Road Tripping 2022

Galveston- Natchez

There are 3 ways to get off of Galveston Island – a bridge on the Southwestern most portion that takes you to Freeport, the main causeway bridge which becomes I45 or the Bolivar Ferry. For this trip, I chose the ferry.

The Bolivar Ferry is free and runs from the northeast edge of Galveston Island to the Bolivar peninsula 24 hours per day – one hourly ferry overnight, 2 per hour from 6AM onward through the day and 3 per hour during busy times, weekends and the summer for the 20-minute-long journey across the Houston ship channel. 

The ferry can take about 70 cars and up to 400 foot-passengers for those that just want to go across and back. TX87 is a mostly 2- lane road along the peninsula, and in some sections sits so close to the Gulf that the roadway can be blocked by storm surges or unusually high tides. My drive was relaxing and uneventful. 

I arrived in the city of Natchez with thunder and pouring rain. My AirBNB for the night was a tent (2 days earlier – when booked – the weather prediction was clear and sunny). The host was supposed to meet me, but instead when I called she gave me instructions on getting into the back of the house to the bathroom, and where everything was located and how to re-inflate the air mattress “if needed”. 

When the rain lightened, I went into the tent – stuffy and warm, but looked clean. I unloaded the car. I couldn’t open the tent flaps due to some lingering showers but I turned on the shop-vac fan and then went to walk the few blocks into the main part of downtown. 

The initial settlement here was Fort Rosalie in 1716 – making it one of the earliest settlements on the Mississippi, and is now well known for many antebellum mansions. 

The “city” designation is a bit of a stretch, since Natchez has a population of about 16,000. The downtown has a relaxed, smalltown feel, with a lovely walking path by the river, 

part of which is the famed walking path of the Natchez-Trace. 

For those interested, there is also a casino by the river. I had not had the best drive in terms of traffic lights, so decided not to put money in the machines, and instead, after walking around town, returned to my tent. 

Which had now become an oven with the sun emerging and the tent in its direct light. I opened up the flaps, and found the fan was creating more heat than cooling the area. I used the “under construction” bathroom, and went to my car with my book to sit in my idling car with the AC going. The tent did not cool until the sun went down below the houses at about 8PM. I should have gone to the casino. When I went in, I started getting ready for bed and found the mattress needed air – a lot of air- and turned the switch to fill it. I sat and read a little longer, doing a jigsaw puzzle on my phone, brushed my teeth, and about 9:30 went to get in bed and just about sank to the floor. I pulled out the only “extra” blanket to be my base, and arranged pillows underneath me to act as a mattress. I slept fitfully – waking every 20-30 minutes due to some limb being numb from being on it, until about 1 AM when the local dogs started barking – constantly. First it was a little one, then what sounded like a middle-sized or larger one which kept it up until around 3AM, I got a little sleep until the birds started in at 4AM. Normally, I like waking to birds, but not when I’ve managed less than 3 hours of sleep. I got off the floor a little after 5 and went to take my shower, turned on the hot water – no waiting, turned the cold only to have the knob spin uselessly – no cold water. (At the end of the blog I will post a few of my “when it’s obvious you don’t know what you’re doing bathroom renovation” photos.) I did a hobo shower in the sink, dressed, packed and drove into town.

The earliest place open for breakfast was 7AM, so I went for a walk on the riverfront. It was a beautiful morning, the air was cool and comfortable. I joined a lot of locals at the coffee shop just after 7, enjoying oatmeal and a croissant with good coffee. By the time I was done it was just after 8, but the Grand Village of the Natchez did not open until 9 (most other museums didn’t open until 10).

The Grand Village is one of the southernmost and most recent of the Native American ceremonial mound sites found along the Trace. The area was occupied around 1200AD until the 19^th century when they were forced to move. Early French explorers witnessed a burial ceremony at the site when the chief had died, and those citizens who volunteered to join the chief in the afterworld were ceremonially strangled to death and placed in the mound with the chief. There are over 30 mound sites along the trace – the largest is just north of Natchez and called the Emerald Mounds. To read more about the Grand Village and the mounds that stretch from Indiana to Mississippi – https://www.mdah.ms.gov/explore-mississippi/grand-village-natchez-indians

So – now it’s time to drive the Trace!

I leave you with “how not to renovate your bathroom”