A beautiful morning with the river moving along lazily. It is very wide in comparison to British rivers and there is quite a large amount of barge traffic - huge vessels, long and wide, and pushed from the back by white tugs. John mentioned that there were a lot less this visit than previously - a sign of the recession perhaps? - but we still saw quite a few and they all made you stop and stare.
In the late morning, we crossed the bridge and signed up for the Natchez tour. At $20 each, we thought it quite expensive for a one-hour bus tour but it was nevertheless very enjoyable and informative. Natchez used to be a huge trading post for goods being taken down river to New Orleans, and from there to the rest of the world, and the traders would stop here en route.
There is a place called Natchez-under-the-hill where, we were told, in the olden days every sort of depravity could be found. Murder was a daily occurrence and prostitution, drunkenness and gambling were rife. At the top of the hill lived the wealthy merchants who had made their money through cotton and sugar cane. They lived in fabulously affluent houses surrounded by lush gardens and furnished lavishly with European artefacts. There are still about 60 of them standing today, many of them converted into B&Bs but still in beautiful condition.
The road leading from Natchez-Under-The-Hill to the upper part of town is named Canal Street and we were told that originally, this was a water-filled canal with drawbridges and at night, these would be pulled up to stop the riff-raff gaining access to the affluent part of town. It's a beautiful city, if a little sleepy.
After the tour, we drove down to Natchez-under-the-hill for lunch and against our better judgement, we opted for burgers. From past experience, we knew that they would be huge but hey - you can't come to the US and not have a burger! True to form, we all regretted it later and our plans for dinner went up in smoke as we were all too stuffed. The weather was sunny and in the high 70s so the rest of the day was spent sitting outside the RV watching the river drift by. "Sometimes I sets and thunks & sometimes, I just sets"or as Gordon said "I's dun thunkin' - I's jest sittin"
In the late morning, we crossed the bridge and signed up for the Natchez tour. At $20 each, we thought it quite expensive for a one-hour bus tour but it was nevertheless very enjoyable and informative. Natchez used to be a huge trading post for goods being taken down river to New Orleans, and from there to the rest of the world, and the traders would stop here en route.
There is a place called Natchez-under-the-hill where, we were told, in the olden days every sort of depravity could be found. Murder was a daily occurrence and prostitution, drunkenness and gambling were rife. At the top of the hill lived the wealthy merchants who had made their money through cotton and sugar cane. They lived in fabulously affluent houses surrounded by lush gardens and furnished lavishly with European artefacts. There are still about 60 of them standing today, many of them converted into B&Bs but still in beautiful condition.
The road leading from Natchez-Under-The-Hill to the upper part of town is named Canal Street and we were told that originally, this was a water-filled canal with drawbridges and at night, these would be pulled up to stop the riff-raff gaining access to the affluent part of town. It's a beautiful city, if a little sleepy.
After the tour, we drove down to Natchez-under-the-hill for lunch and against our better judgement, we opted for burgers. From past experience, we knew that they would be huge but hey - you can't come to the US and not have a burger! True to form, we all regretted it later and our plans for dinner went up in smoke as we were all too stuffed. The weather was sunny and in the high 70s so the rest of the day was spent sitting outside the RV watching the river drift by. "Sometimes I sets and thunks & sometimes, I just sets"or as Gordon said "I's dun thunkin' - I's jest sittin"
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