Catching Up, and other stuff

I really must apologize for not keeping this blog up to date as I should, but so much has kept me so busy it's been practically impossible.
Meanwhile, Christmas is almost here with its celebrations, displays, events, and lights. Christmas in Natchez is a hometown affair, though not without its excitement. The big Christmas Tree is put up in the center of downtown, buildings are strung with lights, and there's a Christmas display on the bluff that's beautiful to look at. Vidalia's Christmas display is a sight not to miss. Mechanical vignettes line the roadway that travels along the river at the RiverFront. In them, the elves build their toys and place them on the train to the North Pole, Santa puts the star on the tree, and lots more. It's a treat to drive slowly along, car lights off, and see all the different scenes.
Choirs sing, shops decorate, and all the other wonderful things that go with the Holiday.
One thing we love to do is simply to drive through the different neighborhoods that are famous for their lighted displays. There are several around town that are great fun to see. We pack the car up with friends and relatives and go from place to place. If you're a visitor here and not familiar with where to go to see this show, just ask a local. Most have their favorites, and will instantly give directions.
There's lots more going on in Natchez for Christmas, but to get a complete list go to the Calendar of Events and check out the Natchez Downtown Development Blog.

Open for Business

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!

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.

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.

Hurricane's A-Comin'

We're just a few days away from another hurricane. While the eye of the hurricane is predicted to miss New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, that area will most likely bear a forceful storm, perhaps the brunt of the rains and winds this monster is bringing.
Even this far inland we as a community are preparing. The local stores have run out of supplies several times. Water, batteries, flashlights, rechargeable lanterns and radios, canned goods; all are being hoarded by our locals - including myself. We remember just a few years ago, when Katrina and Rita brought such destruction, not only devastating the coastal regions, but mauling Hattiesburg, Pearl, Brandon, Meridian and other cities and communities well inland of the Gulf.
And preparations are being made to help those who will flee from the coast, many of whom are already headed this way.
We had planned a day trip to Baton Rouge with friends for this weekend, but cancelled after we spoke with another friend who lives there.
"The town is crazy. Traffic is nuts. People are flooding in," he said, explaining that he was coming to Natchez not to avoid the storm, but to flee from Baton Rouge and the insanity that has already ensued days before the hurricane is expected to strike.
Weather stations don't agree on the date of landfall, but the majority agrees on where it will strike - Morgan City appears to be its bulls-eye. They also commonly predicted that it would be a Category 3 by the time it made landfall in the U.S., and I think that's an underestimation.
As I check the weather this morning I find that Gustav, centered just southeast of western Cuba, is already at 3 and expected to gain more strength before it actually passes over the island.
Then it will hit that warm, shallow, Gulf.
God, have mercy on us all.
If you read this post, please comment to let me know. Unless power runs out I'll keep tabs on what's going on in the Natchez-Vidalia area. If you don't see my posts here, it's because it's bad enough here that updates are impossible.
I fear that a strong enough storm could find its way to our area this time, before its power can be greatly abated. And I hope I'm wrong.
So how's that for a pessimistic post? Here's the good news. When I stocked up on water, canned goods, batteries, and dog food, I also made sure I had a good supply of Heineken. No one can say I didn't pay attention to the essentials.

The Ritz Theatre

I think the Ritz Theatre has been closed ever since I moved here in 1977, though there had been a kind of jewelry store there for several years. The facade was in terrible shape, the roof had already been damaged when a tornado struck Natchez in 1998 and tore it up even more.
You can see the old Ritz in the Tom Hanks movie "The Lady Killers," as the old woman walks by it several times during the movie. It was also featured in "My Dog Skip" as the kids go in to see a John Wayne movie. I was told by movie construction people that they had to build a platform for the kids to stand on because the floor was so damaged.
Now the Ritz is coming back, as you can see on the right. I don't know what they're going to do with it, but the restored Art Deco facade looks great. They are currently working on the neon, some of which you can see has been replaced already. Clicking on the thumbnail at right will show you a larger view. I took this photo and several others today (August 16, 2008).

