The 75% All New Trip! - All done! Bonus Material finished, Link to new TR!

[dhorner233]

I loved the history lesson and the Staunton House! I'm so glad it had a happy ending, it's such a beautiful house, even if it is impractical. So cool that it was used as the model for the Disneyland Haunted Mansion! Very interesting update! Thanks as always for taking us with you!

 

[Pinkocto]

No you never asked. I just noticed your ticker about a week ago, but I figured you two were on a cruise.

We are there until the 7th, so we overlap quite a bit. I'm not sure if you have plans for the night you arrive, but we are having an early dinner at O'Hana and then going back to our room to watch Wishes from the patio of our Bungalow. If you ladies wanted to stop by we would love to share our lovely Bungalow with friends!

The 5th we're at MK most of the day (although we'll probably take a midday break). The 6th we split up from Jim & Alberto and we're going to DHS in the day and dinner is at the Boathouse in DTD. We leave at 2PM on Saturday so not sure what we plan to do for that day.

I'm glad I asked again. I could have sworn I asked but then went back pages and pages on all your threads and couldn't find any response

We fly in at 7:30pm the night of the 4th, fireworks would be fabulous if we can get the car quickly and get there. We're meeting up with the same friends we went with in December, they also leave Saturday. Flights were super cheap, they were already going, and it's Mothers Day, win win. And to meet up with you and Fran for a proper visit will be fabulous! We'll also be at MK on the 5th, but have no evening plans. We're separating from our friends because they're going to eat at Crystal Palace and we couldn't get a reservation last minute.

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh my about Prince Naveen! I couldn't eat frog legs, the thought just turns my stomach. Glad the substitute salad was something you liked, it looked tasty.

Loving all this history, and the houses are so gorgeous! The burned one reminds me of the one in Forest Gump.

Great that Fran got in the spirit and wanted to do the tour the next day that sounds fascinating.

I hope it was just allergies and you didn't get sick.

 

[dolphingirl47]

I loved all the photos again, especially of the mansions.

Here is the Captain’s Lounge just outside the dining room.

This looks lovely.

This bridge was off in the distance and I heard a group of guys all excited to see the stacks retract to go under the bridge. The boat could make itself as low as 55ft tall for low bridges.

That is really near. I would have been fascinated by this, too.

The couple invited me to sit down, and it turns out they were from Napa. She had a friend who just bought a house about 7 houses away from our 1st St rental property.

We really live in a small world. Had to laugh about the cranky neighbour that you knew.

I absolutely adore this photo.

But my head was congested and my nose was slightly plugged up.

Oh dear, that does not sound good.

I looked up the weather on the weather kitty app, and the storm front was right over us.

What a shame about the weather.

Another fun fact! This house served as the inspiration for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion! Take another look.

Now that you have pointed it out, it is obvious. That is really cool.

Corinna

 

[pkondz]

Just gonna take care of these before I hit the update...

I put lots of sausage in my gravy!

That sounds good.

Oh, there was always three or four guys who would run over and try to help, but I usually had it taken care of by the time they would get there

Ah. I was actually a little miffed on your behalf!

You've got to remember I lift these things in and out of the car all the time at home. Granted I tear it down into the four pieces, but it's not that heavy, mostly bulky.

I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't do it, but that someone should be there to help.
Heck, even a guest. I would.

Oooh! I probably won't have any again until we get to WDW.

I'll trade your upcoming WDW trip for some bennys.

No, the one time we came back late, we were on an excursion sponsored by the Company, so they held the boat for our bus.

Ah.

Actually those stories were on the video monitor. You would touch the photo of the "character" and then their story was read by an actor (or actress) while pictures from the period showed on the screen.

Even better. I'd like to have seen some photos.

 

[franandaj]

Love the Disneyland connection on the Stanton Hall.

And they didn't even tell us that on the tour (unless we missed it, they let us join in the tour that had just started as Fran couldn't really climb the steps in front.) I found that gem on Wikipedia.

Great mega update! So excited your trip is in 10 days!

Now eight!

The ship staircase looks like a mini model of the Titanic's.

Except I think the Titanic's has another floor on the outside of the staircase. This boat was modeled after the JM something from the late 1800s and the Delta Queen.

