Category Archives: Mississippi

New England RV Trip 2015

We left for our tour of New England with no travel itinerary. We chose to follow our whims as we went. I highly recommend this approach to RV travel “off season”. Up to Columbus day, we had no trouble finding open campgrounds with available campsites. In fact the campgrounds were practically empty, with some notable exceptions: Normandy Farms Foxboro discounts Columbus day and was booked the weekend we left, the Keene Pumpkin Festival moved to Laconia and campgrounds fill for the festival. On a day we relocated, we would look for campgrounds in the area we expected to stay and called ahead. We had no problem finding a number of possible campsites. All this changed after Columbus day. In New England, Columbus Day marks the end of “the season”. Though some campgrounds close Sept 15th, most close after October 15th and practically all are closed by November 1. We had some trouble finding campsites after November 1. Things close earlier in Maine where we boondocked two days in mid-October.

By having no plans, we could stay as long or as short as we liked. We enjoyed visiting family and friends where we stayed a few days. We used Foxboro Ma as base camp for exploring Boston, Concord, Lexington, Arlington, and Cambridge in a rentall car and Mountain View Campground in Morrisville Vt to explore Stowe. We were not sure how we would do on an extended RV trip. Before we left, friends would ask, “How long will you be gone?” I’d answer, “six to eight weeks” to which Ellen would retort, “we’ll see, four weeks maybe six”. We both agreed as we buzzed home driving 500+ days that we could have been on the road another month. There were so many places we skipped with “limited time”. If we had it to do over, we would have left mid-August. It is great having tourist destinations almost to yourself, as we did on Cape Cod or in Maine. The down side? Practically no shops are open. Those that are open display a huge 10 foot flag stating “OPEN” in huge letters. So much of the charm of small towns on the cape are the people and the seasonal food. Both become scarce off season.

We skipped visiting Yellow Springs and Write Patterson in Ohio, spending more time on The Cape, exploring Moosehead Lake and northern Maine, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, Gloucester, and Salem. We drove past a great number of those brown signs marking points of interest. We simply did not have the time to do “everything”. There were a number of museums we drove past.

We also had three system failures on our trip: 1. hot water running cold with the water heater working fine, 2. central locking crapped out, 3. the refrigerator refused to run on 12 volts. We also had the engine start hard and run very rough with the inverter on. Restarting with the inverter off solved that “problem”. The hot water issue was caused when a campground ran high pressure air thorugh their lines to clear them ahead of a freeze. We were attached. The pressure forced the check valve into the sleeve effectively blocking hot water flow. The check valve is $9 part at camping world. Central Locking and the Fridge are yet to be fixed.

We had a phenominal trip, made more memorable by our daily log. We revisit the blog to relive our trip.

Here is our timeline. I’d say “itinerary”, but that suggests pre-planning, something we assiduously avoided. We had a want list including Stowe, the White Mountains, Cog Railway, Franconia Notch, Smuggler’s Notch, Conway, Hampton and Rye Beach, Martha’s Vineyard, Boston, Arlington and surrounds, the North Shore, Zip Lines, a moose tour, New York City, Long Island, Mystic Ri, Groton, Crowly RV, the Inner Harbor Baltimore, Washington DC; some we skipped, others we did.

 

