Always one to promote my website whenever possible, I've just finished a new and improved version of our travel and tourism site, NatchezMS.com. The look is cleaner, more organized, and with a few new pages.
The reason I bring up our site is because Natchez, Mississippi is open for business and I want to get that message out there. Hurricane Gustav blew down a lot of trees and cut a lot of electricity - the Natchez Democrat reports several thousand still without power - but the downtown area survived just fine, electricity and other utilities are being restored at record speed.
And just in time, as things start getting exciting around here in short order.
The Louisiana State BBQ Championship/Jim Bowie Festival kicks up the last weekend of September over in Vidalia, just across the river from us. Fall Pilgrimage starts up September 27 with two weeks of historic home touring and evening entertainment. We get just a weeks respite, then the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race gives us a weekend of fantastic music and hot air balloon competition. The balloon race is always the third weekend of October, making this one Oct. 17 - 19.
By the way, make your reservations now. Hotels and B&B's regularly fill up for all these events.
So there's my plug for Natchez again. The lights are on. Come see us!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Singin' in the Rain
Looks like the weathermen aren't even having a hard time out there. CNN is rotating views and opinions of all the guys they stuck out in the weather around the New Orleans area. Yes, some of them are getting hit by 45mph winds, but overall, the weather is not nearly as bad as most expected it to be. There is so little weather news that earlier they were giving a tour of the weather cubicles inside CNN.
Here in Natchez, we've had a few sprinkles and the wind is picking up a bit. I'm sure we'll get more rain this afternoon, but it looks like the hurricane is going to be well west of us by the time it reaches our latitude.
Meanwhile, the local newspaper, The Natchez Democrat, had photos of locals preparing evacuee shelters. The pictures evoked memories of three years ago when scores of those we were not allowed to call "refugees" filled to the brim every church gymnasium and warehouse we could supply with water and electricity. Those poor people were here for months trying to figure out whether they could try to return to their homes, or start again somewhere else.
It doesn't look like they'll have that problem this time.
Here in Natchez, we've had a few sprinkles and the wind is picking up a bit. I'm sure we'll get more rain this afternoon, but it looks like the hurricane is going to be well west of us by the time it reaches our latitude.
Meanwhile, the local newspaper, The Natchez Democrat, had photos of locals preparing evacuee shelters. The pictures evoked memories of three years ago when scores of those we were not allowed to call "refugees" filled to the brim every church gymnasium and warehouse we could supply with water and electricity. Those poor people were here for months trying to figure out whether they could try to return to their homes, or start again somewhere else.
It doesn't look like they'll have that problem this time.
The Day Before...
Sunday night, midnight. I'm gonna make this one short.
At last look, Gustav was a little over 200 miles from New Orleans and bearing down at 16 mph. Winds are at 115 with gusts to 140. The eye will most likely make landfall early tomorrow (today?) just west of NOLA.
Looks like most people heeded the warning this time and got the heck out, though we saw some people on TV who just refused to leave, most giving bad excuses for staying. One guy said he didn't see anything on TV that sounded bad enough to leave. I guess all those dead people in the Carribean didn't impress him much. Or his memory's so short he doesn't remember what happened last time.
We've got some friends in New Orleans and I'm wondering what's happening to them. We met them when they fled Katrina. They eventually moved back to N.O. to try to help rebuild, and now it's happening all over again. Maybe more on them later.
Maybe we'll all dodge the bullet this time. It's moving fast enough to pass through quickly. There's a good chance it will abate quickly, too, once it hits land.
We'll all keep our fingers crossed.
At last look, Gustav was a little over 200 miles from New Orleans and bearing down at 16 mph. Winds are at 115 with gusts to 140. The eye will most likely make landfall early tomorrow (today?) just west of NOLA.
Looks like most people heeded the warning this time and got the heck out, though we saw some people on TV who just refused to leave, most giving bad excuses for staying. One guy said he didn't see anything on TV that sounded bad enough to leave. I guess all those dead people in the Carribean didn't impress him much. Or his memory's so short he doesn't remember what happened last time.
We've got some friends in New Orleans and I'm wondering what's happening to them. We met them when they fled Katrina. They eventually moved back to N.O. to try to help rebuild, and now it's happening all over again. Maybe more on them later.
Maybe we'll all dodge the bullet this time. It's moving fast enough to pass through quickly. There's a good chance it will abate quickly, too, once it hits land.
We'll all keep our fingers crossed.
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