Natchez, Mississippi, May 12-13

We arrived in Natchez, Mississippi mid-afternoon and headed first to Walmart and unhooked the car to explore the area for parking for the Big House.  Our first stop was at the visitor center where we could see the Mississippi river rising.  The RV campground on the Louisiana side of the river was under water so parking there was out of the question.  Natchez  is high on a bluff so most of the town was not threatened by the rising river.  The volunteer at the visitor center told us about several parking lots along the river bluff that might accommodate us so we explored and  found a parking place near the river walk. I noticed a command center being set up near by in anticipation of the flooding and there was also helicopter landing area .  The river is suppose to crest next Saturday, May 21 in the area, and will be the worst since the flooding in the 1930's.

Although, Natchez is the beginning of the Natchez Trail Parkway, there were several things I wanted to see and explore before heading up  the parkway.

You can see how high the river is.  There is still enough clearance for traffic though.

This is the business district known as Natchez-Under-The Hill.  They have put up a barrier in anticipation of the rising of the river.

 Parts of the wall are pretty high. We stopped at one of the pubs along the way (on the other side of the wall), and spoke with some of the locals. Needless to say most are  pretty nervous about the wall holding and the cresting of the river. The barrier was put up in about three days and is made of sand and re bar with plastic.

 The casino has been shut down due to high water.  It is a faux river boat on a concrete slab and generally way out of the water.

 I saw this creative sculpture made out of Dr. Pepper cans.

 Mississippi River with the casino in the background

 One of the attractions in Natchez is the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians. The Village is mostly gone except for one reconstruction of a winter structure.  The rest of the park is open fields and consists of mounds where ceremonies took place. The museum has displays about the Natchez life in the area.

 Natchez National Historical Park which includes the Melrose Plantation is in Natchez.  We didn't take the tour of the house but did walk the grounds. There are two other sites to see but they are not connected to the Melrose Plantation site.

 When leaving we saw more bald cypress knees.  I hadn't seen so many in one place.

 The Mississippi continues to rise but river traffic has not ceased.  We watched two tugs push a huge barge up river. The swift current made it rough, slow going .

 This is part of the huge wall along the bluff of the river walk which protects many beautiful homes.  The river doesn't come this high so the wall is more for erosion control.

 The oil derrick is partially under water.

 Some of the beautiful old homes along the bluff in Natchez

 We enjoyed a nice sunset from our parking spot on the bluff and the bridge is very pretty all lit up at night.

Tomorrow our journey up the Natchez Trace Parkway will begin.  We  scouted out the beginning of the parkway but more on that in the next post.