9/16/2015 Truckee Ca Coachland RV 10873
9/17/2015 Austin, Nv Pony Express RV Park 11083
9/18/2015 Salina, Ut Butch Cassidy RV Park 11452 Cindy recommended Pony Espresso Deli Eureka Nv
9/19/2015 Parachute, Co Battlement Mesa RV Park 11718 Duayne @ Ace; Jenny @ campground; Green River State Park
9/20/2015 Woodland, Co Diamond Campground 11955 Vail; Breckenridge; past Cripple Creek; John and Rona
9/21/2015 Woodland, Co Woodland RV Park & Campground 11958 Visit with Rich, Alea,
9/22/2015 Woodland, Co Woodland RV Park & Campground 11958
9/23/2015 Woodland, Co Woodland RV Park & Campground 11958
9/24/2015 Oakley, Ks High Plains RV Campground 12218 Capt’n Jack’s Pub, Kobe Beef, Crab Cakes, great showers
9/25/2015 Danville, Mo Lazy Day Campground 12743 Lazy Day great campground. Skipped Chrystler Museum, Oz museum, Totoz Taco, Dinosaur Museum
9/26/2015 Mansfield, Oh Walmart Boondock 13298 Skipped Yellow Springs, Dayton Museum, Cincinnati
9/27/2015 Grand Island, Ny Cinderella Motel and Campsite 13598 Niagara Falls
9/28/2015 Syracuse, Ny Visiting Carol, Paul, Dylan, and Jameson 13688 Empire Brewing
9/29/2015 Syracuse, Ny Visiting Carol, Paul, Dylan, and Jameson
9/30/2015 Syracuse, Ny Visiting Carol, Paul, Dylan, and Jameson
10/1/2015 Syracuse, Ny Visiting Carol, Paul, Dylan, and Jameson
10/2/2015 Tivoli, Ny Visiting David,, Chris, Danny, & Erica 13966
10/3/2015 Tivoli, Ny Visiting David,, Chris, Danny, & Erica
10/4/2015 Tivoli, Ny Visiting David,, Chris, Danny, & Erica
10/5/2015 Tivoli, Ny Visiting David,, Chris, Danny, & Erica
10/6/2015 Fort Ann, Ny Moose Hillock Camping Resort 14114 Near Lake George, Adirondack outlet mall most extensive for miles
10/7/2015 Ticonderoga, Ny Brookwood RV Resort 14172 Lake George
10/8/2015 Lake Placid, Ny Cascade Acres Campground 14246 Fort Ticonderoga in the afternoon, Ellen:”There is literally no other RV @camp tonight”
10/9/2015 Winooski Vt North Beach Campground 14342 Mirror lake & Lake Placid in the morning, Ferry to Burlington VT, North Beach is right on the lake.
10/10/2015 Morrisville, Vt Mountain View Campground 14395 Near Stowe Vermont
10/11/2015 Morrisville, Vt Mountain View Campground
10/12/2015 Morrisville, Vt Mountain View Campground
10/13/2015 St Johnsbury, Vt Moose River Campground closed the campground
10/14/2015 Littleton, Nh Crazy Horse Campground 14708 closed the campground, search for Cherry Lake a bust.
10/15/2015 Lincoln, Nh Country Bumpkin Campground White mountains, cog railway, smuggler’s notch, the Flume
10/16/2015 Lincoln, Nh Country Bumpkin Campground Closed the campground
10/17/2015 Woodbury, Nh KOA Woodbury Nh Closed the campground, expensive but very nice campground, drove the Kancamangas Highway
10/18/2015 North Conway, Nh Eastern Slope Campground 14918 No hot water in the AM (they blew out their lines)
10/19/2015 Portland Me Elks Lodge, electric hookup ate at Bea’s Café recommended by gal at camping world, purchased check valve
10/20/2015 Portland Me Walmart Boondock drove Old Orchard Beach & north along the coast. Gave up install of check valve
10/21/2015 Meredith, Nh Meredith Woods Campground 15220 Beast serviced @ Prime Motors Portland Me, Indoor heated pool, Full resort style glamping
10/22/2015 Meredith, Nh Meredith Woods Campground
10/23/2015 Meredith, Nh Meredith Woods Campground 15310 James ordered an electronic switch to fix our hot water problem, Part & Jim never arrived, left late afternoon
10/24/2015 Shelburne Falls, Ma Country Aire Bridge of Flowers, pedestrian bridge Brookline, NH; West End Café; The Best Pizza in New England
10/25/2015 Shelburne Falls, Ma Country Aire
10/26/2015 Hatfield, Ma Ed & Jean Parked The Beast and stayed with Ed and Jean for five days!
10/27/2015 Hatfield, Ma Ed & Jean
10/28/2015 Hatfield, Ma Ed & Jean
10/29/2015 Hatfield, Ma Ed & Jean
10/30/2015 Hatfield, Ma Ed & Jean
10/31/2015 Hatfield, Ma Ed & Jean
11/1/2015 Bourne, Ma Scusset Beach State Park Campground Closed the Campground, Marconi Station & White Cedar Swamp
11/2/2015 Foxboro, Ma Normandy Farms Family Campground Resort
11/3/2015 Foxboro, Ma Normandy Farms Family Campground Resort Enterprise Rental and trips to Boston, Concord, Lexington, Arlington, and Cambridge
11/4/2015 Foxboro, Ma Normandy Farms Family Campground Resort
11/5/2015 Foxboro, Ma Normandy Farms Family Campground Resort Brad’s RV Service fixed our hot water problem
11/6/2015 Foxboro, Ma Normandy Farms Family Campground Resort
11/7/2015 North Stonington, Ct Mystic KOA Campground Mysic Ct, Mystic Old Town, Mystic Seaport
11/8/2015 North Stonington, Ct Mystic KOA Campground steamers on the half shell (errr)
11/9/2015 Clarksboro, Nj Timberline Campground Ferry Monmouth-NYC financial district, world trade center, central locking fail
11/10/2015 Dumfries, Va Prince William Forest RV Campground 16487 Fort Mercer & Valley Forge
11/11/2015 Hilton Head, SC Jessie & Ryan 17016 Savannah, fishing, oyster toad fish,
11/12/2015 Hilton Head, SC Jessie & Ryan
11/13/2015 Hilton Head, SC Jessie & Ryan
11/14/2015 Moton, Ms Roosevelt State Park 17609 surprisingly, we stumbled upon Roosevelt State Park, on of our favorites from our first X-country trip!
11/15/2015 Vidalia, La River View RV Park & Resort 17795 Natchez Trace, Nathez, camping on the Mississippi
11/16/2015 Abilene, Tx Buck Creek RV Park 18353 Tornado watch, high wind, rain, hail, stopped at Buck Eez bbq brisket was forgetable
11/17/2015 Alberquerque, Nm High Desert RV Park 18873 Billy the Kid’s grave, heavy X-winds, Trouble with fridge not running on 12 volts.
11/18/2015 Kingman, Az Sunrise RV Park 19357 warming as we drove through Arizona, T-shirt weather @ petrified forest & painted desert
11/19/2015 home 19999 Total of 9,126 miles driven 66 days on the road.

