For their third day trip of 2014, the Peoples Bank Platinum Club celebrated the First Day of Spring with a visit to Natchez on March 20.
With Spring Pilgrimage in full swing, the 38 members of the group took advantage of perfect spring weather to tour three antebellum homes in the area, each with its own distinctive characteristics.
Longwood, perhaps the most often photographed of the Natchez antebellum mansions, and described as “the grandest octagonal house in America,” was the first home on the tour. The exterior of the six-story structure was completed first, but when the Civil War broke out in 1861, construction stopped, leaving the family to live in the basement, which had been finished as temporary quarters.
The home was never finished and after being designated as a National Historic landmark, will remain in its unfinished condition that demonstrates the tremendous upheaval that came with the Civil War.
The second home on the tour, Lansdowne, is still owned and occupied by the descendants of the original builder on land owned by the family since the 1780s.
Lansdowne is also still decorated with its original furnishings and art.
Overlooking the Mississippi River on the Natchez Bluffs, Rosalie was commandeered as the Union headquarters in Natchez during the Civil War. It is now owned by the Mississippi State DAR Society.
Platinum Club members and friends got a glimpse of the Old South through the period costumes of guides at each home and learned much about the state’s history from a step-on guide who narrated the tour.
At noon, the group was treated to a buffet of traditional Southern “dinner” favorites, including their signature fried chicken, at the Carriage Inn on the grounds of Stanton Hall.
The next Platinum Club adventure is a 10-day trip to Switzerland, Austria and Bavaria, April 30-May 9.
Reservations are still being taken for a June jaunt to Dallas-Ft. Worth, where some of the featured attractions will be the cattle drive at the Ft. Worth Stockyards, the new George W. Bush Presidential Library, the museum at the assassination site of John F. Kennedy, the Mary Kay cosmetics factory, and Marshall Pottery.
The four-day, three-night trip will also include a tour of the new Cowboy Stadium in Arlington, Texas, and several shopping venues, including Neiman Marcus. This trip is open to members and and friends of Peoples Bank Platinum Club.
More information on Platinum Club or reservations for the June trip are available at Peoples Bank in Magee or by calling 601-849-2210 and asking for Debbie Walker or Oliver McLean.
Peoples Bank Platinum Club directors are Oliver and Donna McLean.
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