Dumpster view. I have yet to have a crappy Disney dumpster view. Knock on wood.

Yeah let's hope I didn't just jinx us for next week!

Love the sunset pics. Those are sunrise pics are my favorite.

Thanks

I had to double check to see if the frog leg's were really called the Prince Naveen. LOL!]

I think they would have had to pay royalties for that.

Carriage House looks quite pretty. Those little biscuits look like scones.

They were definitely biscuits.

I have yet to have a good Mint Julep.

I'm guessing I probably wouldn't like another.

Southern charm was definitely an elegant way of life. Very beautiful homes and nicely restored! Looks like a marvelous tour! LOVE me some chicken fried steak!

The house's we saw were all very nice. And I do love me good chicken fried steak!

The last mint julep I had was a Mt. Vernon on the way to WDW in 2010; it too was VERY strong, and unless you like bourbon may not be the best choice. I don't love it; a little goes a long way.

Yeah. I'm guessing it is not the drink for me.

I"m not sure why they don't allow photography in those homes. Maybe the flashes bother people? or maybe it can harm the antiques? I dunno, I was frustrated at Mt. Vernon too.

They want you to buy the book in the gift store with all the pictures in it.

Getting caught up on the bonus trip--finding the river boat cruise very interesting. Definitely inspires me to look into the Empress sailing since its right in my backyard.

I would definitely suggest you look into it. That one is even pricier than the Mississippi but it was a very nice trip. And they took very good care of us!

 

[pkondz]

Hi everyone! I'm going to post a "mega update" today

Okay.... go!

Here is the Captain’s Lounge just outside the dining room.

Beautiful.

Both of us got the gumbo.

As would I.

Then we both ordered a Swiss and mushroom burger.

Ditto.

I could literally feel the slow of the WiFi as everyone picked up their tablets after coming home from their shore excursions.

The woman muttered something which I thought might have been German so I asked if they spoke German and they said yes.

In my best broken German I told them that I had the room on the other side of the boat and just wanted to look at the shore for a bit. They seemed OK with that and went on to ignore me.

Odd. In my experience, when in a foreign land, if you find someone who speaks your language, you perk up and like to chat.
Not so much with these two.
What's up with the surly passengers??

For those who complain about the dumpster view at the VWL, this cracked me up.

Beautiful!

I ended up going to Deck 3 and taking a seat there.

Why'd you change? Too uncomfortable sitting with the Germans?

This bridge was off in the distance and I heard a group of guys all excited to see the stacks retract to go under the bridge.

I don't think I'd be "excited", but I would be interested.

It boggled my mind how it took so much time to go from stop to stop. Evidently I made the correct choice of selecting a downstream voyage.

When we were in Europe, we were going to take a Rhine cruise (until I got voted down by the other three.) It was strongly recommended to take the train a distance upstream and travel back by boat... downstream.

One. Person. Complained. They had to repaint. I laughed because I know just who it was. Our next door neighbor. Isn't it funny what a small world we live in?

Funny "ha ha" or funny "I want to strangle them"?

I don't think anyone fancied having Prince Naveen for a starter

I would have!

At one point they ran out of the red wine and had to break into a more expensive bottle. Nigel got a glass of it and I said that I wanted one. The waiter said, "She told me you were done!"

"I meant the Chardonnay!" Fran quickly piped in to save herself.

Nice save Fran.

“we were her last cabin, and she just waited up for us to go to dinner, so that she could go to bed.”

Oh brother.
Was she young? So many people now just don't want to have to actually work.

I had been feeling a tickle in my throat. "I can't be getting sick." I thought. But my head was congested and my nose was slightly plugged up

Oh, no...

They were not light fluffy little pillows of goodness, they were doughy little boulders of evil.

Counterfeit beignets, taking over the world!!

When I mentioned that I felt like I was getting sick, the woman said that just about everyone on the ship was experiencing a similar sensation and that it was more than likely an allergic reaction to the pollen in the air and our lack of tolerance to the river fauna.

Huh. Never would've thought that.

Just as soon as we were on the bus it started to sprinkle. Then it started to pour.

Crap.