Natchez Mississippi

Roosevelt State Park Campground

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Our Favorite Campsite

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The Next Campsite Down the Lake

Leaving Jessie, Ryan, and Hilton Head, we headed west toward home.  Our GPS wanted to route us through Atlanta, something we chose not to do.  Instead we I-95 to I-85 to I-20 going through Columbus, Tuskegee, Montgomery, Selma, Meridian, and Jackson.  It was a long haul day driving through Georgia, Louisiana, and into Mississippi .  We need to be home by the 21st to host a family get-together.  Ellen would prefer to arrive home on the 19th.

As we pushed on, it became clear fatigue would set in before we reached Jackson.  Ellen found a campsite east of Jackson, Roosevelt State Park. I remembered Roosevelt Park from our inaugural trip driving The Beast back from Crowley RV in Bristol Connecticut.  No, it could not be the same park, could it? As we turned off I-20 and a bit later turned left into the park, I was sure it was the same campground.

On that trip home from Connecticut there were two outstanding campsites, Oak Hollow in Georgia  and Roosevelt State Park, Mississippi.  Our favorite campsite is #87 with its stairs down to the picnic table and a campsite dock on the lake.  #87 was taken.  We slipped into #88 right beside 87 and on the lake.  It was amazing that we happened to find this park and campsite without making it a point to do so.

Roosevelt State Park was much busier in November than it had been last February.  We arrived well after the office had closed, but made it a point to swing by the office in the morning to pay for our campsite.  I enjoy supporting state parks and in this case one of our favorite stops.

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Roosevelt State Park Guest

Natchez Trace Parkway

Just past Jackson in the town of Clinton, we turned south onto Natchez Trace Parkway.  The Natchez Trace is a historic forest trail that runs from Nashville Tennessee to Natchez Mississippi. Today the trace between Jackson and Natchez is a two lane road through remote sections of Mississippi. It is also one of the best maintained roads I’ve driven.  It winds through swamp land and forest then into vividly green pastures and farm land.. We saw very few cars on our drive south.

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We did see a Coyote.

Natchez trace figures prominently in the Civil War. Ulysses Grant used the trace in his march north to Jackson and Vicksburg.  Though Sherman is better known for his scorched earth policy, it was Grant who developed the policy.  Interestingly he and 17,000 troops stayed in Port Gibson and at the Windsor Mansion.  Grant spared the town and the Windsor Mansion saying, “It is to beautiful to burn”, or so the legend goes.  The Windsor Mansion survived the civil war only to burn to the ground.  A careless smoker destroyed one of the most beautiful mansions in the south.

The Windsor ruins are about ten miles west of Natchez Trace.   All that remain are the massive columns that supported an above ground basement and two floors.  The ruins are roped off with warning signs stating that the ruins are unstable.  There is a path around the ruins that we walked.  We both gingerly stepped over the ropes and walked the ruins.   The columns were made of brick, plastered over and had iron Corinthian capstones.

