Today was a moving day and we journeyed from the northern part of Mississippi to the southern part. We drove Hwy. 61 which is the River Road but it wasn’t the small, unknown roads we have been taking. It was, rather, a major highway, but not an interstate. It goes directly into Vicksburg, and this was one reason we wanted to take it. We spent several days in Vicksburg nine years ago when we drove the Natchez Trace, so I decided we were not going to stay there. However, our good friend Lee and her husband Charles live in Jackson, Ms. and invited us to meet them for lunch in Vicksburg on our way through. We see Lee every August at Alan’s music camp, but had never met her husband. We had a great couple of hours catching up, eating a good buffet, and laughing and relaxing. Then it was back on the road and heading down to Natchez. Hwy. 61 (River Road) parallels a lot of the Natchez Trace through this part of Mississippi and so we were able to drive through Port Gibson, a lovely little town very close to where my Dad was born. We arrived in Natchez and easily found our B&B, The Oak Hill Inn. It is a lovely antebellum home (built in 1835) in a really quiet area of Natchez, surrounded by many, many other historical homes. Since we have been to Natchez before, taking a walk around this Garden District will be something different. After finding a laundry that would wash and dry our clothes so we didn’t have to spend the time doing it, we headed down to the area known as “Natchez under the Hill.” This area is right on the River and since it had been a couple of days since we had seen the River, we wanted to say hello to it.
Natchez Under the Hill

Mississippi River in Natchez



Sunset over the Mississippi River

We ate at The Magnolia Grill and so, for those of you who have been missing our usual “food porn”, here is a picture of our meal.
Fried Green Tomatoes and Gumbo

Tomorrow we will explore parts of Natchez we haven’t been to before and also go to the cemetery and visit my great grandfather and great grandmother and a couple of aunts and uncles. The cemetery visit is one of the main reasons I wanted to stop in Natchez and so we will go rain or shine. More then.