Driving up to the colonnaded ante-bellum mansion,
Orsi and I are consumed with the magic of the moment. It seems unnatural
to be arriving in an automobile instead of an elegant, horse-drawn carriage.
We stop talking and take in the splendor.
Orsi, a beautiful Hungarian law student who is
also a cherished friend, and I both read Margaret Mitchell's Gone With
the Wind in our teens. We look forward to staying at a GWTW
thematic inn where guests experience how the fictitious Scarlett,
Rhett, Melanie, Ashley, and other GWTW personalities supposedly
lived during the legendary ante-bellum South.
After seeing “Gone With the Wind,” at the age
of six-years-old with her grandfather, K.C. Bassham told her granddad that
one day she’d have her own Twelve Oaks-style plantation. Years later, after
an extensive search for the home of her dreams, K.C. and her husband,Vern,
found what they were seeking. They converted the magnificent 1905 estate
into a bed and breakfast inn which serves as a ongoing tribute to the glory
of the Old South and to Margaret Mitchell’s famed "Gone With the Wind."
When Orsi and I enter the grand entrance hall,
the magnificent staircase immediately captures our attention. We wonder
if we should stroll on up or wait for Rhett to meander down and offer each
of us an arm.
K.C. ushers us to Melanie’s Room, my room of
choice. Like Melanie, the decor of Melanie’s Room (each guest room bears
the name of a character from GWTW) is swathed in soft, soothing
pastels. Furnished with a romantic white iron and brass bed, wicker furniture,
and a Queen Anne bench, the bedchamber reflects Mela- nie’s femininity
and sensitive nature. Photographs of Melanie are displayed prominently
in the room, as well as a life-sized mannequin representing her. The adjoining,
private bath is roomy and features an old claw-footed tub.
As the morning sun filters into our room, we
are awakened by music from the soundtrack of GWTW. I long
to continue lying in bed listening and dreaming—until the tantalizing aromas
of breakfast begin wafting into my room. The focus of my dreams shift quickly,
and I find myself preparing to follow the irresistable whiffs from below.
The morning repast at Inn Scarlett’s Footsteps
is served at a communal table in the elegant dining room. It proves to
be delicious as well as a time of entertainment by K.C., who shares tales
of her GWTW experiences with guests in an Aunt Pitty Pat style.
After breakfast, Orsi and I spend time soaking
in the GWTW memorabilia displayed in a museum on the first floor.
K.C.’s private collection, the museum includes everything from GWTW
collector’s plates to period costumes modeled by mannequins.
No doubt about it, Innside Scarlett’s Footsteps
provides a mecca for fans of Gone With the Wind. In addition to
the exhilaration of spending the night in this unique bed and breakfast,
special activities are offered to guests and non-guests alike: daily guided
tours by southern belles, carriage rides, story tellers, living history
conducted by Civil War re-enactors, a well-stocked GWTW gift shop.
Waddling down the inn’s grand staircase, after
indulging in gluttony at breakfast, my fantasies move into a different
direction. I wonder what chances remain, at this point in my life, for
acquiring an eighteen-inch-Scarlett O’Hara waistline. Glancing in a mirror,
I brood: “fiddle-dee-dee, it won’t hurt to try!”