Adventure Travel Photography Blog
After three days on the Natchez Trace, I finally landed in Natchez, once the wealthiest city in the nation. Prior to the Civil War, 13 of the nation’s 30 millionaires called Natchez home. In fact, the homes built here were not for plantation work, but were simply showcases for many northerners’ wealth. All but one antebellum home survived the Civil War, as Natchez sided with the Union, and many Union soldiers used the homes during the war.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
Today I spent a leisurely morning at Mike and Deb’s house. The forecast called for rain, so I wasn’t in a hurry to continue my drive along the scenic Natchez Trace. I tried catching up on my daily blog, but my posts take longer and longer to complete each day. Consequently, I’m still days behind. I thought by now, I’d be an expert writer, but I feel like I have used every word in the Thesaurus, and I’m still facing a writer’s block! For the afternoon, I continued down the Natchez Trace, the main road between Natchez and Jackson until the Civil War, stopping at Rocky Springs, Windsor Ruins, Mount Locust, and Emerald Mound.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
This morning I awoke to freezing rain. Frozen trickles of water stuck to VANilla’s doors! Luckily the temperature was forecasted to warm to 40 degrees, so with a slightly delayed start, Scout, Petey, and I headed out. Yesterday, in order to reach Wayne and Debby’s before the Mississippi State basketball game, we sped through Tupelo without touring the town. Consequently, we returned north to visit the Tupelo National Battlefield and the Elvis Presley Park, but not before I went on a caching expedition around MSU.
My ex-coworker Mary and I attempted to find a handful of caches in the rain while waiting for a meeting once. Needless to say, in business suits, we weren’t really dressed for the occasion, it was cold, and we had a limited amount of time. As a result, we finally had to give up. It is so annoying when that happens. I’m pleased to announce, that while it was colder and again raining, I found the magnetic cache under the bleachers at the soccer field and the tube hanging off the bridge by our hotel. YEAH!
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
As I mentioned in my previous post, I never made it to a Walmart parking lot last night. Instead, I camped right next to the Loveless Café across from a Shell gas station. I entered the restaurant just after opening at 7 am. I wasn’t that hungry, but coffee and heat lured me to a table quickly after a three dog night in VANilla. Brrr!
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
With the snow accumulation complete, the temperature forecast to reach the low twenties, and a few icicles on VANilla, the dogs and I spent a leisurely morning at Connie and Ron’s before venturing south to the Pennyroyal Region of Kentucky. The three day forecast called for another wintery blast, thus with the roads in fair condition, I aimed to get ahead of the next storm.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I awoke to the wind swirling, snow falling, and a phone call from my Louisville hosts. They are stuck in St. Louis. No house for me this evening! OK, I got a little flustered. Countless thoughts spun through my mind. Could I drive the roads? Could I survive the 5 degree temperature? Should I stay south and wait out the storm at Walmart? Should I go northeast to Lexington in hopes it would hit there later or should I book it to Louisville, Kentucky and email one of my blog readers who I’ve never met and try to stay with her?
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
After yesterday’s long drive, I began the morning at Noccalula Falls Park in northeast Alabama. Bobby, a park worker, was the only one at the 250 acre facility when I arrived. A petting zoo and miniature golf course stood to the left of the entrance while a pioneer village, lit with Christmas lights, lured me to the right. The winter attraction was clearly the replica 1863 C. P. Huntington train ride through the festive village, not the waterfall tumbling into Black Creek Gorge. Legend has it that Noccalula Falls, once called Black Creek Falls, is named after the Cherokee princess who chose to leap to her death rather than marry a man she didn’t love.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I’m curious to know the population of the Miami Metropolitan Area. I have never seen so much traffic. I feel like I can say I successfully drove in New York City while being in South Florida. The eighteen toll booths decreased to four lanes and later two. I would have happily participated in an alternating merge, but I quickly learned the word “merge” is not in the Hispanic dictionary. I wondered if the next part on VANilla I might have to replace would be a bumper or my steering wheel squeezed into pieces by my white knuckled grip.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
We began our morning in St. Augustine, Florida. After my visit to the oldest house and school in Florida, I stopped by the Castillo San Marcos National Monument. This fort, built by the Spanish, was never defeated in war, but changed hands by treaty. The fort built of coquina walls, between 1672 and 1695, replaced wooden structures used to protect St. Augustine against the French in 1565. In 1702 and again in 1740, the fort successfully survived a siege by the British.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
I thought it might be the afternoon before the dogs got a good, long walk, so we made a short stop at a roadside park called the Marshes of Glynn Overlook Park where where we stretched our legs as we took in the view of expansive salt marshes. Salt marshes surround the area, and we passed over several as we crossed the bridge to St. Simons Island, part of the Golden Isles.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN!