Natchez to New Orleans

12 Dec 17

Before we left Natchez we decided to take a 1 hour tour of the city  on the Hop On: Hop Off  Double Decker bus. There was only one other couple on the bus,  but they were from California so they chose to sit downstairs where it was warm,  as it was a little cool in the upper level  area. 

Natchez is 54 % Black and when cotton became in demand in Europe and other countries, the Natchez area was the area to grow cotton.   Whites became the Plantation owners but Black slaves planted and Harvested . Also Natchez was a place where Blacks where bought and sold a slaves mainly because they could be moved up and down the Mississippi and also they could bring in new slaves from Africa and other countries. Therefore a lot of the tour was about the Blacks, the Slaves and also about the Plantation and their owners. It was a well conducted tour and the guide was well verse on the history.

After the tour,  it was near the lunch hour so  we ask about a good  restaurant for lunch and we were directed to the "Biscuits and Blue". The menu was great and the food was plentiful for the price. I had 3 ribs, with squash, a bowl of beans and a large salad, which was more that I could eat for 10.00. Needless to say the place was full and the customers   were mainly local as we could tell by the conversations. 

Then we left for New Orleans which was a suppose to be a 2 1/2 hour drive if we traveled on Hwy 61 which would circumvent Baton Rouge and would avoid I-10 including the area in New Orleans. . However, the signs for 61 abruptly stopped a I-10 just before Baton Rouge and I did not see another sign so we ended up going thru B R and it was a nightmare. I'm sure we lost an hour in B R  and I-10 in New Orleans was no better. I think it took 4 hours to do the 2 1/2 hour trip. 

After getting settled in our room we got a taxi to take us Bourbon St and the French Quarters where we had hope to hear some really good Blues music. We were disappointed. We only found one Blues band and the bar had 2 tables and no chairs. I guess they wanted everyone to stand, drink and dance. Most of the bars were open but empty. There were quite a few people walking the street but nobody was frequenting the bars. After an hour and a half we were disappointed, called a cab and return to our room. cheers







  

Heading for Natchez

11 Dec 17

We left Canton, MS and intended to arrive to the end of the Natchez Trace in Natchez , MS. There are two Natchezs: one on the east side of the Mississippi River and one on the west side of the mighty Mississippi and they are joined with a mammoth bridge. We are staying in the MS Natchez as it seems more prosperous and someone more populated. They are both old cities as Natchez was founded as a French colony in 1716 and the word Natchez is the ancestral language of the Natchez people who historically inhabited MS and LA.
We finally completed the Natchez Trace Parkway journey about 2 PM as we arrived in Natchez and after driving thru  town we decided to go to the Visitors Welcome Center to find out what are the " must see " in town. 
They have a Hop On: Hop Off bus tour around town so we will do it tomorrow morning. We watch a 15 min video of Natchez which depicted several people glorifying the reasons why the love Natchez ( and right so ) but I only noticed one black person in the documentary. Incidentally, 54 % of Natchez is black. "Go Figure."

Natchez was the home of many wealthy cotton Barons, hence there are some huge mansions.  We visited 3 of the the last time we were in Natchez about 8 years ago. After the Civil war the houses were abandon and in reason years wealthy Americans have obtain these homes and are restoring them to there original style as best they can. 

 Carroll inquired about a Pub or Restaurant  that would have music tonight  and we were told that there was some Blues music at a Bistro which opens at 5 PM. Thinking we might not get a seat we arrived at 5.  On our arrival the Blues player was tuning his instruments so we grab a good seat and order dinner, over priced I might add. After we finished dinner we ask when the music would start and the answer was around 6:30 ish. Well, we couldn't sit around for another hours so we left and toured the town. 

As we pulled into our hotel we notice a mini  bus pull out with a Casino advertisement on the side so we inquired and the bus will pick you at your hotel free of charge , take you to the Casino and bring back anytime so we went to the Casino for an hour. Because we are first timers at this Casino we each got 10.00 free Play. Carroll managed to win 10.00 but she lost my 10.00 so we took her's 10.00 and came home. Cheers  

A Day in Nashville

9 Dec 17

Tonight we have tickets for the Grand Ole Opry, which if you don't, know is a Music Show not a Place or a Theatre and it is Not always held in Opryland as we originally thought. It is at the Ryman Centre.

Since we had  to kill the rest of the day we went to visit Opryland area which housed a huge shopping (surprize surprize ) Opryland hotel, a Convention centre and the Opry House Theatre. Opryland is 20 miles from downtown and from our hotel. 
Without "Garmin" we would  have had quite a time to find the place. The parking lot holds a zillion people and I think everbody brought two cars

Normally, the Grand Ole Opry would be playing at the Opry House but for the month of Dec the show called the  "Cirque Dreams Holidaze"  takes over the theatre so the Opry moves to the Ryman theatre which just happens to be 1 block from our hotel. I dropped Carroll off to check out the activities at the Opry House and drove around the parking lot looking for a place to park. Once we found out the Cirque Dreams Holidaze was on just as we got there we bought tickets. The show was excellent and it help to kill a few hours as the Grand Ole Opry did not start until 7 PM. 

To travel from our hotel ( downtown ) to Opryland meant we had to traverse several different Freeway, of which most where up to 7 lanes wide. The speed limit on the freeways in Nashville is 55 MPH which I assume to "approximate " since I was being past like I was standing still. I kicked it up to 60 to go with the flow. 

We purchased our tickets for the Grand Ole Opry at the hotel so a small bus picked us up and delivered us to the show and brought us home. We had to go thru a security check which was outside but we only took 5 mins. However the line up for the 10 PM show had two lines that were over a block long and it was dam cold last evening , around 3 C. The show was just OK  compared to Branson which was great. Karrie  Underwood was suppose to perform but she fell and broke her wrist a week ago and apparently you can't sing with a broken wrist.....
Garth Brooks was preforming at the Hockey arena which is about 1/2 a block away so the entire area was a Zoo of people. 
The MC said thanks for coming tonight; I guess you couldn't get ticket for Garth Brooks. cheers 

Nashville to Natchez

10 Dec 17

We left Nashville at 9 AM heading for the Natchez Trace which we would follow to Natchez , MS , some 440 miles south. However,  the Trace begins about 20 or 30 miles south a Nashville and our Garmin was taken us in circle so I finally told Carroll to turn it off. The Garmin likes to take the Freeways and I knew a much shorter route.
As I turned of the freeway I realized I was low on fuel so I pulled into a gas station and fuel was 2.39 which is high but in the city it was 2.46. I ask the clerk about the best route to the Trace and she keep going the way  you are already heading and it is 10 mins ahead. 

We have been looking for a couple ( Kevin and Ruth )   who are " Blogger" friends. We know from their Blog that they are on the Trace but not sure where. They are a day or two ahead of us and since they have a MH they will be camping. There are a few camp sites on the Trace so we check each one and about 3 PM we found them. They were just returning from a hike so we stopped and had a cup of tea and swamped "Travel Stories" They are World Travelers. They are leading a Caravan thru MX in Jan for 85 days. 

We intended to stop at 5 PM but somehow Garmin missed our turn so we traveled on to the next city, 20 miles off the Trace. There are  no facilities on the Trace so if you need, food , gas or lodging you have to venture of the Trace, sometime for miles. 
We landed at a Best Western in Canton, MS for 72.00 and it is great. We crossed 3 States today. TN, AL  and MS.  Cheers 

Heading for the Natchez Trace

Thrusday and Friday 7 and 8 Dec 17

On Thursday we traveled from Branson to Tupelo ( pronounced Two-po-Low ) which was a 7 hour drive and it is where we spent the night. Our "intentions" were to head south Natchez, on Friday morning on the Trace Parkway Express.

Friday:

 The Natchez Trace is a 440 mile journey from Natchez, MS and ends 20 miles south of Nashville , TN and it crosses 4 states. Tupelo is approximately 1/2 way between Natchez and Nashville. The Trace Parkway is a beautiful 2 lane highway which winds it way the entire 440 miles with NO billboards, commerical vehicles, gas station or businesses; just cars,light trucks and RV's. You can get off to visit a small town for gas or food. The speed limit is mostly 50 MPH but does drop to 40. This is a scenic hwy, so if you are in a hurry take another road. The trip from Tupelo to Nashville take 3 1/2 hours nonstop but there are so many Historical monuments to see and read that we took 6 hours. Most of the land is farm land and any land that isn't agriculture is covered with forest. I'm sure that originally this land was all forest and it has been cleared since the 1800's. 

So why did we change our plans?  There is a Visitors Centre in Tupelo before you enter the Trace Parkway so we stopped to pick up some info and to be brief on the journey. The visitors centre had a 15 min movie which we took in. We then realized that we would only see 1/2 of the Trace if we headed south and the visitors center was also advising  people not to go south due to snow covered roads. That's when we decided to go to Nashville. Besides that, when we tell people that we did the Natchez Trace we want to say we did all 440 miles. ( I know.... that info and a dollar will get you a coffee at MacDonald's). 

If you are interested in the history of the Trace you can Google it so I will be brief. In the 1800's before steam power the Kiantuck people from Kentucky would float their "Wares" down the Mississippi River to Natchez to sell them. And since their flat bottom boat could only go down river they would sell it for the lumber and walk 440 miles back to Nashville on this trail which became the Trace.  The trail was narrow, rough, and infested with mosquitoes, flies, alligators and not so friendly Indians. They would form a group for safety. 

Nashville is no longer the small city with Music as it's main industry. They have two vehicle manufacturing plants and they are the Hub of the Health Care Industry. The population is between 1 million and 1.8 million if you count the outlying areas. 

