V6N1A

Natchez NHP

Natchez National Historic Park is located in Natchez, Mississippi on the southwestern border. It is comprised of 2 ante-bellum (pre-civil war) cotton plantations. Although the plantations are now gone, the mansions (Melrose, Johnson) are still existing.

Our arrival found us visiting on a day when the park service was having a party downtown and with a skeleton tour crew in attendance. The supervisor who took us on the tour told us we were getting the "A" tour today. He wasn't bragging as the wealth of his knowledge about the Mansion and the cotton producing south was enormous. There are very few outbuildings remaining except for the stables and a couple of slave quarters. Although the house slaves did live above the Kitchen and the Laundry which still remain.

The main house was completed in the late 1840's and is a testament to the opulence of the time. The large rooms, lavishly appointed would still be considered luxurious by today's standards. An interesting effect caught my eye in the main house. The huge 4'X10' wooden doors were made from Cypress. They were painted, or "grained" to look like quarter-sawn oak. Because the humidty was so prevalent it would have been impossible to build and maintain wooden doors made from oak. Some of the furnishings, although period accurate, did not actually belong to the occupants of the house, but were very beautiful. One bed in an upstairs bedroom is by far the most beautiful piece of woodworking I have ever seen.

John T. McMurran, the owner/builder of the house was by profession a lawyer before he was a plantation owner. He made his wealth from the law and not from the cotton trade. As a matter of fact he even lost money in the cotton business and had to go back to practising the law on occasion to supplement his income, even though the plantation owners in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi controlled thousands of slaves for producing cotton.

The Melrose Plantation is the only house open to the public at the present time. The William Johnson House is closed and being renovated.

Felice Navidad

By spending time in San Antonio at Christmas this year we got an opportunity to see the Riverwalk with all its Christmas splendor. We arrived in town in late afternoon and went immediately to El Mercado (The Market) and spent a couple of hours there. Unfortunately for the merchants we didn't spend any money, but it's still a fun place just to walk around. By the time our meter ran out it was time to head for Riverwalk. It still wasn't dark yet but we wanted to be there for pictures so we decided to grab a bite to eat in the meantime. We wanted Mexican food but we couldn't find what we wanted in the mall so we settled for The Big Cajun. Another cuisine we are very fond of. And the Chicken combos we had were absolutely delicious. The last bite of my BBQ chicken was a scorcher however. It burned for about twenty minutes.

We sat outside after eating for a few minutes still waiting for the sun to go down. When it finally did we were treated to a spectacular display of lighting on the river and its environs. We decided to walk the river instead of taking the boat. That way we could stop wherever we wanted to take pictures. And we were not disappointed. This was a stop well worth making.

While we walked the Riverbanks a pleasant surprise occurred. The Football teams were in town for the Fiesta Bowl. First came Colorado, in 2 boats, with its band playing for all within earshot to hear. Music overflowing the river and rising to the street above. People cheering and yelling. Next came Wisconsin, in 5 boats. The band in the first 2, the team in the next 2, and fans bringing up the last boat.

Seeing the Riverwalk decked out for Christmas was amazing, and the music from the 2 team bands was just the icing on the already beautiful cake. It was a nice touch indeed.

Eat Here, Get Gas

Getting gas on this trip so far has been a nightmare. I'm not talking about the eating-beans-after-a-meal kind either. I'm talking about the filling it up at the pump type gas. We left home and it was at $1.48 and since then we've gone from $1.15 in Mississippi back to $1.48 in Arizona. The different brands don't seem to lend any help in the process either.

We've gone through this process in the past but at least we could stick with a certain brand to get the best price. When you have to put 65-70 gallons in at a fill-up a 10 cent a gallon differential means $6.50-$7.00 at each fill up. It grates on me to think that I have to flush that much down the tubes every time I fill my tank. Somebody is fleecing us and I don't think it's a shepherd, German or otherwise.

The Town That Wouldn't Die

It took us 27 days to get to Arizona this year, but one of our first stops once we got here was Tombstone.........again. We've been to Tombstone several times and we never tire of visiting it "just one more time."

This year our visit was a little different than it has been in the past. The streets were almost empty of tourists. I believe that it may have been a little early in the year for tourists. The usual gunfighters were in attendance, and the horses and carriages still moved up and down main street, but the people snapping pictures and videotaping the action were definitely missing.

We walked and shopped and even sat in the front window of the local saloon and sipped a beer. We couldn't find a single thing we couldn't live without so we basically went home empty-handed. Tombstone is a history book of costumes worn by "western" types who can make you imagine they've just stepped out of a time machine into the present.