Longwood, A Pre-civil War Home in Natchez, MS

Liz and I toured a few antebellum homes in Natchez, MS. One of the homes was Longwood. The Longwood house was never completed due to the Civil War; only the bottom floor was completed.


Here is a photo of the plaque concerning the Longwood house containing the dates, etc.


A picture from the back shows balconies of the house, and the Spanish Moss that hangs onto to large trees.


Here is a closer view of Longwood balconies.


A side view of the front of Longwood showing the large moss-covered trees.


Standing in the center of the house on the floor above the completed floor, one can see to the top of Longwood. You don't see any pictures of the completed floor since taking pictures there was forbidden.


From a balcony in the back of Longwood, one looks out at the servants quarters and a carriage house.


Marilyn and Liz rest is a tree surround area in the back of Longwood.

Choctaw Indian Fair

One of our events while in Mississippi was to attend the Choctaw Indian Fair in Philadelphia. One of the highlights for me was the cultural dances.


The dance members lined up in the shelter area and began the dances.


The dance members moved about on the floor, each one following the person ahead. In this photo, the Chief and his partner led the rest in a snake dance.


The dances would twist and turn as they kept time with the music provided by a Choctaw chanter.


The female costumes were quite colorful.


One of the dances was performed by a lone dancer. This picture show the lone dancer performing a hoop dance. You can see a hoop by the dancer's left knee.


Several hoops were linked together to form a representation of the world. Here you see the dancer stand out from the background.

Mississippi Gulf Coast

Liz and I made a side trip with Sarah to the Mississippi Gulf Coast during our trip to the South.


Here is the Gulf Coast at Gulf Port, Mississippi.


Liz and Sarah


This picture was taken about 5:45 a.m. with the sun just rising above the horizon. In the background is the barn that Liz played in when she was growing up.


The humidity was so high, nearing 100%, that the background was usually hazy.

Sansing Family Reunion

In July, Liz and I drove to Collinsville, Mississippi, to visit family and to attend the Sansing Family Reunion.


Here is part of Liz's family: George, Elaine, Chris; Benton, Virginia, Marilyn, Liz, me; Sarah, Sheldon, Robert, and Iva.


After arriving at the reunion campsite, we began meeting with the relatives.


The Clark Sansing family begins on the left followed by the Martha Sansing family on the right.


In this picture the spouses were included.

Lake Home Guests

At the family reunion, we had other guests that came to see us.


Connie had two of her former exchange student return to visit for a couple of weeks. One was Natalie from Germany and her mother Briget, sitting next to Connie.


The other exchange student was Tata form Georgia, a country just north of Turkey.


Natalie and Tata share some memories of the times spent as exchange students with John and Connie.


Bev was at the reunion and she was accompanied by Lorrie, her daughter-in-law.