Up again and a good breakfast at the Comfort Inn. We took our time this morning and left about 10 AM. We have about 100 miles to French Camp which is located a bit more than 1/2 way down the Trace. The landscape has changed a bit - more flatlands, more pine in the woodlands and very tall pines. There were a number of very swampy areas. We passed more Indian Mounds, locations of Chickasaw and Choctaw Indian council houses, location where Hernando de Soto spent a winter in the 1500's, and several sections of the old trace.
We added a few more wildflowers to our list - you must realize our sightings are from the car. So, there are probably way more, but we can't identify too well without close inspection! We added yellow Hawkweed, and a pink phlox to our list.
Our stop today is at a Bed and Breakfast - one of the few actually right on the Natchez Trace. French Camp began as a "stand" opened in 1812 by Louis Le Fleur. A stand is like an inn on other early traveling routes. They were scattered about a days walking distance apart all the way along the Trace. This one grew into a girls school in the late 1800's as well as a military school for boys. The building the B&B is in was one of the original log buildings from those early days. Today there is a 300+ student boarding school (I believe it is a religious school but can't find details) nearby with both local day students and students from across the country and even some international students. Many of the students work here and there around the village for part of their tuition. There is a church, a trading post, an ice cream shop, a bakery, and the council house restaurant where we ate lunch. There is no other eating establishment in the small town (and they closed at 2 PM on Monday) so we had lunch and ordered take out to have for our dinner. The nearest town is about 15 miles away and you guessed it - only restaurant closed on Monday.
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| Gift Shop and Restaurant |
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| Bed and Breakfast |
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| View from Bedroom |
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| Our room - note the size of the logs. |
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| Downstairs dining area - remains of our take-out supper |
There are a number of restored buildings that compose the B&B - our room is one of two on the second floor of this main building where we will eat breakfast - also we ate dinner here. There are also several small cabins around the main building. Our room is nice with comfy bed, a bathroom, air conditioning, and an old-fashioned window looking out on our van! Jane read most of the afternoon - just could not put the book down! Walked around a bit and chatted with another couple who are in the other upstairs room. There is another couple in one of the cabins, and maybe a single woman. We were to call when we arrived or text and say we are here - have not seen anyone other than the couple students who were doing the cleaning.
We heated up our dinner in the microwave and enjoyed - Jane had chicken tenders, okra, and rutabaga (it was the special of the day and I thought I liked rutabaga - don't) Ben had catfish and hushpuppies. Really it was pretty good for a warmed-up dinner! Jane is catching up on the blog and may get around to the photos - but doubtful. This central time is getting us really out of sync - it is now 9PM and pitch black. There is no TV but they have very good internet so this blog is caught-up through tonight. Tomorrow, we plan to drive all the way to Natchez -180 miles- so longer than last 2 days. and breakfast is at 8AM sharp!
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