HTBT

Bluff Park in December

by the foggy Mississippi River in Natchez

No, we haven't gone over to Florida. This part of Mississippi used to be considered West Florida during all the territory/new states days.

12-10-14: Getting ready to return to Mt Locust, thankfully Edith is doing much better.

Another moment of thankfulness is when Gus and I went out for pizza tonite and he prayed for me at the restaurant. He thought I seemed a little stressed. God is good.

taking a stroll in Bluff Park by this intriguing river in Natchez

heading below the bluff

with a blue sky and some pop on the camera, The Big Muddy looks pretty

the boat in back is a casino, the one in front is the American Queen tour boat

on the trail below the bluff

on our way back up

watching a barge move upstream

the MS River bridge going from Natchez, MS to Vidalia, LA

looking toward Natchez-Under-the-Hill from Bluff Park

12-11-14: Strolled around by the river awhile today. Great walking path at Bluff Park downtown.

Ranger Jacob

12-15-14: When I returned to Mt. Locust from Texarkana, we had a new ranger, Ranger Jacob from Cinci.

Ranger Mike

Mike is retiring at the end of the month and Jacob will be here now. Ranger Mike grew up in Natchez and has a vast knowledge of the area. Ranger Jacob is a young ranger who already has a variety of NPS experiences. We feel lucky to be able to learn from both of these guys.

In one of my recent blogposts I mentioned my first knitting "student", my friend Kay. She shared the greatest story with me today. She was practicing a stitch or 2 at home and her little grandson, Kaden, was with her and calls it "Yarning". I love that!!

one of our fave lunch spots in downtown Natchez

David and his precious

12-16-14: David and I did a little driving around Natchez today and stopped for lunch at Cotton Alley Cafe downtown. I'd definitely recommend this place. Kind of a casual tea room feel. Fresh homecooked food!

The Old Country Store in Lorman, MS

white tablecloths in a rustic bldg

original features

12-21-14: Ranger Mike told us that it's a must to go to nearby Lorman, MS to the family-run Old Country Store for some fried chicken. Ranger Jacob visited it shortly after he arrived and agreed it's good. David remembered a guest at our Wichita gig telling us about it and said it is mighty good.
So off we went today to check it out. Now the owner is Mr. D, who will gladly tell his patrons all about the store, himself, and will serenade all! I was kinda hoping he'd let me sing with him! When we arrived at opening time, they weren't quite finished cooking so we chatted with Mr. D. for quite awhile. I finally asked him if he and I could sing together.

Mr. D telling us all about himself and his family

then he broke into song

Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch

he didn't give me a chance to sing with him

Mr. D

He didn't give me a chance -- not sure if David was signaling him behind my back as a warning about my singing -- but broke into a slow version of "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch"! I loved it! Tho, I think I could've added a lot to it.

The meal was a more-than-you-can-eat buffet of fried chicken, ribs, pork chops, greens, potato salad, and gosh I can't even remember everything else. It was some great soul food! And the "old country store" that it is housed in is a great atomosphere where one can just imagine the history.

Ranger Jake took his parents over there in January and said Mr. D. sang to them as well. He told them that if Colonel Sanders had had his chicken recipe then the Colonel would've been a 5-star general!

When we waddled out of there, full of fried food, we took a drive out through the Homochitto National Forest. Beautiful, relaxing drive!

"working" on Christmas Eve Day

THX for my holiday scarf, Dawn!

David's "office"

12-24-15: Worked Christmas Eve Day at the VC. Pretty cozy day.

Nathan and Manning Goff

Lacey and James Goff

More Goff's

chillaxin on Christmas Day

Love our grandsons!! Opening the gifts we sent them.

Lulu's snow

12-25-15: Rec'd a few pix from family on Christmas Day.

TBT - Taylor Ingram, Justin McClintock, Laura Richardson, me, Lisa Siegel

TBT - Lisa's 40th -- me, Lisa Siegel, Jane Alexander, Bekki White, Kathy Palmer

And I love the TBT pix that Lisa sends me!

12-28-14: I know this post seems to be all about eating, but we do like to eat. Today we went down to Natchez-Under-the-Hill and ate at The Camp.

heading into The Camp at Natchez-Under-the-Hill

my date

It is a restored and newly-opened bar and cafe. Evidently, their specialty is all the various kinds of beer. But we stuck to sandwiches and sweet tea. The service was soooo slow (we are learning that SLOW is the name of the game in Mississippi), but the food was great! David had a blt and I had a grilled cheese with bacon and onions on homemade Texas toast.