We took a cab downtown to "Music" street and had supper and then went to a bar to listen to C and W music. It was the Tequila Cowboy bar and it was a Zoo but the music was great.  A fight was about to develop about 2 feet from us but the bartender handled it and both parties left by separate exits. Cheers

Day 3 in Music City

A Long Day 6 Dec 17

Our day started at 10:00 AM with a show at Grand Country Square. Grand Country has several different show so we  chose "Down Home Country and Comedy". The music was great and the comedy was hilarious. The comedian was "supposedly " comic of the year but in Branson everyone gets to chosen to be " Someone of the Year": ie Singer , Dancer,  Drummer, etc etc. However, the Comedian is a Rodeo Clown in the off season so being a Comedian must not pay the bills all year. 

However this show was 2 hours of enjoyment and we strongly recommend it. 

Then we took a lunch break as our next show " The Dixie Stampede " and as the name applies it include a horse show. We were  told and strongly advised to be the pre-show  by 4 PM because it was free and we would enjoy it. We sat from from 4 PM until 4:40 waiting on the music to start which means we talked to the people around until he said he voted for Trump  and I should not have said what I said because he quit talking to me. I'm guessing that I won't get a Christmas card from him.

Finally at 4:40 three over-stuffed Hillbillies from Arkansas mount the stage an apparently tried to entertain all 1000 of us but I for one thought they were terrible. Finally, the torture ended about 5:15 and we were lead into the Arena where we were feed a good meal  "Medieval Style" ie no eating tools. We received a whole Cornish hen, cob of corn, and a 1/2 a sliced potatoes and an apple turnover for dessert. While we were eating we were provided with a horse and rider show doing trick riding  and some other foolish stuff, like a pig race, a chicken race and a dog race. Please do yourself a favour if you go to Branson and drive past this show as fast a legally possible. It was the worst 50.00 I ever spent.

We got out of this show shortly  after 7 PM and drove to the Pressely's Family music hall. The show starts at 8 PM. 

The Pressely's were the first people to build a music hall in Branson 50 years ago and the building  was metal structure with a level floor with flat chairs for the patients. The idea was that if the Music idea fail they would use the building to store boats. The music idea was a hit and they build a new theatre  which holds 1000 people and the the seats and stage area are world class. 

Most of the musicians are Pressely's or related and they all play several instrument, much like every other all musicians in Branson. I'm amazed at how talent these people are. Mr. Pressely, who is the producer of the show, and  also is the comedian along with one of his 8 sons. They are priceless. The "MC" who also is a singer on the show  becomes a licenced Electrician during the winter. His wife is also a singer on the show.  

 This show was excellent and we strongly recommend it. It saved us from the horrible horse show experience and made our finally day a great experience. Tomorrow we head to Tupelo, MS to start our trip along the Natchez Trace, which you can Google if you need to read the history on it. cheers

Music City Day 2

5 Dec 17

Our day started with a 9:30 show which was a Tribute to George Jones. It was OK and was probably worth the 15.00 but the 4 piece band sang songs from several other Legions but expected more song from Jones, hence I don't recommend it.

The lead singer  gave us a little background on their life and he said that he was the lead guitar for Shoji Tabuchi for 10 years but still has to drive a school bus to make ends meet. Hence he does this Tribute around his bus schedule. The drummer works at 3 different shows a day so the pay can't be that good. 

Our next show was at 4 PM which was a live show about the  " Miracle  of Christmas" which was a live show on the Birth of Christ. It came complete with all the animals camels , donkeys, horses and cows. The theme started in the city of Nazareth depicting   the way the Romans treated the Jews and ending with the birth of Christ in a Manager. It was interesting to see the animals walking up the idles and going on to the stage. They also had several angels flying thru the entire hall ( much like Peter Pan ). 
The show started at 3:30 and ended at 6 PM.  The hall held over 2000 people so we thought we would arrive early, like 3 PM but we were certainly not the first arrivals. This building was huge and it had a foyer that actually held most of the 2000 people. Of course most of these seniors had to visit the Rest Room, purchase a bottle of water/coffee and other goodies before the show started.  Then , we among the others had to find our seat. We had seats KK which was 20 rows from the bottom or 10 rows from the top, hence we took the elevator and climbed down to our seats. We felt like we were in a football stadium but the seats were excellent. In fact the flying angels were barely above our head, which was great because that's as close as I will get to an angel. 

It kind of funny watching the seniors move. On the way in to the show they move at a Snails pace but after the show the moving in and out trying to push by to get to their car quickly. The parking lot holds 2000 cars with one exit; how fast do they think they can get out. 

After the show we took in a drive thru Christmas Light Show which was a fabulous which was a display of the Religion of Christmas, the Industrial machines ( backhoes ) of the area and the Farm equipment  ( tractors ).  It even depicted hockey players and figure skating.  The drive thru took 20 minutes with zero throttle speed.

By this type we were hungry so we went to Landry's Sea Food and the meal was great as it came with bread, a large salad and more fish and chips that we could eat at a cost of 18.00 a plate. cheers 

I stand for the Flag but kneel for the Cross.