October 14, 2020 More Natchez Trace, then Home

Wednesday,  October 14, 2020

It is 47 degrees this morning so a hot breakfast tastes good.  Breakfast taco with hamburger along with fresh blueberries we picked up yesterday.  The blueberries are from Peru!  We've gotten them at home as well, along with a lot of fruit from Chile.  Remember "the old days" when you had to eat what was in season where you lived?

Our first stop this morning is a complex called French Camp.  An Inn, trading post, livery stable, blacksmith shop, log cabin and a few other buildings give a hint of how people lived in the 1800's.

Totally self-guided, we only see only four other people our entire visit.   Louis LeFleur established a trading post with the Choctaw Indians near here in the early 1800's.  Because of his nationality, the area became known as French Camp.  Interestingly, he married a Choctaw woman and their son became a Choctaw chief and then a Mississippi State Senator!

 

 A gift shop and cafe are closed.  A few cabins can be rented during normal times.

 We pick up an ornament at the pottery shop which has a number of items on an outside table and a tin for donations.

The livery stable has no horses today, but these cute piglets were hoping for a handout!

We planned to stop at Cypress Swamp and River Bend, but they are both closed due to hurricane damage. Quite a few trees down along the road as well.   More bicyclists today than cars - but most are traveling north.

We stop at Baxter Reservoir, a pretty 50 square mile patch of blue amid the green.

Rocky Springs is our next destination, with a 2 mile trail to Owens Creek Waterfalls.  But the trailhead is closed due to erosion of the trail.  The road in is a little dicey, too, so we continue on.

Last stop is Windsor Ruins, which are the remains of a Cotton Plantation Home.  The house had 23 rooms and must have been quite elegant based on the standing columns and a surviving sketch.   It survived the Civil War, but was destroyed by a fire in 1890.  We stopped here several years ago and wandered around the site, but they have now fenced the area due to safety issues.  Interesting that the columns were built from brick and covered with stucco.

Some pretty interesting  photo ops when there was better access.

This little church,  Bethel Church, is just down the road.  It was built by its members in 1840 and updated in the 1890's when the slave gallery was removed.  A tall steeple was destroyed by a tornado, giving it an odd and distinctive look.

Because so many things were closed, we end up arriving at the Louisiana border around 2:30.  We are an hour or two inland from the Gulf but Hurricane Delta definitely came this way.  Lots of stacks of trees and other debris in front of almost every home and many blue tarps on roofs. 

We were going to stop at Martin Dyes State Park in Texas, but we are only 2 1/2 hours from home and Greg says he'd rather sleep in his own bed tonight, so we motor on.  We stop for gas and it is great to see prices in the $1.60's again!  Seemed the range this trip has been mostly $1.80's and $1.90's. Arrive home about 8:15, grab a bite to eat, plug in and crash!   

3,697 miles.  Great to travel, but always nice to get home.