South America by Steamship 1912

Feb. 17 – We slept well, weather fair. After breakfast we took a car for Jackson Port where we saw the Jackson monument, St. Louis Cathedral which is one of the oldest in the U.S. On either side of the Cathedral is a museum where we saw some interesting relics of the state of Louisiana. An old gentleman who seemed anxious for us to see everything called after us several times. He showed us the old Spanish arsenal & prison. The streets are very narrow and foreign looking. The old gentleman told us that this very spot was very much like France. It was now time to start for the Heredia which sails at 11:00 A.M.
We got started one hour late. All was hustle & bustle & very interesting to us inlanders.
The ride down the Miss. was fine, somewhat chilly. We saw several sugar plantations. The levee was all along the way; consequently the houses appeared sunken – only their roofs visible.
About 6 o’clock we went through the pass which is very narrow. The bar pilot was put off here. He took our mail with him, the last the folks can get for 10 or 12 days. We soon were in the Gulf. A storm greeted us here and it was a little rough for a while.
Our supper was very good, but we ate lightly. An interesting envelope was at each place. It gave the list of passengers and a list of interesting places along the way. A count & countess are to be some of our fellow passengers.

Feb. 15 – We left Chattanooga at 7 A.M. The morning was beautiful. Old Lookout Mt. showed up in all his glory. We passed through the grass regions of Tenn. Most of the country of Geo. and Miss. was very poor. We saw our last patch of snow about 100 mi. out of Chattanooga. About 50 mi. south of that we saw the first cotton field & from that on there were many, although not such large fields as I expected to see. We saw oxen and windowless houses, just shutters. Much of the country has a rundown appearance.
As the train was several hours late, we did not see much of Louisiana. We reached New Orleans at 11 P.M., too late to see the Mardi Gras parade. The Cosmopolitan was anything but nice, rates were $8.00 for sleeping only. Next morning we bid the clerk “good-bye”, checked our baggage at the station, and started out to see the city.
First we walked down to the docks & saw the Heredia. She is a beautiful boat and we are well satisfied with #36. We then went to the S.S. office to see if we could stay on board at night. The desired permission was given and free of charge. This will even up our hotel experience.
We called on Mr. Mann’s uncle who was very pleasant & who mapped out a sight seeing trip for us. First we visited the cemeteries. The mode of burial is entirely different from ours as the graves are on top the ground. Then we visited the City Park. The live oaks are so beautiful and covered with Spanish Moss which is used in the making of mattresses. We had lunch at Maison Blanche’s department store. The lunch was not very good but the store was large and interesting. While Will took care of steamship tickets, I stayed under an awning out of the rain. After supper, we went to the boat and to bed for we were very tired.

On the 14th after breakfast, we went out to get pictures developed & bought a black felt hat for rainy weather; then we took the sigh seeing car for the Chickamauga Battlefield. This we enjoyed very much in spite of the rain. After lunch Will took a little nap & I wrote several cards. We started for Lookout Mt. The ride up the incline was wonderful, so steep with large rocks on either side. After reaching the top, we bought a few cards but because of the rain and fog we could not see anything.
In the evening we went to the station to see the Divens who were on their way to Orlando, wrote more cards & a letter and went to bed.
(The little hills of Missionary Ridge are 700 ft. high and Lookout Mt. is 1700 ft. high.)

We left Anderson at 9:50 on the 12th of Feb., - reached Indianapolis one hour later, sent a few cards & then took the sleeper to Chattanooga. The next morning we met Mr. and Mrs. Chas. Husband who were on their way to Taylorville, Lake Co., Fla. We reached Chattanooga 3 hrs. late, but we enjoyed the day and were not very tired. We stopped at the Grand Hotel and liked it very much.