Natchez, Mississippi Day 2 Fall Pilgrimage

The next morning we began with a DELICIOUS breakfast at Monmouth Plantation.  We went into the breakfast room across the courtyard from our suite.  Then we got started on our plantation tour!

The breakfast area was so beautiful and the china was so pretty.

There was a serve-yourself area for fruit, yogurt and granola but I also chose to be served the hot breakfast served that day.  It was just as good as it looks!

When we were walking from the breakfast area to our suite I caught a great picture of some of the garden area of Monmouth.  So beautiful and well taken care of!

Then we headed off to the first plantation on our stop, Dunleith.  This plantation is on the Historical Registrar and offers tour year-round.  It's also a plantation home that you can stay at, like Monmouth!

We were at the back of the plantation home, waiting for the next tour when I was snapping pictures left and right with my pink "point and shoot" camera......when it dropped and busted.  Nice, huh?  Thank goodness, I'm used to my clumsiness.  I quickly got out my more expensive, larger camera and shot the rest of the trip with it...  I love being prepared!  (But it still stunk...) 

The flowers and bushes at Dunleith were very beautiful, especially for September, after a harsh summer.

The courtyard where I busted my camera :)  Can you imagine the wonderful parties that must have gone on here?  Now you can enjoy the courtyard if you stay here (which I would LOVE to do one day!).

 The historical markers 8-)  My nerd glasses there for ya...  Just love these!

 After the tour (where pictures are not allowed) my aunt and I went out to the front of the house where we took some more pictures of the gorgeous structure.

Then we headed over to the Natchez Visitor Center to get our tickets for the Fall Pilgrimage of historic antebellum homes.  The tickets are pretty pricey, about $40 for 3 tours, so we decided to pick the ones we really wanted to see and do an overall tour in a limo.

The inside of the visitors center was very nice.  There were quite a few exhibits on local information and a gift shop.  I got a lot of great books from authors of the area.  They had a good selection of children's books that explain the history of the Civil War, too.

Some wonderful writers from the Natchez area.

Then we headed to Rosalie Plantation.  We decided not to take the tour (although I would have loved to) but rather toured the outside of the home.

On the premises they had the bell from the U.S.S. Mississippi.

The courtyard of Rosalie was very impressive and I LOVED the big oak trees!

The National Historic Landmark sign :D 

If you look closely at the door you'll see a woman in period clothing who was waiting to give the next tour.

I would have loved to live in an area with all these beautiful oak trees!  What a savior they must have been before AC was invented...and in the South.

One of the other notable things to see at Rosalie is the Fort markers where Fort Rosalie stood during the Civil War.  Just beyond the trees was the Mississippi River so this area contained a safe-guard fort that protected the city...at least until the Union completely took Natchez off the map, almost.  The plantation home was named after the fort.

Then we decided to take the hour-long tour of historic homes that was an option at the Visitors Center.  (Bad freakin' idea!)  I was so excited when the limo pulled up, but it actually ended up being a drag.  The views in a limo are horrible, there was no top to stand up to and it was really just three rows of regular seats.

For the record we did drive by a lot of great-looking homes...but we got a brief history, although my aunt didn't hear much because of her hearing.

The woman was very rude who led the tour and was very derogatory when my aunt said she couldn't hear.  We did get our money back for my aunt but I didn't press the issue with my ticket (around $40).  But... it was a very unfortunate situation.

We had really been looking forward to eating lunch at Fat Mama's Tamales from our 1000 Things Before You Die book.  It was a really cute set-up and very laid back.  I loved the travel posts in the parking lot.

The Knock-You-Naked margarita was delicious and the tamales were awesome!!!  Such a great place to go when in Natchez.

I have a huge love for the National Park Service so as we were leaving our tamales and heading to more plantation homes my aunt let us stop at the William Johnson House.

William Johnson was an African American barber in Natchez who wrote an amazing journal that chronicled life as an African American in Natchez during a very unfair time in the USA.  In the red-bricked building is the National Park exhibit and then you can go upstairs to see his home.

