It is with great sadness that this will be the final column from Vinnie Mendes. Vinnie passed away on Friday, Sept. 19, 2025. More details will follow next month.
I’ve crossed over it many times in a car and finally took a cruise down the Mississippi River.
It’s longer, wider and deeper than any others I’ve either driven over or sailed across. It’s truly worthy of its title “The Mighty.” Flowing from Minnesota down to the Gulf of Mexico, it drains most of the eastern two thirds of the United States, and by following its many tributaries, you can travel all the way from the Gulf of Mexico up into Montana. Some intrepid explorers proved this about 200 years ago by poling a keelboat as far as the Yellow River until they were stopped by the Rocky Mountains. It also brings back childhood memories of Mark Twain’s stories of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
Our cruise was ill timed because the river was at its lowest level in years and instead of welcoming ports and piers, we saw the sides of levees, and an occasional tugboat pushing a “tow” of barges.
Among the notable exceptions were Graceland, in Memphis, Home of the “King” and the Vicksburg National Military Park displaying the USS Cairo, one of the last remaining ironclads from the Civil War. (See Lakeside News. March 2024)
Circular staircase at the Houmus Estate.
Another attraction on the cruise was the Houmas House plantation, an antebellum mansion (circa 1840) which has been restored to its former glory. It’s surrounded by luxurious gardens and promenades. The tour guides are dressed in period costumes including enormous, hooped skirts. The Greek Revival manor house is three stories tall topped by a belvedere or “widows walk” as we say on the East Coast. In the center is an atrium, surrounded by an elegant spiral staircase, the banister of which was made from a single piece of wood! It reportedly took three years to bend the wood into shape!
Once comprising 1,200 acres, the plantation had a workforce of 550 slaves and grew cotton, sugarcane, and sorghum. It was purchased in the 1850s by John Burnside, an Irish immigrant and self-made millionaire. He was an interesting character. He had been in residence about 10 years when the Civil War broke out. That was when he encountered General Ben Butler.
Butler had come to take over the plantation as his headquarters, so Burnside flew the Union Jack from the flagpole and claimed that as an Irish citizen, the property was subject to the British Royal Crown and unless Butler wanted to start an international incident, he would leave it alone! Being wise enough to pick the battles he knew he was going to lose, Butler took his army and marched back to New Orleans!
Butler was also a character. Among other things, he is noted for his disregard for Southern tradition during his occupation of the City of New Orleans. For instance, when a Southern lady would dump the contents of a chamber pot out of an upper floor window onto Yankee soldiers walking below, he would have them thrown into prison along with the thieves, pickpockets, and other miscreants. His comment was “If they wanted to behave like trollops, they would be treated like trollops.” Well, this was no way to treat genteel Southern ladies who were simply expressing their disdain for the “Damn Yankee” occupation force!
(I feel a connection with General Butler. The house I grew up in, located high on a hill in New Jersey, was built by a fellow named Ames in the 1840s. He was the governor of Massachusetts, and he presented it as a wedding gift to his daughter and her new husband, General Benjamin Butler! (But more on that in a future article.)
The plantation has been used as a set for many movies with well-known stars such as Bette Davis, Cicily Tyson, Susan Lucci and Chevy Chase to name a few. The one I remember the best was “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte” from 1964 starring Bette Davis. It has a harrowing scene where a severed head comes tumbling down the spiral staircase in the atrium! You must see it to really appreciate it.
As far as cruises go, this one was disappointing. I know we missed many other interesting sites along the way that were not convenient to get to by tour boat. I’d definitely recommend taking an automobile trip down the Mississippi at your leisure and stopping at all the historic attractions.
Photo: by Vinnie Mendes