As we climbed the hill, our guide explained that back in the day (1800s) for someone on the bluff, it would be scandalous to have traveled down to the river's edge, as that was a den of sin, with gambling, drinking and women of ill repute. So just another day in the life!

So, since you were coming from the river's edge... you are women of ill repute!

Cool diorama.

The French came around 1716 and everything was hunky dory until a Frenchman took a fancy to an Indian woman. The Indians retaliated in 1729 and killed all the men and kidnapped the women and children.

It always comes down to sex.

Two years later the French came back and mostly annihilated the Natchez Indians.

I don't know why, but the song "Why can't we be friends" is in my head right now.

The rest of the story is fairly similar to the rest of the country, with African-Americans fighting for their freedom, and the city moving forward in the 20th century. I tell you this because it is relevant to our upcoming tours.

Thanks for the history lesson.
It's funny... When I was in school I hated history with a passion. Now I love it.

Here’s one of the Antebellum homes not on our stop list.

Breathtaking.

This poor mansion had a huge fire, and the guy who owned it wouldn’t even take care of the place, yet he wouldn’t sell it either.

Odd. Maybe he's holding out for the right price?
Possibly an exorbitant price?

This one was called the key house.

I can see why. Makes sense.

Magnolia Hall was on our list, but I couldn't see the ramp and when I asked the guide about it, she thought it had been removed several years earlier

Why would you remove a ramp?
Maybe it was in disrepair.

Gorgeous.

They spent 9 years building the house

Whoa.

and Frederick Stanton lived in the house 9 months before he passed.

I've heard that same story so many times.
We had a guy at work who built his dream home and finally retired.
He spent one night in his home and died that night.

He left her $200,000 which she converted to confederate dollars.

oops.

Something else to note here, classic southern home design dictates that there be a main hallway down the center of the home and rooms off to the sides. This allows for cooling in the summertime and the breeze can flow throughout the house.

Interesting.

Another fun fact! This house served as the inspiration for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion!

No way!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I'm going to post a "mega update" today since I'm not sure if I'll get in another one before we leave for WDW.

Uh oh. I've got my work cut out for me.

They were carving some type of meat.

Mmmm...mystery meat...

I could literally feel the slow of the WiFi as everyone picked up their tablets after coming home from their shore excursions.

It's like going back in time to dial-up!

For those who complain about the dumpster view at the VWL, this cracked me up.

Welcome to Vicksburg!

This bridge was off in the distance and I heard a group of guys all excited to see the stacks retract to go under the bridge. The boat could make itself as low as 55ft tall for low bridges.

Cool! I would have been geeking out, too.

I heard a guy say to his wife, "Why don't they just come in and make this river go straight?"

And I couldn't help but chime in with, "Actually, after the great flood of 1927, the USACE did that in parts of the river just north of us and a little farther south." I talked about how we went to the museum today and I learned all about that part of the river.

Look at you, dropping the engineering knowledge. Nice work.

It takes less energy going downstream and therefore we get more time for each stop. Going upstream the time in each city all depends on the force of the river and how much time they can make up in between each stop.

The power of water is truly amazing.

Those who followed the house Saga remember that there were some nasty neighbors who wouldn't approve our building plans (it's a historic district). Well her friend painted their house, but they shunned the historic committee and painted it the color they initially wanted and not the one that was approved. The commission said they would let it go if no one complained. One. Person. Complained. They had to repaint. I laughed because I know just who it was. Our next door neighbor. Isn't it funny what a small world we live in?

There's always that one person who is resolved to making things miserable for everyone else.

I don't think anyone fancied having Prince Naveen for a starter and everyone went for the Shrimp and avocado tower. There was a small problem though. It appears they misjudged their clientele. Hardly anyone fancied Prince Naveen for a starter.

Man, I could have called that one.

Now really what the hostess should have done is just waited until we went to dinner and taken care of our room. Instead, she sort of tacked this little guilt trip on us that “we were her last cabin, and she just waited up for us to go to dinner, so that she could go to bed.”

Pretty sure you're there to serve the guests, not the other way around.

We couldn't have been more wrong. They were not light fluffy little pillows of goodness, they were doughy little boulders of evil.

But did they taste good, at least?