Natchez-Under-the-Hill is much cleaner this century

Not only was the food great, but it's right on the river, so we could watch some of the barge traffic going past. The building itself was a brothel back in the early river town days.

in keeping with southern belle atmosphere, Natchez Coffee Co decorated their Christmas tree as a Southern Belle

12-29-14: Ok, we're eating again. Tried the Natchez Coffee Company this morning for breakfast. We do have a good excuse for eating out, tho. The county we are in is under a boil water advisory. That works, right? Actually, we are using bottled water to cook with and using bleach water to wash dishes. So I think we're good. Oh wait, I have another excuse! We work at a visitor center and need to be able to answer folks' questions about where to eat. Yeah, that's the ticket! Anyway, we went to Natchez Coffee Company for cinnemon rolls. Our donut shop, The Donut Shop, was closed today. We had read that NCC had good ones. Once I got there I just had regular breakfast and David had the cinnemon roll. Both of us were very impressed! And I loved the decor of this little spot. Very eclectic.

Ranger Mike sporting the fox fur from the VC

Cya Later, Ranger Mike

12-31-14: Ranger Mike's last day.

in driving thru Jackson we were kinda surprised to see the Washington monument

turns out it's a cell phone tower

1-5-15: David and I drove up to Jackson again today. Rocky and I needed to get our hair "did". We dropped him off at Petco and David dropped me off at Super Cuts. I'll have to say it was my first ever haircut by a black lady. Other than being slow (as is everything in MS), I loved her! She was awesome.

Then I walked nextdoor to Joann's to get some fabric. My first ever fabric cutting by a young black guy. Other than being slow (Mississippi again), that was the best fabric cutting I've ever had!

We've just become used to slowness down here: the cafes, the shopping, Walgreens, etc. Nobody gets in a hurry. And as is typical in the south, whoever is checking you out knows everyone in line and they have lots to talk about! The people down here are all so friendly & sweet! We really do love it.

Grand Gulf Nuclear Reactor Port Gibson

In addition to the 59 deer we saw on the Parkway around sunset and after, we saw 1 nuclear reactor on the way home.

1-7-15: When we first set up our camper David noticed what he thought was a snake in one of the relief pipes behind the camper. Kinda forgot about it til it started stinking. So today he pulled it out and it was actually a possum. Ick!!!!! I love critters, but ICK!!!!!

One of the visitors today noted that the hay fields down here still have the big round bails. He said he couldn't believe they still do that instead of the square bails and don't we have animal activists in this part of the country? I asked him to explain what in the heck he was talking about. He said that cows had complained that they could never get a square meal. SMH.

the Mississippi River bridge between Natchez and Vidalia is actually 2 bridges going opposite directions

heading over to the Louisiana side

1-10-15: After eating my fave burger yet at Jerry's in Vidalia, we drove out to Natchez State Park to look around. I was hoping it'd be a great place for our rv peeps to stay. It's ok, but I really wouldn't recommend it. (however, Vidalia has a nice rv park right on the river). The state park might be a good place to do a little hiking and looks like a really good fishing spot.

multi-tasking while playing Panties

not multi-tasking

1-11-15: Got David to play Panties tonight. I won so I think we'll play tomorrow night, too.

can you guess who is ahead?

1-12-15: Sure enough, David challenged me to another round. I really wanted him to win this time. But......

Mammy's Cupboard in Natchez

1-17-15: Eating again... today at Mammy's. They say on their website that they don't serve burgers or fried food. I'm like, whaaaat? But we checked it out anyway and boy was it yummy. Fresh sandwiches on homemade sourdough bread. And the pies, oh my! This place is shaped like a mammy. It was originally a gas station. Mammy's skirt holds a dining room and gift shop
(tho I didn't notice a gift shop). Her earrings are horseshoes. She's been through several renovations and repairs and each time her skin color changes a bit, according to what is more politically correct at the time. During the Civil Rights Movement she was painted lighter. Evidently, every time she gets a paint job she ends up a tad lighter.

Grand Village of the Natchez

aerial drawing of what it may have looked like when it was occupied

Natchez artwork commonly included the swirls and circles

January is the Cold Meal month

there's a what on my what?

I think I feel a new Indian name coming on

After lunch we visited Grand Village of the Natchez Indians. They have a wonderful little museum. displays, and movie and it's all free. It's run by the MS Dept of Archives and History.

the Great Sun's mound

Temple Mound

hut

back of the hut with other structures

There are 3 mounds there. The Great Sun family's (highest in rank), and the Temple Mound, both about 8 feet tall, have each been excavated & rebuilt to their original size and shape. "Mound A" was abandoned by the time Europeans arrived. It has been partially excavated, but not too much found there. So it's being left as a time capsule for later.

When Great Sun died - probably around 1728 - his wife and retainers (I don't know, is that back-up women?) were strangled and buried with him. That was custom so that they could all move on to the other side together. His house on the mound was burned and buried so that the mound became taller. A new home on top of the mound was raised for his successor.

