Day 2 - Lucedale, MS to Natchez, MS - Two Far 2020 - NTF (Not Two Far)

June 1, 2020

Day 2 - Lucedale, MS to Natchez, MS

We didn't have too far to drive today. It was about 200 miles to Natchez and we arrived about 1:00 PM. Our rooms weren't ready yet, so we went our for lunch. There was a little dive called Alberto's Taqueria in the gas station where we stopped for fill up. John said it looked like a good place to fill ourselves up as well and he made a good choice. The food was excellent and they had just one booth available to sit inside, so it worked out well.

We went back to hotel and the guys took their bikes off the rack.

This is how we've traveled from Florida. Tomorrow, I'll have just the tandem on the rack. That's John stretching after the long ride.

Kerry got his bike all set up to ride tomorrow and John took his bike for ride around Natchez. After he got back, all of us went for a walk along the riverfront. The visitor's center and state historic house sites were closed, but we had a good sightseeing walk.

This semi-circle of white columns is across the street from the hotel.

And this is what it is - or was. It was a toll plaza for the bridge from Natchez to Vidalia, LA. The bridge was the first across the Mississippi at Natchez and opened in September, 1940. I didn't find out what the toll was then.

The town of Natchez sits high on a bluff above the river.

A working river. If you look closely, you'll see two barges - one headed upriver, the other downriver. The barge heading upriver is hugging the far bank, giving the other barge plenty of space as they passed.

To get down to the river level, we walked down a very steep hill. John told us that when he took his exploratory ride around town, he rode his bike down and back up this hill. With no independent verification of this assertion, we might have to label this claim Fake News.

At the bottom of the hill is the settlement known as "Under the Hill". It was not a well-regarded community.

A view of the bridge from Under the Hill.

Kerry dipping his toes in the Mighty Mississip. He plans to walk across this same river later this summer, so stay tuned!

Under the Hill saw the first professional performance of Jerry Lee Lewis.

We walked back to "Upper Natchez" and headed back to the hotel. On the way, we saw a family celebrating graduations in a park.

Sister and brother both graduating from Natchez High School. Congratulations Kianna and Mark and our best wishes for a life of happiness and great accomplishments!

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Rich McKayLooking forward to Kerry walking across the Mississippi. Of course if he had super-powers like Valerie and I have, he'd just leap from shore to shore. We did this with the Salmon River in Idaho at it's headwaters where it was just a couple of feet from bank to bank. Just a few miles downstream from where we made the "leap" that trick would have been impossible!
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