Then we headed to Melrose, with only an hour left before they closed.  Another National Park Service we were the only ones that were there and had a private tour from a very nice (cute) park ranger. :)

The house was being worked on from the outside but the inside was decorated very nice.  I loved seeing the huge fan in the middle of the table that a slave had to move (with the rope) back and forth during the entire meal.

The parlor was a very colorful green design.  It looked kind of comfy actually but I can't imagine the heat with no AC during the summer!

The in-tact slave cabins were definitely a historical site to see.  Such a big piece of American history and so controversial.  I almost wonder if touring these are like walking into Auschwitz or something...

The front of Melrose in the process of being restored.  Still, the columns are beautiful and very prestigious, at least to me.

After closing down all the historical sites we went back to clean up for a wonderful, fancy dinner at 1818, the restaurant at our plantation home hotel, Monmouth.  We had three big courses of shrimp, salmon and a tasty blueberry dessert.  It was a great way to end our last night in Natchez!

Natchez, Mississippi Day 1

So, last summer I was supposed to be coming home from England and going straight on a road trip to Natchez, Mississippi.  When I was in Detroit, from London, I got a call from a Houston hospital needing me to activate my power of attorney for my father.  He went into liver failure and was in a coma for 43 (long) days.  When all of that happened I immediately called the (wonderful) people of the Monmouth Plantation in Natchez and asked for our hotel stay to be postponed.  At the end of September and beginning of October (of 2011) we finally got to go.  It was a nice time, as it was 6 weeks into school and I was ready for a little stress relief.

My Aunt B and I drove to Mississippi.  It's a pretty pleasant drive.  We had good weather for the trip. 

I love taking pictures of the state lines!

I also love the large bridges over the many rivers in Louisiana/Mississippi area. 

Soon we were in Mississippi and ready to find Monmouth Plantation in Natchez.

When we arrived at the plantation home we were warmly greeted and shown around the common areas.  We were shown the restaurant, 1818.  We ended up eating here the following night.  It was a wonderful meal with 3 courses.  I'll have to see if I have those pictures for you in the next post.

If you were to come into the "front door" of Monmouth you would see this set-up.  We didn't stay in the actual home that was built.  We got a suite :)

 All the amazing historical accomplishments of the Monmouth Plantation!  Love these!!!

 This would be the courtyard of Monmouth.  The check-in area was to the right.  The main dining area and original home was directly behind me, as I was taking the picture.

Our beautiful room!  My gracious aunt let me stay in the main 4-poster bed.  There was an additional room right to the left of where I was standing to take the picture.  It had a full bed that she enjoyed with a private door to close so when I stay up late I wouldn't bother her with the tv.

 The bathroom was HUGE.  I loved it... Plenty of room for two people to get all fixed up. :)

This was our "cabin" that we stayed in.  It was really 4-5 rooms/suites.  It led right to the parking area and it had the staircase down to a beautiful lake/pond.  Such an amazing place to stay.  I highly recommend it!

Outside our rooms were these amazing rocking chairs.  I had some mimosas when we arrived and the next morning.  It was also really nice to sit out in the early afternoon and listen to the insects starting up, the frogs croaking by the small lake and the birds chirping.  Ahhh, such good memories!

After exploring Monmouth we decided to venture out and get a bite to eat.  I used my travel planning resources to find us a cool bar to get a drink at before eating.  The bell man at the Monmouth also made a dinner recommendation to us.  Because it was all on the mighty Mississippi we decided to head towards that area.  We got to see a beautiful sunset on the Mississippi bend in Natchez.

There were a lot of suggestions/talk of the Natchez Under the Hill Saloon.  We decided to start in this historical building.

It was very quite inside with just 3-4 locals.  But the bartenders were nice and let us sit at a table and just talk.  We each had a beer and then continued to dinner.

The great bell man encouraged us to try the Magnolia Grill which was a 2 minute walk from the Saloon.

We started by trying some delicious fried green tomatoes topped with shrimp, crawfish tails in a hollandaise sauce.  They were so good!

Then I got the grilled catfish and a potato.  It was really salty but very tasty.  I'm pretty sure I ate every bite. The one thing that I was a bit disappointed about were the prices...a bit steep but it's vacation.  Whatcha gonna do?

