Mom – I’m sorry it’s taken so long for this post!  So, last Wednesday, Mike and I toured around Columbus, MS.  Tennessee Williams, the playwright, was born in Columbus in 1911.  His childhood home is now the welcome center for this town.  Although renovated, the house is 135 years old.

There are a number of historic homes you can see in Columbus.  They are beautiful.

We also went to the Friendship Cemetery where over 2000 Confederate soldiers are buried.  A number of Union solders are also buried here.  Many headstones bore death dates in April, May and June, of 1862.  This was shortly after the battle of Shilo (April 6-7, 1862).  Many of the large homes in Columbus had been utilized as hospitals during this period, and it would appear that the dates we saw reflected soldiers who had succumbed to their injuries from Shilo…so sad and humbling.  Numerous headstones were simply marked, “Unknown Confederate Soldier.”

It is said that Decoration Day (now Memorial Day) began here with the first annual placing of flowers on the graves of blue and gray on April 25, 1866.  Veterans of the American Revolution (1776); War of 1812; Mexican War (1847); Spanish-American War (1898); World Wars I & II; Korean War; Vietnam War; and Persian Gulf War have all been laid to rest here.  It was fascinating.

After touring a cemetery, the next natural course of action would be happy hour, right?  Had Docktails back at the marina with a couple dozen folks who are all doing the Great Loop.  Had enough food there that I didn’t even need to make dinner.

Rented a car Thursday morning to drive to Nashville.  Stopped by the Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  It was my first time and I was very excited.  You get fried apples and gravy with everything.  It did not disappoint.

Super interesting drive to Nashville which is about 265 miles from Columbus, MS.  Drove through numerous little towns in Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee.  Took a 30 minutes shower at the hotel (truly a luxury when living on a boat with 150 gallons of freshwater), then walked to The Hermitage Hotel to meet Marla, Chuck, Don and Judy at the Oak Bar.  Jack Daniels makes this bar their own special barrel of whiskey, and their cocktails are awesome. The crew are in Nashville as a stop prior to going whiskey tasting in Kentucky.

Was SO awesome seeing my sister.  I miss her.

With Jack Daniels:  (Marla may have groped him a bit)

We all walked to Martin’s BBQ for dinner.  The food at this place was AMAZING!  I’m not even a bbq fan, but this stuff rocked.  Mike and I shared Momma’s Sampler which was ribs, brisket (complete with charred ends), pulled pork, baked beans, cornbread hoe cake, slaw and green beens.  If I lived  here, I would eat here way too often and weigh 500 pounds.

Mike missed Marla too.

Hit a couple bars after dinner, not because we needed to consume anything else, but to get some walking in.  Very fun city.  Great evening had by all.

Had a wonderful brunch with the crew the next day, then hit the rainy road to head back to the boat.  Met up with the crew of Heartbeat and did pizzas on Forever Friday.  Saturday was chore day, and also Penny’s 10th birthday.  She got a new collar with beer mugs on it.

Saturday night, went out to an incredible dinner at Hucks in Columbus.

Sunday morning, departed Columbus Marina @ 6:55am with 8 other boats as we all wanted to get through John Stennis Lock early in the morning.  Called the Lock Master who was happy to get us through.  Locking at sunrise was very cool.

Locked down through Tom Bevill lock another 28 miles downriver without incident.  As we’ve seen along all these rivers and lakes, cool neighborhoods and homes.  Another beautiful day on the water with gorgeous weather.

Pulled into Lower Cooks Bend around 3:00 after 59 miles.  Anchored with Heartbeat and Alysana in a gorgeous anchorage.  Hosted Happy Hour on Forever Friday, then did pork chops on Heartbeat.  A great evening.

Awoke this morning to a gorgeous sunrise.  So quiet and peaceful.  Here’s Heartbeat at anchor.

Pulled up anchor around 8:15 and got back on the Ten-Tom en route to another anchorage for the evening.  Will likely stay there one night, then head out tomorrow for Depopolis, AL, where we will stay for a couple/few days to wait out some thunderstorms.  Beautiful day on the water today.  Will try to update sooner versus later next time!  (Sorry mom.  Love you.)

Cheers!  M&M