Baton Rouge to Natchez Mississippi

After being stationary for a couple months to complete physical therapy for me and treatments for Mike's ruptured disc and damaged nerve, we decided to make a trip over to see Stephen in Baton Rouge.  We got lucky because it was fall break for the students which meant  his work load was reduced and the added bonus was LSU was playing an away game.  So we were able to really enjoy some family time.  We stayed at the KOA in Denham Springs.

Monday we decided to head up to Natchez Mississippi and pick up on the sightseeing we started in June.  

We arrived at Riverview Campground in Vidalia, La around 2:00 and got all set up in our site facing the Mississippi River.            

This is a very nice campground with concrete pads and beautiful green grass...very clean!!                  

Once we got all set up we headed over to Roux 61 for some lupper!!  This restaurant was recommended by the campground and we were very pleased.  It is quite unique with a quirky cool atmosphere.  The portions were crazy generous and the food delicious.  

             

After getting our bellies full we made our way over to the Welcome Center where we learned more about the Natchez area and its unique history.  We gathered ideas of places we would visit and tour during the next couple days.  
             
Because it was getting late we decided to start by driving around in the historic area and get our bearings.  One place we wanted to see was Natchez Under the Hill.             

This area is part of the original Natchez and this street, Silver Street, is all that is now left.

  During the 19th century there was a Natchez proper and a Natchez improper.  Natchez proper was the town above and Natchez improper was the area below the bluffs where boats would dock.     

This is looking at Silver Street zoomed from my camera at Riverview RV Park

 During the 19th century this area developed a reputation of being one of the rowdiest ports on the Mississippi River.  Today it has cleaned up its act with restaurants, gift shop and a saloon.              

We had a busy and full day and look forward to exploring more of the history of Natchez!!

A Birthday Celebration and Gordon

Sorry this post is late getting in, but we have had issues being able to get online with our laptop.                

Looking at the Pier in Fairhope

As you know, this has been quite the summer!!  With Mike recovering from his ruptured disc and going to treatments we have been pretty "site bound."   But September 2nd was Mike's birthday and since we hadn't gone anywhere in so long we decided to take a trip over to Baton Rouge to visit with our son and celebrate Mike's birthday together.                 

Downtown Baton Rouge from the Pier on the Mississippi River

 We left on Thursday, August 31 and arrived at the KOA in Denham Springs, La which is only several miles from Baton Rouge where our son lives.  Since this was a quick decision and it was a holiday weekend we found all the good sites to be filled.  We did manage to snag a fairly decent site and that was good enough for us.  

Since we have been here before and know the area pretty well we decided to do a little shopping while waiting on our son to get off.  
Unfortunately, our timing of the birthday and the holiday along with the opening of school at LSU we found ourselves with lots of shopping time.  That's ok....a little time together is better than no time.

He did manage to come over Saturday afternoon and spend some time with us at the Oliver before having to head back to campus and work.     

 Then on Sunday we had lunch together before he had to return for another "opening" activity.  Monday we did spend some time together as we had all decided to celebrate Mike's birthday on Monday with a really nice lunch out followed by a special cake back at his apartment.  The best made plans.......

All during this meeting up and shopping out in the Atlantic there arose such a storm.  A tropical storm named Gordon and it appeared to be heading right toward New Orleans but nobody knew for sure.  We kept watching and Monday morning "they" finally projected it to make landfall around Gulf Port, Mississippi.  The target looked like I-10 would be swamped by rain, wind and some flooding.  I-10 is of course the interstate we travel back to Summerdale and Rainbow Plantation on.  Since we were towing and didn't want to get into high wind gust we made a quick decision to leave as soon as we ate lunch and had our cake.

We hurried up and ate our lunch at Walk- Ons Bistreaux & Bar in Baton Rouge and then headed over to Stephen's apartment for the grand finale....the cake.  Unfortunately, we had to hurry on the one day he didn't have to hurry.                    

We left the KOA around 4:00 and made our way back to our site at Rainbow Plantation (Escapee Park) and pulled in around 8:00.  We have to stop quite often and let Mike walk and stretch due to his disc issue.  Once we got back we realized they were calling for high wind gust in our area of up to 70 mph.  Why stay for the high wind gust when you can do something more fun?         

The river below our site at Gunter Hill

Early the next morning we got up, never unhooked the Oliver, and headed a little further northward to Gunter Hill COE campground just outside of Montgomery, Alabama.      

                                   
We landed a beautiful site right on the river!!!  We stayed as long as the site was available!!       

 We had a great first day and the rest were a bit rainy.  This is a great COE campground and we have been here before and have never been disappointed.  We were able to rest and relax and get a few walks in and a few drives around the campground.         

 Our first time in this campground was during Green Eggs and Ham Casita Rally always held in March.  Even though there weren't any little eggs in the campground this trip it was still fun and enjoyable.                     

        

When we returned to The Plantation we found everything in good order and Praise the Lord nobody had any damage from Gordon.  I don't think the wind gust got quite as high as they predicted but thats ok....we enjoyed our detour to Gunter Hill!!                   

Sunset over Mobile Bay in Fairhope