The Saturday City: Natchez, Mississippi

As the Southern cotton economy expanded on the back of slave labor in the early 1800s, towns designed to transport the cotton emerged on the Mississippi River: New Orleans, Memphis, Vicksburg, and Natchez.

Located high on the bluffs of the Mississippi River, Natchez, Mississippi, was established by French colonists in 1716. The defensible strategic location ensured that it would become a pivotal center for trade.

In the middle of the 19th century, the city attracted Southern planters, who built mansions to show off their vast wealth from the cotton and sugar cane trade. Natchez was where planters came to escape the heat and isolation of the plantations. It was the Hamptons of the South — the place where the rich relaxed and socialized.

I never heard of Natchez until a few weeks before I visited. While visiting Nashville, I met some local Southern boys at a bar. Fascinated by my road trip plans, they gave me all the information they could on their home state of Mississippi. I mentioned my desire to see old Southern antebellum homes.

“That’s Natchez. If you want antebellum homes, Natchez is the place to be,” the three guys said in unison.

They were right.

Natchez was highlight of my time in the American South. As a former history teacher who specialized in pre–Civil War America, I take a significant interest in this part of the country. I’m fascinated by the hypocrisy and duality of pre–Civil War Southern society.

On the one hand, it was genteel, polite, and formal. On the other, it was brutally racist. Southern egalitarian views of chivalry, equality, and honor extended only to a small segment of society, and they found no hypocrisy in owning slaves. (Note: Reams of thesis papers and books have delved into Southern culture. If you’re looking to learn more, check out Ken Burns’s The Civil War and The Fall of the House of Dixie: The Civil War and the Social Revolution That Transformed the South.)

Natchez remains a beautiful city. Secession sentiment never ran high here, and the city quickly surrendered to the Union Army in 1862. None of the destruction that took place in other cities occurred here, leaving the city intact.

Today, Natchez trades in tourism instead of cotton. Visitors to the historic homes and surrounding national park (Natchez Traces) and gambling on the riverboats sustain this tiny town.

But the old homes are the biggest draw.

By today’s standards, they are tiny suburban homes. You wouldn’t stop and think “Wow, that is a mansion!” But for the period, these homes were an ornate testament to the planters’ great wealth, with high ceilings, intricate wallpaper designs, and multiple stories, and they were filled with fine china, carpets, and furniture.

You can visit 10 of the larger unoccupied homes (one for $12 or three for $30). Of the five I saw, I was big fan of Longwood (the best grounds and most unique home), Rosalie (the most beautiful interior), and Stanton Hall (the prettiest grounds). During the Natchez Pilgrimage in the spring, 24 additional private historical homes open up to the public. The costumed guides — some descendants of the original owners — explain the history of the home, their family, and the region. It’s the city’s biggest annual event.

There are also a number of self-guided walking tours that wind through the city. Along the way, historic markers give you the history of the buildings, neighborhoods, and the residents who called them home.

There is King’s Tavern, built in 1769, the oldest bar in the city (and, according to legend, the most haunted). Walking toward the riverboat casino, you’ll come across what is left of Natchez Under the Hill. This one-time bustling dock area of the city was where dockworkers, prostitutes, and drunkards socialized. It was the city’s underbelly during the boom times. Now a sanitized street of restaurants and bars, it does still contain the oldest bar on the Mississippi River, Under the Hill Saloon.

Natchez is beautiful and elegant. I loved strolling around the streets, marveling at the beautiful homes, stopping at King’s Tavern for wine while avoiding ghosts, and sitting in the park as the sun set over the Mississippi.

The downside to Natchez is that it’s expensive. There are no hostels, and I couldn’t find any Couchsurfing hosts, only hotels and B&Bs. Though you can stay in one of the antebellum homes, they aren’t cheap, costing about $120-160 per night (including breakfast).

The upside? While accommodation is expensive, food and drinks are relatively cheap, with a number of sandwich and BBQ joints in the city offering meals for under $10.

Natchez can be seen in a weekend. It may not be a budget travel destination, but if you are looking to learn about American history, see beautiful homes, and visit a destination off the beaten path for most travelers (visitors here tend to be from the surrounding region), visit Natchez.

Sri Lankans: Making a Stranger Feel Like Family

I didn’t know much about Sri Lanka before my visit. Most of what I knew was picked up via the news and a few blog posts written by friends. Sri Lanka was a blank slate I was eager to fill in.

I found Sri Lanka to be a nation of luscious jungles, epic waterfalls, stunning hikes, Tomb Raider-esque archeological ruins, ugly cities, and delicious food.

But the one thing that really stood out was the people.

I know, I know. What a cliché, right?!

It’s the most generic thing to say in travel. “The people in this destination were lovely and totally made the place.” Everyone always says that. (In fact, I find that 99% of the people I meet on the road are totally awesome.)

Sure, you’ll find that some cultures really are more outgoing and friendlier to strangers than others. But Sri Lankans stood out in a way I’ve never experienced before.

They are the first, second, third, and fourth things that come to mind when I remember my time in their country. I was amazed at how friendly, curious, and hospitable people were.

As a traveler, although you want to be open to experiences with everyone, you also have to keep a wary eye out in order to make sure you aren’t getting scammed or put in a dangerous situation. There’s a lot of “gut-checking” on the road.

Take, for example, tuk-tuk drivers. Having spent a lot of time in Southeast Asia, I’m used to dealing with tuk-tuk drivers who badger you for a ride and constantly try to rip you off or take you to shops where they receive kickbacks if you make a purchase.

In contrast, throughout Sri Lanka, I found tuk-tuk driver after tuk-tuk driver would slow down, ask if I wanted a ride, and then, when I said no, wish me a good day and drive off. No badgering! (OK, a tiny bit in Colombo, but that was mild when compared to other countries.)

