only guests that day.  Unfortunately, southern Botanical Gardens are in bloom in March, April and May.  July is too late.  Click to see a larger image.
All the while using masks outside, eating in outdoor restaurants, the car full of hand sanitizer. 
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On our next trip, 500 miles north, we saw the exit for Athens.  Greece ? Click to see a larger image.
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And in the evening we went to see the Parthenon. Click to see a larger image.
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Actually, it is not in Greece, but Nashville, TN, built for the 1897 Centennial Exhibition.  It is in a much better shape than the original in Athens.  Click on the photo to see a larger image. 
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During the 1897 exhibition, there pavilions for Industry, Agriculture, Science etc., this was for Art.  It was supposed to be there just for the exhibition, but people liked it so much, they wanted to keep it. But it was built of cheap brick, so in the 1920's, it had to be rebuilt.  Click on the photo to see a larger image. 
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Inside, there is an art museum.
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Spectacular! Click to see a larger image.
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They have a complete collection of the Elgin Marbles, taken from the Parthenon in 1801.
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At the British Museum they have an incomplete collection, that the 7th Earl of Elgin took from Athens. Click to see a larger image.
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What they do have in the Nashville Parthenon is a 42 ft. (13 m) replica of the original Athena, which was in the Athens Parthenon, built around 449 BC.  This one was built recently, is covered with 8lbs of gold leaf and holds a 6ft (2m) tall statue of Nike.  Wow!  Click on the photo to see a larger image. 
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"The Hermitage", the long-term home of Andrew Jackson, near Nashville.  The house remains closed, but the grounds, gardens and various outbuildings are open for a visit. Click on the photo to see a larger image. 
 

Andrew Jackson, the 7th U.S. president. He was strongly against paper money and in favour of gold.  In 2016, he was due to be replaced by Harriet Tubman, but it did not happen then.  It may happen soon.  On the audio tour of "The Hermitage", they tell you just how many slaves he had, around 300, one of the biggest slave-owners in Tennessee.

While we were at the house, the Mayor of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, said "
we want to reclaim the name of our city ... and divorce it from the legacy of a brutal owner of enslaved people", the day after Jackson City Council voted this week to remove Jackson's statue from in from in front for of City Hall.
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"The Hermitage", visit it while you can!  In today's day and age, some of these southern homes, like the statues, may not last.  None have government funding and depend on their income from visitors and sales of trinkets, and that may dry up rapidly. Click to see a larger image.
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The Belle Meade Plantation was a stud farm throughout the 19th century.  We took a tour of the inside of the old house with our friend Margaret Hansen, who moved to Franklin, just south of Nashville, from Antigua last year. Click to see a larger image.
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The Belle Meade Plantation in Nashville, TN.
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They also offer Segway tours of the grounds. Click to see a larger image.
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Apparently a lot of famous guests would take photographs from this spot, including President Grover Cleveland while in office.  Now it was our turn with Margaret.  The plantation house tried to earn money from entrance fees, sales of souvenirs, a winery (Margaret bought a Belle Meade "champagne", which was actually quite good), and the Segway tours.  Now they opened a restaurant. Click to see a larger image.
All the time, with face masks when outdoors, and the car full of hand-sanitizer. 

Watch this space for the next excursion around the South.

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This page was last updated on 07/25/20.