Weekend in Natchez - Part 4: Rosalie & Old South Winery

Saturday morning after another delicious breakfast, Brandon and I drove around the block to Rosalie Mansion for our tour. It was another beautiful day, and I was really looking forward to touring this old house on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Rosalie - Front Gate


The man in the portrait over the fireplace in the library is the original owner.


This is exactly how the double parlor looked before the Civil War began. Everything is original to the house except the rug is reproduction. During the war, a Union general commandeered the home and used it as a base for 2 years. He respected the family who lived there and knew the beautiful furniture would be ruined, so he had it wrapped and stored in the attic. The two mirrors (over the fireplaces) had already been taken down and hidden in a cave between two cotton bales before they arrived, so those were preserved as well.


View of the Mississippi River from the 2nd floor balcony.


Nursery at Rosalie. The small house in the floor was for the children's pet squirrel!


Another upstairs bedroom at Rosalie. The Bible at the foot of the bed was a wedding gift from the husband to his new bride. And notice the lovely chamber pot in the floor!


Rosalie's kitchen was unique because it had a covered walkway all the way to the house. Kitchens back then were usually in separate buildings because of the threat of fire.


Rosalie - Back


The tulip trees were beautiful!


Rosalie - Side

At the end of the tour, we took our time wandering around the grounds and looking at the flowers, and then we set out for lunch. We ended up eating right across the street at Fat Mama's Tamales. It's a neat little place where you place your order at the counter and then sit where you want...like a fast food joint, but with a totally different atmosphere. We split a dozen tamales and some chips and cheese. It was really good!

Next on our agenda was a tour of Old South Winery. As we were leaving Fat Mama's, we found the winery in the Garmin and hit "GO." The closer we got to our destination, the more concerned I was getting. To put it mildly, the winery is not in the best of neighborhoods. The fact that it's in a neighborhood at all and not out in the country is odd to me. It definitely wasn't what we expected, but we did the tour and had our samples and bought some wine, and so it was all good.

Weekend in Natchez - Part 3: Friday Afternoon & Evening

After touring Longwood, we were ready for some lunch. We drove back to the bed & breakfast to leave our car, and walked a few blocks to downtown Natchez. (That was just so convenient!) We decided on a Greek restaurant called Center City Bistro. They are located in a little alley on Commerce Street.

It was such a beautiful day that we requested a table in the courtyard. We started our meal off with the combination appetizer, which consisted of hummus, baba ganoush (I love saying that!), taramosalata, jajiki, dolmadas, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and warm pita bread. It was all SO GOOD, especially with the Merlot I ordered to go along with it. (Check out their menu if you'd like to know what any of that is.) For our main course, Brandon ordered a gyro, which was amazing, and I got the Greek salad, which was also good. I could have made a meal of the appetizer itself though and didn't even need the salad.

After such a huge lunch and all the walking we had done that morning - not to mention getting in so late the night before - we decided it would be a good time to take a nap, so back to Bisland House we went.

Later that evening, even though we were still pretty full from lunch, we set out for downtown again for dinner. If nothing else, we wanted to get out and hear some music and just hang out. Our first stop was a little place called Biscuits & Blues. Brandon had been there a few years ago while he was in Natchez on a school trip, and he wanted to go back. It was kind of small, but it was a really neat place. We ordered some crab stuffed jalapenos and a couple of drinks and kicked back and listened to the live music for a while.

My margarita at Biscuits & Blues


Here's Brandon enjoying the live music. You can see the lady singing if you look over his left shoulder. She was great!

I would've loved to stay at Biscuits & Blues longer, but I felt bad because there were people waiting for tables and we had finished our food and were just sitting there listening to the music. SO, we set out again. This time we turned down Main Street and headed for the next place Brandon wanted to take me to - Bowie's Tavern.

Bowie's was a neat place, I suppose, for a bar. The bar scene really isn't my thing...maybe with a group of friends sometimes, but not usually. Anyway, we snagged a corner table and just hung out for a while. Eventually a band set up and played. We ordered some Jamaican Jerk wings, which were really good, and listened to a few songs and then decided to go.

Bowie's is at the end of Main Street, right in front of the bluffs that overlook the Mississippi River. We decided to take in the view before calling it a night. It was getting kind of cold, so we didn't stay long, but it was a nice view and very quiet. Finally we headed back to the B&B.

Weekend in Natchez - Part 2: Longwood

Friday morning after a delicious breakfast at Bisland House, Brandon & I set out for our first day in Natchez. It was a gorgeous day, and we couldn't wait to get out and explore! We knew we wanted to tour at least a couple of the old homes in town, so first on our agenda was a stop at the Natchez Visitor's Center to purchase tickets. Next stop, Longwood.

We arrived at Longwood about twenty minutes before the next scheduled tour, so we took the opportunity to look around the grounds and take in the sunny day. The property that this unique mansion sits on is beautiful. There are huge trees draped in Spanish moss everywhere, not to mention all the spring flowers that were blooming. It was so nice just to sit and enjoy the moment.