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With the afternoon waning, we took highway 61 south to Natchez.  The trace is beautiful, highway 61 is fast.  The sun was low in the sky as we drove through Natchez.  Ellen suggested visiting the welcome center.  We could learn about the town and get a feel for what we want to do with our afternoon.  There are signs posted leading to the welcome center which is on the south side of town near the Natchez-Vidalia bridge.  It is not your typical tourist information kiosk; it is a huge building.  With limited time, we hardly noticed the interior of the building, focusing our attention on the attendants at desks behind two windows.  One asked if she could help us.  We asked for a map of Natchez and her recommendations for what to see or do with limited time.

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Natchez Welcome Center

 

During the steamboat era more than half of the millionaires in the United States lived in Natchez.  Natchez supported the Union in the civil war and was spared destruction, unlike so many other cities and towns that Grant and Sherman marched through.

Tours of the mansions is a highlight of any visit to Natchez. On a Sunday  only a handful of tours are open.  We only had time for two half hour tours leaving a half hour to get to the first and a half hour between the two.  There was a full hour tour at another that we simply did not have time for. We chose two: Longwood, an unfinished mansion, and Stanton Hall located on a full city block.  we purchased tickets and took a map of the Natchez mansions with us as we went off to find Longwood.  Just before we left, I asked where we could get a bit to eat.  The Camp Restaurant and Magnolia Grill both at the waterfront were recommenced.  Ellen asked if there was an RV park close by. Yes, there was one just across the bridge in Louisiana that is right on the river.

We had no problem finding Longwood and stopped at the gate office.  “Yes, we are here for a tour and we have tickets”  There was a concert starting as we arrived.  We were directed to “RV Parking” at the back.  We walked back to the gift shop to start our tour along with a few dozen couples headed to the concert lawn chairs.   The band was playing and they were good!

Longwood Plantation (AKA Nutt’s Folly)

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Beautiful and Expansive Exterior

On our tour of Longwood Mansion, our guide stated that Adams County (Natchez is in Adams County) was pro-abolition and supported the north in the Civil War.  Nonetheless, Natchez surrendered to the Union on two separate occasions: once to the Army and a second time to the Navy.   A tour of Longwood Mansion is not to be missed.   It is an octagonal mansion that was never finished.  Dr Haller Nutt a wealthy cotton grower who specialized in the cultivation and sale of cotton seed, saw plans for a home by architecht Samuel Sloan of Philidelphia.  Sloan had never thought the house would be built, it was a study in what was possible.  Dr. Nutt contacted Sloan and with some changes, work began on the home.  The Civil War interrupted building of the mansion.  The exterior was completed as was the raised basement.  Thinking that the war would last a few months, the family occupied the basement (lower floor).  The war lasted much longer than a few months and tragically work on the mansion stopped with the upper floors unfinished.  A tour of the mansion starts in the lower floor, which is large and its octagonal shape is novel. Walking upstairs to the second floor is jaw-dropping.  The mansion is 30,000 square feet though its full size is not apparent until you walk to the second floor. The structural brick has not been plastered over, no doors are in place, and the sheer size of each floor is apparent.  The brick walls are massive. Five floors were planned with a central room open from the second floor to the roof. To finish Longwood as it had been envisioned when construction started would consume in excess of 35 million dollars today.  Longwood will never be finished.  It was sold to the garden society for $10.00 on the condition that it never be finished and that aside from repairs, it remain in its current state.

 

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Structurally Complete Interior

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Unfinished Interior Second Floor and Up.

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Second Level Floor Plan

The original spire sitting atop the dome fell during a storm.  The Garden Club took molds of the original and created a light weight but strong replacement.  They are maintaining the exterior and addressing structural issues as they arise.

 

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The New Spire

We were very lucky.  Our tour consisted of Ellen, myself, and our tour guide, who has spent many hours researching details of the design and history of both the house and the Nutt family. Our half hour tour consumed over an hour.  The three of us would have continued but for closing time.

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Walking the Grounds

With a one hour tour, the last tour of the day at Stanton Hall had already begun.  We opted to go to the Magnolia Grill.  There was plenty of off-street parking for The Beast.  The restaurant is well located with a view over the Mississippi River, though looking away from sunset.  The fried green tomato appetizer was great.  Our meals were just OK.  (Ellen did love the appetizer; fried green tomatoes with craw fish and shrimp.) With the day gone, we could either drive back to Vicksburg as we had originally planned, or we could stay overnight locally.   If we stay locally,  we could lose a day’s travel time getting home if we explore Natchez.  Ellen called River View RV Park.  They had plenty of spaces available; we stayed locally. We will try to take the Stanton Hall tour in the morning.