As we climbed the hill, our guide explained that back in the day (1800s) for someone on the bluff, it would be scandalous to have traveled down to the river's edge, as that was a den of sin, with gambling, drinking and women of ill repute.

So @pkondz would have been right at home?

Rotate your crops people.

I'd totally fail at the farming thing.

I had read on Yelp that they strictly enforce their 11-2 open hours, like they won't seat people who arrive at 1:45.

So they're really open until 1:30.

This poor mansion had a huge fire, and the guy who owned it wouldn’t even take care of the place, yet he wouldn’t sell it either.

Sure, that makes total and complete sense.

Stanton Hall is a beautiful example of the Plantation manors in Natchez in the Ante-bellum south.

Looks like it would hold 999 ghosts pretty well, too!

I had the fried chicken. It had an awesome crispy skin and was really tasty.

Mmm...that looks really good.

These are my pictures from the tour.

Sorry.

Must be some top-secret home decorations in there.

Another fun fact! This house served as the inspiration for Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion! Take another look.

Hey, cool! I was completely guessing on my previous response.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

Just catching up! For some reason Disboards has stopped alerting me you have posted which is annoying.

Vicksburg looked interesting. Starting with breakfast. Got to have pancakes and eggs benedict. If it's on the menu rude not too.

The boat looks so pretty with it's ornate balconies. Like the houses in New Orleans.

Oh my re the flood of 1927. Glad Hoover sorted it out but there are always impacts with new designs.

I love learning about the brick road and animals. You missed nothing in that coca cola museem...

Lovely Captains lounge! Your dinner sounded nice prime rib yes please. No takers on frogs legs? Really this is a shocker lol.

Natchez looked good sorry you were sick. Well done for sorted out the vacation plans. I like things planned millenium in advance. Me and last minute Anna's as we call them here do not mix well!

Hope you are feeling better.

 

[mvf-m11c]

Excited for you for your upcoming trip and have a great time.

You did quite a lot on those days from the boat, meals and going around Natchez.

That is neat that Disney got the inspiration of the Stanton Hall for the HM.

 

[pkondz]

So @pkondz would have been right at home?

Well, d'uh! We lived there!
Or maybe it was some other den of iniquity...

 

[franandaj]

I loved the history lesson and the Staunton House! I'm so glad it had a happy ending, it's such a beautiful house, even if it is impractical. So cool that it was used as the model for the Disneyland Haunted Mansion! Very interesting update! Thanks as always for taking us with you!

You're very welcome!

I'm glad I asked again. I could have sworn I asked but then went back pages and pages on all your threads and couldn't find any response

If you hadn't asked I would have got round to asking you!

We fly in at 7:30pm the night of the 4th, fireworks would be fabulous if we can get the car quickly and get there. We're meeting up with the same friends we went with in December, they also leave Saturday. Flights were super cheap, they were already going, and it's Mothers Day, win win. And to meet up with you and Fran for a proper visit will be fabulous! We'll also be at MK on the 5th, but have no evening plans. We're separating from our friends because they're going to eat at Crystal Palace and we couldn't get a reservation last minute.

We're at BoG for dinner on the 5th and then have MSEP viewing that night. I was just informed by Fran that we are going to DHS the morning of the 4th to get the "May the Fourth Be with You" merchandise.

Oh my about Prince Naveen! I couldn't eat frog legs, the thought just turns my stomach. Glad the substitute salad was something you liked, it looked tasty.

Yeah, I saw that and was like, "no way!"

Loving all this history, and the houses are so gorgeous! The burned one reminds me of the one in Forest Gump.

There's even more to come!

Great that Fran got in the spirit and wanted to do the tour the next day that sounds fascinating.

It was. That will be the second update, maybe it will post while we're at WDW taking a break.

I hope it was just allergies and you didn't get sick.

Thanks for the hopes.

I loved all the photos again, especially of the mansions.

Still more to come!

That is really near. I would have been fascinated by this, too.

My tiredness and lack of desire to move from where I was eventually won out. Plus I wasn't feeling so hot.

Oh dear, that does not sound good.

No it doesn't.

Now that you have pointed it out, it is obvious. That is really cool.

It is, isn't it! I'm glad I could bring a Disney reference!

