Over-nighter! in Natchez, Mississippi

Natchez in on the Mississippi River
Downstream from Vicksburg
Across from Vidalia, Louisiana

We have taken our "big" trips for 2011.  The rest of the year we will do one-day trips and over-nighters.  We decided to check out Natchez before we committed to their Balloon Race or Christmas Week Events...even though "they" say the time to go to Natchez is in the Spring when the azaleas are blooming.  

Only remaining Inn out of about 50 that existed
 on 500 mile Natchez Trace
running from Nashville, Tennessee to Natchez

We stopped at Mount Locust, a National Park, on the Natchez Trace.  We visited with the Ranger who is one of the family who originally owned and ran the Inn.... his great-great grandmother. I bought a National Park medallion for my hiking stick and a postcard to mail to myself.*  


Natchez doesn't show much for itself on Sunday afternoon.  One gift shop was open, as was the Riverboat Casino and a restaurant, Magnolia Grill.  We located the hotel/motel area thanks to the gift shop guy. We selected Best Western. (We'll try the Hampton Inn on our next trip.)

Known as Nutt's Folly
Unfinished above the Basement

I was ready to come home the next morning, but decided I needed to give it another chance.  Good thing! or we would have missed Longwood.  It was worth the trip.  We stopped at the Rosalie (another antebellum home) gift shop before heading out of town.


We won't be going back for the Balloon Race, but might think about the Spring. We decided to put the Albuquerque Balloon Race on our big list. After all, it is the granddaddy of all balloon races.


We took the "roads" up the east side of Louisiana, Hamburg and Star City, Arkansas, to come home.  Cut new territory for both of us.


(See Slide Show on Side Bar for more pictures.)


*Many years ago I decided to send postcards to us while on the trip instead of bringing home any more dust catchers.  My postcard album has become a journal. If I want to know where we were in a certain year, I head for that album/journal.