Our first real look at Longwood as we came up the drive. Click the photo for a bigger image, and you can see one of the tour guides coming down the steps in her hoop skirt.

Haller Nutt's Oriental Villa

Byzantine-Moorish Dome With its 24-foot Finial

When our tour began, our guide - dressed in a hoop skirt - invited us in and began to tell the story of multi-millionaire Haller Nutt and his wife, Julia, and their dreams of this huge home we were standing inside. She told of why the house was designed the way it was, how the workers from Philadelphia basically dropped their tools and ran north when the war began, and how Dr. Nutt died before the war was over, broke and broken-hearted. She took us through the entire "basement" of Longwood, pointing out many pieces of original furniture that belonged to the Nutt family. It was all so interesting and so beautiful - I wish we had been allowed to take pictures!

Upon leaving the finished portion of the house and going upstairs, we were allowed to take pictures. Here are some of the ones I took:

Unfinished Stairs


Looking Up Into the Dome




This is our guide standing next to a replica of one of the window boxes meant to allow sunlight into the basement. The circles in the floor are spots where more of the boxes would have been.


One of the doorways upstairs with wood blocks laid into the brick so that hinges could be hung later.


Items left behind when the workers fled north.

If you can't tell by my review, we really enjoyed our visit to Longwood. Anyone in the Natchez area should take a couple of hours and tour this interesting and beautiful home!

Weekend in Natchez - Part 1: Bisland House Bed & Breakfast

I've gotten so behind on my blogging! I guess I just haven't been in the mood to write lately. I'm going to try to do better about updating at least once or twice a week though. I'm not going to try to totally catch up, but I do want to post a detailed run down of our recent anniversary trip to Natchez, MS, because it's easy for me to use my blog for journaling in my scrapbook pages later. Gotta record it while it's fresh in my mind! :)

On March 11th, Brandon and I left our puppies with Mike & Jeannie (thanks again guys!!) and headed south toward Natchez. Our trip got off to bit of a rocky start. First, I caught Brandon's thumb in the trunk while we were loading up to leave. Then we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for dinner and as soon as we got back on the road, Brandon punched a hole through the bottom of his cup, which dumped an entire Diet Coke in his seat. There were a bazillion deer all the way down the Natchez Trace, which made me incredibly nervous. And we were both so sleepy that we had to keep taking turns driving. At 11:00, we finally arrived at Bisland House Bed & Breakfast and were warmly welcomed by our hostess and shown to our room. I felt so bad getting in so late!

I can't say enough good things about this bed & breakfast. The owners, Byron & Christine Tims, went above and beyond what I would expect at a B&B. In addition to the amazing breakfasts we were served each morning, there were home baked brownies and/or cookies set out every day, soft drinks & bottled water stocked in a small refrigerator for our use, and flavor packets for the water, if you so desired. Christine made sure everyone was comfortable, cleaned our room every day, and offered to make reservations for carriage rides or dinner. We were even served champagne one evening while sitting out on the front porch enjoying the beautiful weather!

The house itself is beautiful. It was built around 1904 and sits on Commerce Street, just a few blocks from downtown Natchez. The location was great because we were able to walk almost everywhere we went, and we felt totally safe, even late at night. There are several camellias out front, all of which were blooming while we were there. The inside is full of beautiful antiques. Here are some pictures of the house & our hosts.

Bisland House Sign


I loved the front porch!


Guest Book in Front Entrance


Beautiful Antiques


Entrance - Check out the beautiful stained glass windows!


Treats Out Each Day


Each morning, the table was set for breakfast with fresh fruit, a fire in the fireplace, and classical music playing in the background.


Christine's Amazing Bananas Foster French Toast


Byron & Christine Tims

Each of the three guest rooms at Bisland House is named. We stayed in the only room downstairs, Danielle's Room. Here are some pictures. (Click to enlarge.)

Door to Our Room


Our Beautiful Bed with Super Soft Sheets


Brandon Relaxing After We Finally Arrived


Our Cute Bathroom Vanity


Our Beautiful Sink


Bubble Bath in the Claw Foot Tub!


Beautiful Light Fixture Above Tub

I want to thank Byron & Christine again for being so hospitable and opening up their beautiful home to share with others. I'd highly recommend a stay at their bed & breakfast to anyone visiting Natchez, and we will definitely be back ourselves!

Got Crafty Today!

It wasn't a huge accomplishment, but I did make a card & envelope for a wedding shower today, and I was really happy with how they turned out.

I used my new Stampin' Up! Vintage Labels stamps and curly label punch on the card. I designed and cut the matching envelope with SCAL...I love that software!

After the shower, I went by to see my dad for a few minutes and then went over to Mary & Jim's to use my anniversary gift from Brandon - a computerized telescope. Lots of learning to do with that thing, but it's really neat! Mary & I enjoyed looking at the stars for a while and then we had some hot tea before I came home. It was a good day. :)