 

[jedijill]

Get there early for the May 4th merchandise. I went a couple of years ago and it sold out FAST!

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

Ah. I was actually a little miffed on your behalf!

Oh no. The folks on this cruise were all so helpful. They were offering to help with just about anything. The passengers too. One thing I didn't remark about here, but said to Fran numerous times was I was amazed at how friendly everyone was everywhere we went. In LA you don't even make eye contact with people on the street (that is if you even walk anywhere) much less exchange pleasantries!

I didn't mean to imply that you couldn't do it, but that someone should be there to help.
Heck, even a guest. I would.

As I said, everyone tried to be more than helpful.

I'll trade your upcoming WDW trip for some bennys.

No.

Even better. I'd like to have seen some photos.

The photos they showed were pretty interesting, really hard times.

Okay.... go!

I already did!

Odd. In my experience, when in a foreign land, if you find someone who speaks your language, you perk up and like to chat.
Not so much with these two.
What's up with the surly passengers??

Well I wouldn't really say that I "spoke" their language. My "German" sounded kind of like this:

I (points at self) having the other cabin (points to other side of boat), do mind, if I stay a little?

Why'd you change? Too uncomfortable sitting with the Germans?

They weren't serving drinkie-poos!

I don't think I'd be "excited", but I would be interested.

After all the walking/standing that I did that I did that day, I wasn't getting very excited about anything.

When we were in Europe, we were going to take a Rhine cruise (until I got voted down by the other three.) It was strongly recommended to take the train a distance upstream and travel back by boat... downstream.

It's too bad you got voted down. We did a Rhine cruise (only a couple hours) when I backpacked through Europe in College. It was really nice.

Funny "ha ha" or funny "I want to strangle them"?

Well now, it's funny "ha ha", since we've moved on from that Drama and we have a nicer house than we would have had with the crappy neighbors.

I would have!

Hmmmmm...I'm afraid to try them.

Oh brother.
Was she young? So many people now just don't want to have to actually work.

No she was my age or older. I understand that she was up early every morning, but still.

Huh. Never would've thought that.

I was really hoping.

So, since you were coming from the river's edge... you are women of ill repute!

But we weren't coming from the 18th Century.

It always comes down to sex.

Pretty much.

I don't know why, but the song "Why can't we be friends" is in my head right now.

It could be my early adult life in LA, but I keep hearing Rodney King saying, "Can't we all just get along?"

Thanks for the history lesson.
It's funny... When I was in school I hated history with a passion. Now I love it.

I hated reading the textbooks and sitting through classes, but my parents took us to lots of historical sights in Revolutionary America and I loved those.

Odd. Maybe he's holding out for the right price?
Possibly an exorbitant price?

I think he was just crazy.

Why would you remove a ramp?
Maybe it was in disrepair.

I've heard that same story so many times.
We had a guy at work who built his dream home and finally retired.
He spent one night in his home and died that night.

Seemed to happen to a lot of folks in the 19th Century.

Interesting.

They even pointed out houses on our drive that were built by people from Ohio and had the door on one side.

 

[pkondz]

Oh no. The folks on this cruise were all so helpful. They were offering to help with just about anything. The passengers too. One thing I didn't remark about here, but said to Fran numerous times was I was amazed at how friendly everyone was everywhere we went.

Oh! well, that's good.

In LA you don't even make eye contact with people on the street (that is if you even walk anywhere) much less exchange pleasantries!

But that's where they make movies! It's not the happiest place in the world??

No.

Darn. Worth a shot.

Well I wouldn't really say that I "spoke" their language. My "German" sounded kind of like this:

I (points at self) having the other cabin (points to other side of boat), do mind, if I stay a little?

You did better than I would have!
Mine would've been "I (waves wildly at the chair I want to sit in) is good?"

They weren't serving drinkie-poos!

Oh! Well, that just won't do.

After all the walking/standing that I did that I did that day, I wasn't getting very excited about anything.

It's too bad you got voted down. We did a Rhine cruise (only a couple hours) when I backpacked through Europe in College. It was really nice.

I wanted to, but I wasn't going to force it.

Well now, it's funny "ha ha", since we've moved on from that Drama and we have a nicer house than we would have had with the crappy neighbors.