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At Riverview Campground

The next morning we didn’t dally.  Rather we went off to Stanton Hall for the first scheduled tour of the morning.  No photography is allowed inside the mansion, though we learned that there are a number of photos and video to be found on the web.  Our tour of Stanton Hall went quickly.  It is a beautiful home with amazing architectural detail in the molding, chandeliers, immense mirrors, medallions, and overall design. Greek-Revival style. The family remained in this residence until 1894 when it became Stanton College for Young Ladies. It was later purchased by Pilgrimage Garden Club in 1938.  For some years it was, a bed and breakfast.

Stanton Hall

Stanton Hall (originally named Belfast) is massive and a treasure, but it does not have the history of Longwood, nor the appeal.

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       Across the Street, a typical Natchez home

Natchez feels like a city that has gone to seed.  Its glory days are long past.  It feels like the residents living there now take their history for granted or could care less.  Not all of them to be sure.  There is a lingering pride in the mansions that are preserved, a number of them are operating B&Bs today.   For all  Natchez’s beauty, and it has that in abundance, it does not feel vibrant.  Rather it feels like the young with aspirations have left for better opportunities; those remaining seem listless.  We will find a way to return to Natchez when we tour the south.  We love the history of the town and its wonderful southern charm.    I hope my first impression of the town is dead wrong;  that Natchez is a vibrant town.  We will look for a B&B when we return.  Stanton Hall was operated as a B&B into the 1990’s!

The music scene at Natchez is alive and well.  There was a concert playing at Longwood when we arrived.  It was the first concert held at the mansion; there may be many more.

We left Natchez for a long drive to Abilene Texas to put a dent in the 1750 miles we have to go.

Jessie and Ryan, Hilton Head SC.

Hilton Head, November 12, 2015

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DeeDee had a family get-together/thanksgiving dinner in up-state New York weeks ago that we were fortunate to attend.  Jessie, DeeDee’s daughter, arrived and we met Ryan, her B-friend that evening.  We promised to visit them on our way back home.  After visiting New York City, Fort Mercer, and Valley Forge, we made a bee-line from Virginia to South Carolina covering 550 miles in a day to get to Hilton Head and Jessie’s house.  We arrived late.  Ellen called Jessie as we pulled up in front and both Jessie and Ryan greeted us.  There was ample parking by the club house/swimming pool.  We dropped “The Beast” off for two days while we had some fun.

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Palmetto Bluff

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The next morning Jessie took us to one her favorite places, Palmetto Bluff.  On the way we drove past a marshy area where Jessie pointed out a few alligators basking in the sun.  I’d think twice before swimming in anything but deep waters here.  Jess said they don’t like salt water.  We had late breakfast at Buffalo’s and walked the shore at Harbor River. Just across the street from Buffalo’s stands a small, charming and understated, waterfront chapel.  Jessie talked about getting married in this chapel someday.  Later she asked at the local bridal shop for details about a wedding at the chapel.  Hummm…

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Jess said every year there’s a big party on a sandbar just offshore.  Boats pull up on the bar and swim and cavort in the water.  I’m thinking, right with alligators.  Jess said they don’t come around here.

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Palmetto Bluff is very beautiful.  There are a few magnolias. It is the oak trees covered with Spanish moss that are so dramatic.    Palmetto is a very affluent community with large tastefully designed homes lining the streets.  With no lack of water, lawns are bright green and extremely well maintained.  Jess mentioned a few celebrities who own homes here.

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Our breakfast was very tasty.  I had a french toast sandwich consisting of two half slices of french toast cut diagonally with a fried egg and lots of naturally smoked bacon inside.  It came with two round hash brown dumplings.  Wonderful.  I shared a taste, and that was all.

 

Savannah, Georgia

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hat afternoon Jessie took us to Savannah.  Hilton Head is right on the boarder with Georgia. We walked riverside along the Savannah River for a while.  This is a tourist shopping area with a variety of restaurants.   Though we were not interested in shopping nor catching a bite, we enjoyed walking the cobblestone streets and esplanade.