Each spring a Pow-Wow is held at Grand Village. Would love to go to it this year, but it is scheduled for the week after we leave.

Pig Out Inn in downtown Natchez

always yummy

1-18-15: After exploring 3 days in row, we decided to just chillax today (after picking up lunch from our fave Natchez bbq spot - Pig Out Inn) in this gorgeous weather. David washed the truck while Rocky and I sat outside and read in between laundry loads. Well, ok, Rocky and I didn't BOTH read.

best book ever about the Mighty Mississippi from top to bottom

1-21-15: We've had a fun week at work. Such a variety of people have stopped in to check the place out. 2 or 3 singers, professors, an artist, Canadians, Australians....but one that particularly made my day was a soft-spoken, enthusiastic, southern gentlemen from Jackson, MS. He had the dialect and accent perfected! He told me all about his singing and art career and offered me some fudge from Darby's, the candy store in Natchez, and went on to tell me he was taking some home to his friend "Boogah Moose". Boogah Moose used to play football for Ole Miss and is a friend of Archie Manning's. I learned a lifetime of info in about 5 minutes and could've listened to this sweet man all day. So I told him to be sure and stop back by!

Ranger Rick with his 'Stang

Ranger Rick dropped by to show off his '68 'Stang. Mighty purdy!

oh yeah - it's a tough job

We are going to explore the Natchez Trace Parkway all the way to Nashville on our upcoming days off. Excited!!

More when we get to some wifi again!

sunset over the Wicked River

by the Great Artist

Much Love from the American Nile country,

Arthur, Mammy, and Ranger Rocky

12-1-14:

our winter home

Arrived at our new "home" for the winter. We will workamp at historic Mt. Locust in the Mississippi delta near Natchez, MS. It is a site with the National Park Services. We are at mile marker 15.5 on the Natchez Trace Parkway. It's a beautiful place to be for the winter! Lots to learn in the way of history, local culture, flora and fauna!

at the gate

a look at the mound from the road

12-2-14: Today we did a little exploring beginning with Emerald Mound along the Trace. It's supposed to be the 2nd largest Indian mound in North America.

a look at the road from the top of Emerald Mound

the secondary mound in the distance

reading about this large mound

long and winding road

Walked a couple of miles around Mt. Locust. Lots of good hiking in the area, BUT lots of hunters out this time of year, too.

Rocky is loving his new backyard

Mt Locust Inn from our walking trail

this split rail fence surrounds much of the NPS property here

the trail near the family cemetery

we get to walk this pretty road and listen to the pileateds, kingfishers, and various other birds

the hay field in front of Mt. Locust, owned by NPS, harvested privately

Ferguson/Chamberlain family cemetery on the property

Enjoyed exploring some of the property today with David and Rocky. Looking forward to learning much more!

We stopped in at Belk and went our separate ways to our particular departments. We each found a little something and when I got home I noticed on my online banking that there were 2 charges for the same amount. I thought, "great, they charged me twice". Our bank must've thought the same thing because they sent me an email about it. But when I pulled the receipts out, we had each spent the exact same amount! We finish each other's sentences, but dang! haha

12-3-14: First day on the job! David gives tours of the historic inn, and I work in the visitor center.

NPS VIP''s

Ranger Mike oriented us with the place, and then cut us loose about noon. So we went into Natchez to the public library for wifi. Only way for David to post FB pix and for me to work on my blog.
Tonite we had the pleasure of listening to a Great Horned Owl as we lay in bed. I'm sure we are in store for lots of new sounds over the next 4 months!

atop the MS capitol

12-4-14: David needed to go to Jackson today to pick up his credentials. This was the first time either of us have been to this city. We took Rocky with us for a road trip. I had googled a couple of things I wanted to see there, so we enjoyed the day. Jackson is the capitol of MS and is a big city with a small town feel. At least downtown.

the old capitol, now a museum

new capitol

pretty grounds

loved this monument which honors Confederate women: mothers, daughters, wives, and sisters

Mississippi's Merci Train boxcar given by France in 1949

the old depot

On the way back to Mt Locust on the trace, we got a glimpse of something we didn't know was in the area: a nuclear reactor at Port Gibson

12-7-14: Made an unplanned trip to Texarkana to spend a few days with Edith. She's come down with pneumonia and is in the hospital. David took me to Shreveport where Cranford and Kathey met us and brought me on in. Kathey said that sounded like they were picking up a fugitive.

bear sign around Vicksburg

On I-20 just outside of Vicksburg, we noticed bear signs. Not bear "sign", but bear "signs". Seems Mississippi has reintroduced the black bear. At last count they have about 40 - 50 statewide. Southern MS has the Louisiana black bear and the north part of the state has the American black bear. They are not distinguishable other than their skull sizes. I would love to see one, but won't be measuring the skulls!