Worked out okay, then.

But we weren't coming from the 18th Century.

So... you need a time machine.

It could be my early adult life in LA, but I keep hearing Rodney King saying, "Can't we all just get along?"

Yeah, I can see that.

I hated reading the textbooks and sitting through classes, but my parents took us to lots of historical sights in Revolutionary America and I loved those.

I think even going to places (when I was school age) would've not gone over well.

 

[orangecats2]

Have a great trip! I'm of course super jealous! Ride TOT for me, it's my favorite! Eat a bunch of really good food. And then come back and tell us everything!

 

[franandaj]

Uh oh. I've got my work cut out for me.

Not necessarily! My pace of updating may slow severely with the upcoming trip.

It's like going back in time to dial-up!

The Horror!

Welcome to Vicksburg!

That picture was at the end of the day. I found one from the beginning when the dumpster was empty!

Cool! I would have been geeking out, too.

I thought it was interesting, but I was too tired from walking and standing to do anything about it!

Look at you, dropping the engineering knowledge. Nice work.

It's amazing how a little liquid courage will allow me to barge in on people's conversations!

The power of water is truly amazing.

It really is! I would stand out there on my balcony and just look at the river. We were traveling with the flow most of the time, but I could see how vast and powerful that the river was. It was quite incredible!

There's always that one person who is resolved to making things miserable for everyone else.

I know. I'm so glad that we have good tenants in that place and it is completely rennovated. We used to have to go over there all the time during rennovations and we learned just how annoying those people could be.

Man, I could have called that one.

I certainly wasn't having Frog's legs! And I'm usually the one that is having the stuff you wouldn't eat!

Pretty sure you're there to serve the guests, not the other way around.

Yeah. What's up with that?

But did they taste good, at least?

No, because they took so much effort to chew even the powdered sugar didn't help!

So @pkondz would have been right at home?

I'd totally fail at the farming thing.

Since we've only farmed in pots, I don't know how I'd fare with a real yard! We did great a few years ago, but ever since then we've been too busy to have a garden.

So they're really open until 1:30.

According to Yelp....

Sure, that makes total and complete sense.

I'm guessing he was crazy.

Looks like it would hold 999 ghosts pretty well, too!

You just read ahead....

Mmm...that looks really good.

It was. I want some good fried chicken, but KFC won't cut it.

Must be some top-secret home decorations in there.

No they want you to buy the book with all the pictures.

Hey, cool! I was completely guessing on my previous response.

Uhuh.....

Just catching up! For some reason Disboards has stopped alerting me you have posted which is annoying.

Vicksburg looked interesting. Starting with breakfast. Got to have pancakes and eggs benedict. If it's on the menu rude not too.

Sorry you weren't getting notifications. I just use the Unread Watched threads. I agree it would be rude not to order such tasty delights.

The boat looks so pretty with it's ornate balconies. Like the houses in New Orleans.

It was a very beautiful boat!

Oh my re the flood of 1927. Glad Hoover sorted it out but there are always impacts with new designs.

Yep. Every act has a consequence.

I love learning about the brick road and animals. You missed nothing in that coca cola museem...

Have you been there?

Lovely Captains lounge! Your dinner sounded nice prime rib yes please. No takers on frogs legs? Really this is a shocker lol.

The prime rib was lovely, but the frogs legs.

Natchez looked good sorry you were sick. Well done for sorted out the vacation plans. I like things planned millenium in advance. Me and last minute Anna's as we call them here do not mix well!

Hope you are feeling better.

At this point, I can't wait to get going. And yes we are finally getting better! Consider that foreshadowing!

Excited for you for your upcoming trip and have a great time.

You did quite a lot on those days from the boat, meals and going around Natchez.

That is neat that Disney got the inspiration of the Stanton Hall for the HM.

Thanks! Only a few days left!

I did quite a bit of walking (for me) and ended up coming back to the boat very tired each afternoon. We still have one more stop in Natchez!

I can't believe I didn't notice the resemblence, especially since I spend all my time (while at my computer) facing three art pieces which feature the DL Haunted Mansion! It looks exactly like Stanton Hall in the pictures and not the actual DL Mansion (unless I am missing something). The DL Mansion has the entrance on the Right side and not underneath the pillars.