Across the street from the Magnolia Grill was the Isle of Capri casino.  We walked around and played a few slots.  I realllllly wanted to play dice but I didn't have any cash to lay down.  It's hard to gamble when you're on the first night of your 4 day vacation.  But it was a nice, quaint gambling spot.  Quite the climb to walk back up, though!  We decided to burn off our dinner, though, and not take the convenient golf cart up.  We went back to Monmouth and rested up for a long day of exploring Natchez and the Fall Pilgrimage tour of historical plantation homes.

Labor Day 2011

So summer break is off to a great start!  I need to finish uploading my school year travels before I leave in 3 weeks for IRELAND! :)  

But for now here's my Labor Day Weekend 2011.  After a busy summer and getting school started I decided to save money and stay in town and just try out some new things....

My mom and I did some running around town.  We headed to Spring for a craft fair at the Holy Comforter Episcopal Church.   

It was really wasn't much of a fair.  There were about 20 booths.  I didn't find much except a bow for my friend Heather's baby shower.

I had a Groupon (love Groupon!) for a bookstore in Tomball.  It was a used bookstore but they sure liked their prices.  I didn't end up getting many books for my $20 voucher.  But, I know booksellers are struggling.  It's hard to compete with Half Priced Books $1 bin!  But as a teacher I have to spend my money wisely... But I did like supporting the local bookseller. :)

 The next day my dad took me to Luling City Market over by the Galleria.  HOLY COW!!!!!!!

 We went at a time not a lot of people were around.  OMG, where do I start?  The sauce-amazing!  But you definitely pay for it.  They are (rightfully) proud of their food but it was about $40 or so for our two meals.  But dang, I could eat it like 3-4 meals in a row.

 Texas Brisket......I love being a Texas girl!!!  Reason #532 to love living in Texas!  In fact, my dad requested Luling's for Father's Day coming soon.  And I was happy to oblige. :)

The next day I decided to meet one of my favorite families for dinner at Smash Burger!  They have incredible burgers and their own Smash sauce that I love.  I recently read an article where they were voted one of the top 10 milkshakes in Houston, too.  I love my dinners with the Franks family!  I can hardly go without them now. :)

 Look at that burger?  And on an egg bun, it's sooooo good!  Can't wait for our Smash date this week. :)

Houston Wine Festival

Back in September, the 25th to be exact, I went to the Houston Wine Festival with a couple friends.  They had a Groupon for the event that was a good deal so we met up on a Sunday afternoon.

The event was held right in downtown at Sam Houston Park.  The event had lots of different tents of wine to taste from all over the world.  The Groupon came with 5-6 tasting tickets.  You could buy more but I tasted plenty without having to purchase more.

Our first stop was the "Winearitas."  They were delicious!  The free samples were tasty so I ended up buying the Cosmoritas mix which takes a white wine and a blender.  I actually made them last weekend at my friend Heather's house.  They were pretty tasty.  I'd definitely buy another bag of mix if I saw them again.

I also enjoyed the few vendors they had.  There were lots of gifts to buy for wine lovers and then the usual jewelry, etc.  I wish they had more vendors :)  I love my shopping!  Here Heather was trying some wine from a Texas winery.   

One of my favorite wines was from Peru and I loved these volunteers because they practically gave us a glass of wine instead of a tasting. :)  Thank you!!

Saint Arnold is a local Houston beer brewery.  Their Weedwacker beer is only seasonal and had a lot of write-ups in the local papers.  I wasted, yes wasted, a ticket on it.  Yep, it tastes like it sounds...like drinking weed water after a thorough watering.  Not my style!  But I love a local brewery so I'll have to try something else...

And I spent my last ticket at the Italy tent and LOVED this wine.  In fact, I need to go see if they have it at Spec's, my local liquor store.  It was delicious!

I would definitely attend the Houston Wine Festival again if the price was right.  But, I warn you that we went on SUNDAY and not on Saturday.  I heard it was PACKED on Saturday which means less wine in your glass for tastings.  AND, one more warning, it was HOT.  So hot we had to chill under some trees and get a bite to eat from some of the food vendors.  We had multiple bottles of water and I still was light headed by the end.  So, be prepared with shades, cool clothing and lots of hydration!