Christmas and camellias

Southern Living, Dec 1997 by Carlton, Michael

It doesn't happen every year. It doesn't happen often. But when it does, it brings pure enchantment to this already captivating place.

Last year, just before Christmas, the halls were decked, the trees were trimmed, and the stockings were hung with care. All that was needed was snow.

And behold it did come, drifting from a slate-colored sky like tiny wind-borne kites. Soon the statuary wore a shawl of ivory as the tiny white lights wrapping the gazebo winked through the flurries. And in the corner of the garden, a blaze of pink nodded under a frosty cap. Christmas and camellias. It's December in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Although snowstorms in Vicksburg are about as common as statues honoring Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman in Atlanta, they can happen. Last year the grounds of Cedar Grove, a proud old house and bed-and-breakfast inn, appeared glorious in a pearly dress-pure and perfect for the season.

While the snow tumbled outside, fires cracked in its fireplaces, poinsettias blushed in the hallways, and great mantels were covered in magnolia leaves.

In the Cedar Grove dining room, hand-holding couples drank good wine and enjoyed grilled catfish topped with crawfish etouffee. Afterward some took short strolls through the gardens to the light-covered gazebo or to brush snow from the nodding camellias. Finally they retreated to their comfortable rooms, tucked themselves in under thick comforters, listened to the wind play in the oak trees, and waited for sleigh bells.

Even without snow, Vicksburg is a terrific place to escape to during the hectic holidays. The town's many inns and public buildings are dressed in their best-garlands of magnolia, ropes of evergreens, ribbon-wrapped wreaths, ceiling-scraping Christmas trees, and glimmering gold and silver candlesticks.

The stores along Washington Street are piled with Christmas goodies, and even the visiting Delta Queen paddlewheeler is bedecked with wreaths and Christmas bows.

And at the Balfour House, people look to the past in the annual re-creation of the Christmas Eve ball of 1862. The women are glorious in oceans of petticoats crowned by fine velvet gowns. The men are clad in uniforms of butternut and gray. The smell of greenery, camellias, and candles fills the room. And the band plays on.

It's early in the Civil War and spirits are high. Dancers enjoy the Pattycake and the Virginia reel. Then a Confederate courier arrives (the ladies gave the muddy and bedraggled man a wide berth) with news that a flotilla of Yankee boats had been spotted.

On this Christmas Eve in 1862, Gen. Martin Luther Smith declared, "This ball is at an end; the enemy are coming down the river."

A battle ensued. The Confederates won, yet Vicksburg's Christmas was forever marked by blood. And, if you're lucky, by the cleansing white of God's good snow. Michael Carlton Vicksburg accommodations: Rooms at Cedar Grove begin at $85 and include breakfast and a tour of the mansion; call 1-800-862-1300. Other good bed-and-breakfasts-all decorated for the holidays-are Annabelle, Duff Green, and The Corners. Tickets to the Balfour House Christmas Ball (held this year on December 13; period costumes optional) are $30; call 1-800-294-7113. For more information on holiday and other activities contact the Vicksburg Convention and Visitors Bureau, call 1-800-221-3536.