Columbus was a nice Mississippi town that had quite a few antebellum homes. It came through the Civil War unscathed because the plantations here were commandeered as hospitals. We really enjoyed touring a couple of the homes, all of which are owned privately.
Rosewood Manor was a lovely home from the early 1800's that you could tour by appointment. Our 'tour' guide was the maid! We didn't get much useful information about the home other than her saying "I couldn't live here"...what not want to live in a beautiful plantation home?? You would understand if you had seen the inside! No photos were allowed but let me tell you I have never seen so many porcelain vases, figurines, dishes, sculptures, silk flowers, etc. in my life in one place....it was so over done it was hard to see the walls. I told the maid I felt sorry for her since she had to dust. The owner should seek help from Antique rs anonymous a.s.a.p.
I SO wish I could have sneaked a photo, it was unreal. In the main parlor inside the front door their were paintings on every wall space and vases and figurines on every surface that had room, not to mention the dried flower arrangements collecting dust everywhere. The windows were all curtained to keep sun damage to a minimum so it was quite gloomy.
The bedrooms were bedizened (love that word...look it up) and I couldn't imagine any man getting a good nights sleep in any of them.
As in all of these homes, the kitchen was an addition. They originally had separate kitchens away from the house because of fire hazard. The (new) kitchen was part of the dining room in this house, and although it was granite and stainless the kitchen again was covered with "stuff"! There was a massive table, covered with vases and dried flowers, a side board that not a speck of food would have fit on ....and china in every nook cranny and wall hanging display cabinets. Definitely nightmare territory.
After that we were led outdoors to the lovely little chapel, which they rent out for weddings. It holds 28 people so it would have to be a very small wedding party. It was very sweet and I was allowed to take a picture.
We went downtown to the dedication of the rebuilt bridge over the Tom Bigbee River where they had a Blues and Barbecue event going on. The music was awesome and the barbecue was delish!
After that tour we went out of town to a large plantation 'Whitehall' which was near the Tenn-Tom Waterway. Now this was more like it. It had what I call "shabby beauty". The current owner Robert Snow,who owned an antique store, bought it in 1962 after it had sat vacant and crumbling for 50 years! Talk about crazy!! He and his now deceased wife and their children have lived in the house for 27 years slowly restoring it. I told the guide it was too bad the state couldn't help with this landmark and he said "it would help enormously if they'd just give us a tax break"...after seeing the changes in Boldt Castle in the 1000 Islands we know what money can do!
It wasn't hard to look past the peeling paint outside and inside to the beauty it once was. It was built in 1852 for Colonel Young and was a vast cotton plantation. From its dual curving staircases to the period antique furnishings it is a beauty. We were told how the owners spent years just picking the mud daubers out of the carved plaster crown molding with toothpicks. The paint was peeling inside and out and in a way it sort of added to the charm of the place. After 160 years it still has "it". The owner, now in his late 80's was on site, sitting in the arbor reading the paper. In the back of the property were the pens where they keep a dozen or so Peacocks.
No inside photographs again though, darn!
Here is the slide show from Columbus
We anchored for three nights after Columbus in increasingly scanty anchorages. They were getting
farther apart and in very narrow little creeks. We used a bow and stern anchor in all the anchorages. We had to really plan our anchorages due to the distance between them and our 8 mph speed so we wouldn't chance getting in after dark. The charts don't give you any depths so you have to rely solely on your depth finder when you get there. Not something you want to do in a 25' canal in the dark.
Another Looper Stop...Bobby's Fish Camp....Boondocks, Alabama...
Where you are a captive audience because it is the only "marina"...that moniker used VERY loosely..... and fuel in the 213 miles between Demopolis and Mobile. The fuel pump was up by the building on the left. It's like a long distance self serve gas station, with one person monitoring the pump on shore while the other is pumping the fuel on the boat. Lots of yelling back and forth. The dock is a 150' face dock and the owner said they had had up to 14 boats rafted on it. There were six of us last Tuesday with only one rafted. The restaurant, located in the main building on the left above, is supposed to be famous for its catfish. I opted out as the entire place smelled like heart attack on a plate!
This was the stop we encountered another idiot on a boat. I won't call them boaters because they are not and hopefully they will tire of the novelty quickly and get off the water!
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| The Fish camp, with a small office/store/restaurant....some cabins and people living in their travel trailers |
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| That's a million dollar 65' Grand Alaskan rafted to us...what a beautiful yacht!!! |
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| The "Little Loopers"...yes there are three guys doing the loop (in segments) in these two boats...they trailer them to a jump off point, travel to their destination, then rent a car and go back and get the trailers.
Where the Tennessee River had a lush shoreline, lots of fishermen,lots of houses and parks and wide clear waters, the Black Warrior became narrow and twisting. ... The Corp of Engineers didn't do any "straightening here"
 
......there were very few houses, no towns on the water, more industry, no fishermen, lots of eroding shoreline, interesting for a while but not for 217 miles. Glad to be in Mobile now...back to nature can get old after a while. I guess one of the best parts was the last lock!!!, and of course the 8' alligator sunning itself, that made Gary rethink setting an aft anchor off of the swim platform!
Hence, the stop at Bobby's Fish Camp...although the next day that gator didn't seem quite THAT big when we had to anchor one more time. :-)
Here are some of the highlights:
Black Warrior River to Mobile River Slide show
We are now at Turner's Marine Service in Mobile on the Dog River for a break. |
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