A Quick Note

To anyone viewing this blog, I welcome comments about the blog or things talked about in the blog, but I'd really like to hear from folks who have been to Natchez - your experiences, good or bad. When you have a good experience I can use that to promote Natchez. When your experience is bad, sometimes I can take those comments to the people responsible. I can't always promise change, but often it's a learning experience that helps us be more hospitable and attentive to the needs of visitors.
That said, if you comment just to trash the place, surely you know where your comments will end up. Just being fair.

Fun in the Fall

Natchez' food and wine festival was a blazing success, but there's plenty more coming before the year is up. Speaking of food and wine, one of the events is the Martha White Biscuit Cook-off, which has led us to be called "The Biscuit Capital of the World!" (Now there's a strange claim-to-fame.)
The Jim Bowie Festival is up next. It's a fun time outdoors with arts and crafts, food, and really great music. The entertainment always starts with Gospel - it's a good Southern tradition - then moves into combinations of blues, rock, and this year a little rhythm & blues. The headliner is none other than T. Graham Brown. If you don't recognize the name you may not be old enough, but you'll recognize the voice. T. had several top-ten hits in the '80's, but he's also sung on commercials for McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Budweiser, and Ford Trucks, and is probably best known in the commercial world for Taco Bell's "Run For The Border."
October will be a busy month for Natchez, but it's also a good time of year to be here weather-wise. The Phatwater Kayak Challenge is coming up October 11, Natchez Fall Pilgrimage of Homes gives you three weeks to tour antebellum homes around the city. But the really big show happens the third weekend of October. The Great Mississippi River Balloon Race is going to be a great one this year! The beauty of seeing all those hot air balloons in the sky, the excitement of the contests, one of which is trying to hit a target on a floating river barge with a bean bag tossed from your balloon. Meanwhile, the entertainment on the fairgrounds will be extraordinary. Dave Mason is the headliner this year. Mason (for those of you who didn't live through the '70's) was a founding member of "Traffic," along with Steve Winwood. He wrote the often-recorded rock 'n' roll anthem "Feelin' Alright," made most famous by Joe Cocker. Cajun fiddle, Zydeco accordion, young rock, and ending with Country Sunday with Shenandoah.
We're having a lot of fun down here, and we'd love to have you all join us. Now we've offered the invitation. If you sit home all Fall and miss it, it's your own fault.

Busy Natchez

You'd think that in the dog days of summer things would slow down around here, but Natchez and the surrounding area are about to get very busy. Coming up are a number of festivals and events that will appeal to just about every sort of visitor.
For lovers of fine cuisine, The Natchez Food & Wine Festival is just around the corner (August 1 - 3, 2008). The weekend is full of events, including the Martha White Biscuit Cook-off, Brews on the Bluff - complete with bocce ball contest, and Saturday night's Invitation to the Natchez Table, which features celebrity chefs and antebellum homes.
The last weekend of September brings the Jim Bowie Festival and Bowie BBQ Duel to Vidalia, LA just across the river. There's live music, food, arts & crafts, and a re-enactment of the Sandbar Duel, which made the Bowie Knife famous. The festival is also the Official Louisiana State BBQ Championship.
October brings lots of fun in the air, on the bluff and in the water! The Phatwater Kayak Race takes place October 11. See the website, check out the Natchez Democrat, or watch CNN and you'll see plenty about this race down the Mississippi River.
The third weekend of October brings one of Natchez' biggest celebrations ever, The Great Mississippi River Balloon Race. Pilots race their hot air balloons in contests like "Hare & Hounds" and "The Barge Drop," the latter a contest to try to hit a target by dropping a bean bag from your ballon onto a floating barge in the middle of the Mississippi. Meanwhile, there's a festival taking place on the bluff high above the river. The grounds of Rosalie antebellum home is filled with food, drink, carnival
rides for kids, and great music for the adults. Past performers include Edgar Winter, Eddie Money, Irma Thomas, Better Than Ezra, and lots more. This year they're starting up Country Sunday for the Country Music fans.
I haven't touched on everything going on in the next few months, but you get the idea. For a calendar of Natchez area events, you can always go to NatchezMS.com and check out their Calendar of Events.