Well, d'uh! We lived there!
Or maybe it was some other den of iniquity...

This is not the den of iniquity you are looking for.

Get there early for the May 4th merchandise. I went a couple of years ago and it sold out FAST!

Jill in CO

Thanks! I was thinking of getting there half an hour before opening and Fran said an hour before, we'll see if she actually wants to do it come the day. We have a reservation at 1900 Park Fare at 10:40AM so it would have to be an "In-N-Out" kind of thing. Our FP+ are at MK later that day as I had planned for Rope Drop at MK and then breakfast. We'll see what happens.

 

[franandaj]

After the Stanton Hall tour, the next stop was Kings Tavern, the oldest structure in Natchez. Right next door is a distillery operated by the Tavern's owner, Jean-Luc Charboneau, whose mother is the boat's culinary advisor. Instead of us waiting for what Fran now refers to as "the bunny bus" (Easier than saying "hop on hop off" she says), we decided to walk the 2 1/2 blocks to this next stop. It turns out I may have been getting enough exercise on this trip to counterbalance all the rich foods we were eating!

We walked we went past the site of the old Stables for Stanton Hall. Back in its heyday the plantation owned all the land for many of today’s city blocks.



I believe this house’s sign states that it is from 1810.



After several treacherous curb crossings (definitely not ADA compliant!) we made it to the King’s Tavern.



They were growing their own vegetables out in the yard.



And then we headed down the Distillery which was at the end of the block.



We got an almost private tour (halfway through another person joined in). As soon as you entered the room, the intoxicating smell was evident. He started off telling us that he gets cane sugar and molasses from one of the fine purveyors down in Louisiana. He mixed the two together and added water to form this mixture.



See the Molasses and Sugar here



I think he said that he let it boil for several days until it formed a viscous liquid. Then he transferred the mixture to this hopper.



With high heat, all sorts of complex things went on inside of here relating to the copper tubing, steam and pressure. Eventually he would drain off the liquid. The first part of the batch was essentially poison and only good for cleaning tools and other abrasive tasks. He then got several barrels full of raw alcohol which he would cap up and forget about for 3-6 months. I neglected to take pictures of the barrels, but they were standard oak barrels.

Once the aging process was complete he needed to add water to make it just the right proof. 80 proof with only a .5 variance in either direction. Less than 80 and it would be considered a "rum liqueur" more than 80 and it's considered over proof.

Once the proper proofing was reached then came bottling. This machine makes it easy and clean.



This machine corks the bottle and this seals the cap on the top of the bottle.





The bottle shows the Mississippi River on its label.



Then we were given a taste, maybe 1/5 of a shot, and the distillery tour was over.



We could complete the tour by heading up to the tavern gift shop (where you could purchase a bottle, we got two) and get a complimentary rum punch.















We didn't actually go to the gift shop ourselves. As we were entering the tavern we ran into one of the gals who ran the shore excursions. She was "doing research" into the stops along the route. She really was working because she declined the offer from the bartender for a drink. But she was kind enough to climb the stairs and purchase the rum for us. Then the Tavern would take all the purchases for the day from passengers and send them back to the boat on the last bus, all we had to do was pick them up at the gift shop onboard.

After this stop we were "done", literally. We caught the bunny bus back to the ship and went directly back to the room. It was about 3PM by this point and I really needed a nap! For me to need a nap is really saying something!













Around 6PM I woke up and took some pictures of the sunset.









[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Then I decided to go find a drink. I went up to the 3rd floor QS to check the menu and see if it was worth going to the Main dining room or if we should just eat at the QS. Both the dining room and QS were serving a similar menu, but the Main dining room was advertising a Caprese salad, and you all know how I like that!





So I got my beverage and relaxed until dinner.



We weren't leaving this stop until 9PM so it would be in the middle of dinner when the boat would get underway. We arrived at dinner and were handed our menus. I was sad to see that the Caprese salad I had hoped for was now a strawberry and mozzarella salad. Not what I really wanted.



They always gave us bread of some sort, but I rarely took pictures of it.



For the starter, I had a Crawfish and Country Grits. I didn’t really care for the crawfish.