Moreover, I found the tuk-tuk drivers to be honest brokers, giving me rates close to what guesthouse owners said they should be. (I never thought I would use the term “honest” and “tuk-tuk drivers” in the same sentence.)

Then there were the locals who would approach me near a tourist site or on the street. After years of travel, my initial thought when this happens is usually: “Here is yet someone else trying to sell me something.” As they started asking me about where I was from and how I liked their country, I was expecting them to get into “the sell,” but instead was shocked that they would then just wish me well and walk away.

Is this a trick? I thought.

Nope, they were simply interested in my experience of their country. It caught me off guard the first couple of times, but after a while, I relished each opportunity to meet someone new. Each day there would be countless interactions with people just happy to engage with a traveler.

There was the family I stayed with outside Sigiriya who frequently cooked me a traditional family dinner and provided me rides into town.

And there was the woman who owned the hostel in Kandy and gave me a big hug and a kiss and told me to come back…after staying only one night! (She also did this to the other guests who were checking out when I was.)

Also, there was the tour driver in Tissa who insisted on taking me out for beers to celebrate seeing a whole herd of elephants.

Friendly locals I met on the buses offered me food. One guy who felt so sorry that I had to stand up for six hours said, “I would give you my seat but I have a baby in my arms. I’m really sorry.” And he meant it. He really was sorry he couldn’t give me his seat. I mean, how many people would make that same offer in the US?

But there was one experience that taught me the most about Sri Lanka and its people.

Before I arrived, I exchanged emails with a girl who worked in Colombo; her dad was a Tamil journalist during the civil war and is now a member of parliament. “L” told me that she would be heading up to Jaffna to see her family and that I was welcome to join. I immediately said yes and changed my travel plans. This was a chance to meet some locals and get an insider perspective on the conflict that scarred the country for decades.

Sri Lanka is a divided country, with the south dominated by Buddhist Sinhalese and the north by Hindu Tamils. After the British left the country in 1948, the Sinhalese controlled the government and enacted a series of laws that limited Tamil participation in Sri Lankan society. Eventually Tamil protests turned violent and a 26-year civil war ensued (ending in 2009).

Waking up early one day, I met L and her mother and we drove to Jaffna, the major town in the Tamil north and the scene of a lot of destruction during the civil war. In the countryside outside town, I couldn’t help but notice how barren the land was. There was little grass around, and many houses had been abandoned and left to ruins. At various spots along the way, they explained that this once-fertile land was destroyed during the war and that many Tamils fled. (In fact, despite the war being long over, there are still over 90,000 displaced Tamils in refugee camps.)

“Are those people over there rebuilding the houses?” I asked.

“That’s the army building houses, but probably not for Tamils.”

“How come this area hasn’t been rebuilt?”

“Well, many people have left or were killed, and those who remain don’t have the money. Plus, a lot of the records were destroyed, so not many people can prove their house is really theirs.”

I persisted with my litany of questions. “How come this area seems so underdeveloped compared to the rest? Hasn’t there been a plan to rebuild?”

“The scars of the war are still here. For close to 30 years, we didn’t have access to the outside world, and no, the government isn’t really putting funds into development. We have an uneasy truce.”

Afterwards, we went to L’s family’s newspaper, Uthayan, where we waited for the editor. This newspaper was the only Tamil news organization to survive the war. The government tried to shut it down many times, but it managed to live on. In the main room, you could see bullet holes from attacks, ruined computers, and graphic pictures of the journalists who lost their lives in paramilitary attacks. There was a wall dedicated to those who are missing — and probably dead.

“Are things better now?” I asked the editor.

“Sure. The fighting has stopped, but that doesn’t mean everything is normal. It is still the same military leaders and government officials in power. But things are moving in the right direction.”

“Did you support the Tigers?” I asked him. The Tamil Tigers were a student organization that turned from resistance fighters to terrorist group. Their defeat was what helped end the civil war.

“The Tigers might have started with good intentions, but in the end they became as bad as the government and alienated the population they sought to support. So no, I did not.”

L and the editor gave me a tour of the newspaper, showing more relics of raids, introducing me to staff and editors who also worked throughout the war. The building, like the land we saw before, bore the scars of war. It was an eye opening experienced seeing the area and learning about the conflict and how it still affects the people of the region.

****As I took the bus to the airport and got ready to leave Sri Lanka, my mind kept going back to its people. Regardless of where I was and who I spoke to, I was welcomed with open arms, treated as family and with kindness.

As I took the bus to the airport and got ready to leave Sri Lanka, my mind kept going back to its people. Regardless of where I was and who I spoke to, I was welcomed with open arms, treated as family and with kindness.

Sri Lanka was better than I could have imagined it, not because of all the beautiful sites and fun activities but because the people made this stranger feel at home.

Explore the Tumultuous History of the European Union on Its 60th Anniversary

With Brexit negotiations set to begin in the coming months and a host of controversial candidates on the ballot for upcoming European elections, the 60th anniversary of the European Union comes at a fraught moment for the continent.

Despite challenges to its authority, however, the EU and its governing branches remain some of the most powerful voices in Europe today, regulating everything from trade to foreign visas.

To evaluate the successes and failures of the EU in its current form and to envision what is in store for the future, readers need to go back to its very foundations, which took place in the wake of World War II.

Following the Paris Peace Treaties in 1945 that ended years of war among neighboring nations in Europe, the continent was grieving the loss of its dead while struggling to rebuild entire towns and even cities that had been practically leveled to the ground.

Lawmakers throughout the continent and throughout the world searched for preventive solutions to stop anything nearing the bloodshed of the recent war. 

While the EU began as a group of trade unions, some have argued that from the start it always aimed to be much more: It sought to serve as a safeguard against World War III.