In Columbus, Mississippi, we piled into the marina courtesy van (no warning lights!) with Francine, Wayne, Carol, and Rich and visited Waverly Mansion:
Built in 1852 by Colonel George Hampton Young, it stayed in the family until the 1960's, but no one lived in it or took care of it after Young's sons died in the early 1900's. Amazingly, it wasn't vandalized, even three original large mirrors still hung unbroken when the Snow family from Philadelphia purchased it in 1962. According to the Snow's daughter, Melanie, "It had no plumbing or electricity and was infested with squirrels, possums, birds, and insects. The attic was home to thousands of bats." (Mississippi Farm Country, July/August). Mr. Snow still lives in the house, as does his daughter and a grandson. They have furnished it with period pieces and continue to work to restore and maintain it, but what a chore. Much work needs to be done.
We all went to Columbus Air Force Base, a training base for air force pilots. There are almost as many take-off and landings as there are at Chicago and Atlanta, the 2 busiest commercial airports. We visited the commissary and the Package Store (air force terminology for party store), and drove along the flight line. We ate dinner out in Columbus, then headed back to our first covered slip:
When we awoke Thursday morning, it was pouring and we were glad to be undercover. When the rain let up some, we left Columbus and headed south.
Can they pump enough air to raise this sunken barge?
What?!
Pirate's Marina Cove-are those banjos I hear?
We all piled into the courtesy car again (airbag and windshield solvent lights on) and went to see the snagboat Montgomery:
The U.S. Snagboat Montgomery was the last steam-powered sternwheeler in the southern inland waterways. She worked for almost 6 decades to keep rivers navigable. Snagboats removed debris (trees, logs) from the waterways. Specs: 178 feet long, 34 foot beam, draft 4 feet, Derrick capacity 45 tons, 12-14 man crew. (Corp of Engineers). The Greek Revival style building in the background is a Tenn-Tom visitor center.
Inside the visitor center:
We next visited the Aliceville museum. Aliceville, Alabama, was the site of a German POW camp from 1942-1945. There is an amazing display about the camp, including artwork the prisoners created during their stay. The introductory video has interviews with some of those who were interred as well as some civilian employees and American troops who were stationed there. There is also a display commemorating US veterans from Pickens County and assembly line equipment from the 1948 Coca-Cola Bottling plant, which was the building that now houses the museum.
We went into "downtown" Pickensville and had catfish and barbecue at Down Yonder:
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