Fran had the Melon & Country Ham



Remember that they ran out of the Avocado last night? Well they gave our two tablemates from South Africa (Nigel and Jenny) a “make up” course of the shrimp and Avocado.



I went with the oxtail soup. It was very good, but on this meal I started to cut down a bit and was only eating about half of each portion. It really helped because I actually woke up hungry in the morning instead of full of indigestion.



Fran did have the salad and said that it was pretty good.



For my Main I had the lamb medallions. I really wouldn't call them medallions, more like sliced leg of lamb. It was good. Not monumentally so, but I didn't spit it out or anything.



Fran had the salmon with a Maple Bacon Glaze and succotash.



Fran got the Chocolate Layer Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream



I got the pound cake with mixed berries and ice cream. I really liked this one!



I'm sure we came home and crashed. I didn’t pay much attention to the Navigators because we were not planning on doing the bunny bus the next day. We had an excursion in the afternoon and wanted to save our strength for that.


St. Francisville.


Obviously my suspicions about travel time, that I had before this trip were real. Going downstream, there really wasn't much distance between our stops. We again arrived in the middle of the night and when the sun came up, I had this lovely view. I did mention that the river level was high?



I went to get some Cappucino and found this little beauty in the case where the cookies could be found in the afternoon, so we split that while I drank my coffee.



We also pitied the poor sod who had to tie the boat up today.



The buses were already waiting for us.



Again I woke up feeling like there was a giant cotton ball in my nose. However, now I also had one of those coughs that was gurgling in my chest. Fran was also feeling the stuff in her nose and was starting to cough as well. Yesterday we debated whether we wanted to take the bunny bus in the morning. Our plantation tour was at 12:30 and we sort of wanted to save our energy. In the end skipping the bunny bus was our best decision. We headed down to breakfast around 8AM. This time we were seated at a table for four, but no one ended up joining us. Now every other day at breakfast they alternated between an omelet bar and a waffle bar. The Eggs Benedict trumped the waffle bar two days ago and eggs Florentine almost won today, but the artichoke component sounded a little weird. We split a waffle and got some meats and fruits from the buffet. Can you tell whose plates are whose?







After breakfast we went back to the room. My plan today was to do laundry and at 9AM I went up to check the machines. One had 53 minutes and the other had 35 minutes, so I set a timer on my phone and went back to the room. I worked on my journal on the phone until the alarm was about to go off and so I dragged my laundry hamper up to the 4th floor. The washer that was supposed to be all done now had 20 minutes on it still! Well now I didn't have time to do the laundry before our excursion. The busses leave at 12:30 which means we need to be out there well in advance to get the handicapped seating in front. So I estimated we should leave the boat at noon. We wanted to grab some sandwiches to take along, so that means 11:30AM at the QS to be on time. I can't be starting laundry at 10AM!

Instead I took my computer to the Mark Twain room and plugged it in. There weren't many outlets in our room. In fact, there was only one in the room and one in the bathroom. I caught up a little on the DIS and even uploaded enough pictures for a quick update. Then it was back to the room to wake Fran and get some lunch. When we got to the 3rd floor QS they were not making sandwiches to order, but salads instead. That would be and little messy on the bus. So we got plates of beer cheese soup and some corned beef, I also had some rice pilaf.

Then we got a brilliant idea to make mini sandwiches out of the rolls and corned beef on the buffet.





We also grabbed some cookies to round out lunch. And then we headed off to the bus. Remember I said some of these ramps were treacherous? I think this was one of the ones where I walked her scooter over the hump and let her get back on once it was settled.



We got our coveted seats on the bus and soon we were on our way.


Up next More Southern Plantation homes!

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Thats awesome you pretty much had a private tour at the Rum Distillery and the guide from the boat was able to get you the bottle of rums without you having to do the stairs!

That sucks they changed the menu on you - its similar to when you look at Disney and expect a certain dish and then its gone!

Following along on this river cruise has been interesting. I'm not sure its something I'll ever do myself (growing up in the south - I've had my share of Southern-ness for a lifetime) It does seem like a nice relaxing way to cruise though with a much smaller group! Its interesting that the docks in these towns don't seem to be better cared for especially if there are a few different cruises that go around there!