What in the Wide World of Sports is A-Goin On!

Little ole Natchez is growing up and out. There are four new hotels in town - two of them under construction - and another going up in Vidalia, LA just across the Mississippi River from us. Two more casinos are coming up besides the one we already have. Several people who are supposed to be "in the know" have speculated and sited statistics (traffic numbers crossing the bridge, stuff like that) but no one is saying what's driving these big corporations to build in a town of just 18,000people.
No matter what the reason, good things will come from it.
In October we'll have the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race. Up to this year it was hard to get a hotel room on that weekend if you didn't make a reservation a year ago. This year there'll be plenty for all and, I hope, an even bigger crowd.
In case you haven't seen our balloon race go to their website, NatchezBalloonRace.com. It's an incredible, fun weekend.
Natchez will slow down a bit after May. The hotter days of summer make everyone slow down, though there's still plenty to do here. Golf courses, nearby lakes, and shopping in air-conditioned antiques stores are just a sample.
If you're looking for a get-away that's not too far from home and won't drain your pocketbook, come to Natchez and slow down for a weekend.

Natchez Festival of Music

The Pfister Sisters are coming!
I'm really looking forward to this weekend, as the festival's "Night of Jazz" comes up May 23. This year's jazz group is The Pfister Sisters, of New Orleans, LA. They are a close harmony group along the lines of the Andrews Sisters, but with a better show. You can see more about them at PfisterSisters.com.

For those of you who don't know, the Natchez Festival of Music has events throughout the month of May. Last weekend was Broadway time, with Oklahoma! taking center stage. Our "Curly" was none other than Nat Chandler, who gained fame playing the phantom of Phantom of the Opera for 5 years on Broadway.
In case there are opera lovers out there, Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte is on deck for the last weekend of May, followed by a Gala attended by hundreds of music fans as well as many of the performers.

Things will slow down a bit here in Natchez after the festival, though there will be a few good events leading up to the Great Mississippi River Balloon Race in October.
By the way, you can see the other events slated for the Festival of Music at their site, www.natchezfestivalofmusic.com.

First Shot

I'm a website developer. There's a long list of sites in my portfolio, but the site I promote the most is one I've owned since 2000 - NatchezMS.com. The site itself has lists and links for bed and breakfasts, hotels, restaurants, attractions, and other things that visitors to Natchez, Mississippi would want to know.
In an effort to market NatchezMS.com (thus get more ads and make Google pay for the lifestyle to which I would like to become accustomed) I'm getting more into "viral marketing" which includes blogging, so here goes my first attempt.
Natchez really does have a lot to offer, especially for such a small town. No, there's no DisneyWorld here, nor Six Flags Over RedneckLand, or anything like that. In fact, we do quite well without them.
Here's a partial list of what we do have:

• A plethora of antebellum homes that have been preserved in a state very close to what they would have been like before the Civil War (hence the term "antebellum").
• An equal number of Bed & Breakfasts - I know, lots of towns have these, but if you want a real treat try one of ours.
• Shopping that's been rated as some of the best in the South - especially the antique shops.
• Dining experiences (you can't just call these places "restaurants") that run the gamut from white tablecloth to picnic table.
• Small town atmosphere - and I name this one for two reasons; it's laid back and relaxing, but it's also convenient to have the shops, restaurants, attractions, and such mostly within walking distance.

Now if you're looking for something more festive, just come around at the right time of year. The entire month of May, for instance, has the Festival of Music - jazz, Broadway shows, opera, Gospel music, with performances in locations all around town.

In October look for the Great Mississippi Balloon Race - hot air balloons compete while down at the fairgrounds there's music, food, kiddie rides, etc.

So you see, Natchez is a great place to check out for your next vacation or getaway. Maybe you're looking for a different place for your wedding (get married in a Greek-columned mansion), a girls' getaway, or a golf-buddy trip (there are 3 courses within a ten-minute drive and more an hour out of town).

I'm going to take most of these subjects and write about them separately, but for this first blog I wanted to hit the highlights.