on our next visit to Twin Oaks, I'll ask owner Regina Charboneau about the history of that haunting chapel with it's brilliant stained glass and the alter with the peeling mahogony veneer. There is drama in a restoration project that has not been restored yet.

Until then, I want to savor the flavor of the mystery.

Who was the family who built this beautiful sunken garden? I wonder what prayers were lifted to Heaven on the frangrances from that sunken garden? Did a mother weep here for children lost to the fevers bred by the Mississippi River? Maybe a young bride prayed for the safety of her husband in the trenches of Europe in World War I. Do the bricks lining the path in this Victorian-Era garden keep the whispered secrets of young lovers of another century?

I hope it is raining on our next visit to Twin Oaks. I want to take a book or sketch pad and camera and sit in that little chapel and watch the raindrops explore the surface of the stained glass windows. Rain patterns have always fascinated me.

The 21st Century story of Twin Oaks is one of boundless creativity. It is like a large canvas on which some scenes ahve been painted, but huge sections are still just colors waiting to be blended.

Much of that artistry happens in the kitchen of Twin Oaks where Regina holds cooking classes for her Bed and Breakfast guests. "Cooking classes" is a bit of an understatement though. When I first met Regina about a year ago on our first visit to Twin Oaks, she was speeding around inspiring a small army of volunteers with the final preparations of a Great Chefs of Natchez event. Right then and there, I knew I wanted to attend and write about Regina's "cooking classes". Regina's secret ingredient in any culinary dish or any project is her creativity and energy and vision. Not everyone has true vision you know.