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TTourist maps in hand, we headed off to Forsyth Park.  Savannah was the fist planned city in the United States.  Forsyth Park was central to that vision and the older homes around the park show it.  In the past fifty years, the roads around the park have become major thoroughfares complete with tour buses and an irritation to the owners of these gorgeous mansions.

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The three of us walked the park and ogled the mansions.  Seeing a sign for an open house a block off the park, we wandered towards a row of town homes.  A fellow stepped onto the sidewalk and asked if we were interested in viewing one of the units?  “Sure”.  He was a contractor who renovates homes for resale; these four were his latest project.  He had renovated a number of houses on the street.

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This town home is very attractive with modern appliances, twelve foot ceilings, 3 br 2.5 ba and just off the park.  It is a very desirable area, though as we saw walking further down the street, more renovation is necessary.  Some of the houses showed decades of neglect. This home was light and airy and well appointed, though I thought it lacked down stairs spaciousness.

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We met Ryan for dinner and headed out to a local sushi place that was good. Ellen and I had ordered our usual and something new for us,  a “volcano roll”, failing to notice that it was deep fried. It was good, but way over the top.

Fishing Hilton Head,  Friday the 13th

Jessie planned to cut our hair the next morning.  That same morning I decided to “fix” Ellen’s camera. Some of her shots were destroyed by a little blob in the lower right quadrant.  By elimination, I found that it was dust on the sensor and cleaned her sensor.  Right, I used a fabric that left more lint on the sensor than it cleaned off!  Oops.  I shifted to microfiber and at that point her camera popped up with “Camera Error  Turn Off and On to Recover”.  The camera was “hung” and would not turn off!  I re-seated the battery and the camera reset until the next photo when the error popped up again.  Crap, Crap. Crap.  This was not good.  I backed up her camera memory, re-formatted, and tried again.  Crap Crap Crap, same problem.  This was taking some serious time and her camera was still not working!  When in doubt read the manual, or in this case run a Google search.   There are two possible reasons for this problem: 1. the lense in incompatible with the A6000 or 2. something is screwed up.  (right)  If something is screwed up, reset the camera!  Yes, there is a camera reset that clears out a data base and some other stored tables.  After a reset, the camera still failed with “Camera Error Turn Off and On to Recover”.  This time turning the camera off and on cleared the error (probably by reading the newly created tables into flash memory).   By now there was no hope to both get haircuts and go fishing.  We skipped the morning haircut and headed off to meet Ryan at the marina.

We parked and walked down a pier.  I though we were looking for Ryan when a boat drove down the pier with Ryan at the forklift controls.  He was bringing his boat to the water!  Into the water went the boat and into the boat we went.  We were off.  There’s nothing I like more than being on the water; this was no exception.  It was a blast.  We rode past a number of beautiful homes on the Harbor River with private hydraulic docks.   It must be nice.

Ryan headed us out to fish at the Carl Bower’s Bridge.  Ryan said that he prefers fishing off shore, but that with the rough waters today, it was better to stay in the channels. No Problem, Ellen and  I would enjoy fishing anywhere.   We stopped up-current from the bridge, dropped anchor up-stream of the pylons, and dropped some chum.   Within ten minutes, Jessie hooked a small sea bass and I landed a redfish.  The next hour went without a solid bite though our bate went missing regularly.  Then Jessie landed another larger sea bass and half an hour later an Oyster toadfish.  The Oyster Toadfish is one fugly fish. Although Ellen did not fish this time she loved being on the water on such a beautiful day. She was behind the scenes photographer.

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We all agreed to head back before sunset and saw a dolphin or two in the distance though none approached the boat.  We saw a seagull land on a pylon and tear pieces off a fish in its talons.  Talons?  It was not a seagull, but an Osprey with a kill.

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We arrived back at the marina with enough time for haircuts ahead of dinner.  We missed the sunset that evening, though dinner at home of baked and grilled fish was wonderful.

Ryan headed off to work early.  We had some time with jessie going over photographs in the morning.  Then Jessie went off to work and Ellen and I left for Natchez Trace and points south.

I was torn.  We could have stayed with Jess another day.  On our first trip driving The Beast back from Crowley RV in Bristol Connecticut, I had wanted to drive some of Natchez Trace and see Natchez.  We could not take the time and the weather was not cooperating on that trip.  I did not want to skip Natchez on this trip.  Then too, Ryan and Jess had to work today.  Off we went toward Mississippi vowing to return on our next trip to the South East next spring?

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