Saturday 7th September

Last day at Creole Gardens Guest House in New Orleans and we have really enjoyed our stay here. Being a Saturday, breakfast is served from 8.30 - 10.30, instead of the weekday times of 7.30 - 9.30 - how civilised ! Breakfast was great by the way, this morning was pancake, eggs, turkey breast and banana pudding ! Very authentic creole breakfast.

We packed and hit the road by 10.05 am this morning, heading for Natchez, via Baton Rouge AND the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, the longest bridge in the WORLD over water - 23.8 miles (38.3 kilometres) or about 20 minutes travel time at 60 mph (97 kph) ! Not only long but dead straight as well ! It opened in 1956 (which I found amazing) at a cost of $46 million - even more amazing. Originally just a two lane bridge, an identical bridge was built along side it in 1969 duplicating the first. It has operated as a toll bridge both ways, but now only the south bound traffic pay the toll to avoid traffic congestion heading out of New Orleans. This was a must do for us even though it took us 30 mins longer to get to Baton Rouge.

Once off the bridge we headed into Baton Rouge, first stop Starbucks ! Had a quick look around the downtown and the old Spanish Town area and decided there was not much to keep us here, so we decided to just drive on to Natchez.

Arrived to our accommodation at about 2.15pm, which was way earlier than the 4.30 pm arrival we had advised. It wasn't a problem and we could check in early. WOW - we are staying at Monmouth Historic Inn, in a cottage overlooking a lake with a couple of fountains. We have a four post bed, period furniture, ice already in the room and complimentary Hors D'oeuvres from 5.00 - 6.30pm !! I'll just let the pictures tell the story- sorry there are so many, but it is a mini national park ! From the road front to the back of the property is about 500 metres....yes 500 !! First are the room pics.

Next the surrounding grounds ..

After checking in we went to explore Natchez, once again lots of history and lots of mansions built in the town for entertaining the Natchez Natbobs - the elite plantation owners and families that liked to party ! The town is right on the banks of the Mississippi, which was a vital transport link for America. Standing on the bluff at Natchez and looking at the extent of the river is pretty mind boggling when all we have to compare it to is the River Murray.

The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent. Its source is Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota and it flows generally south for 2,320 miles (3,730 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. The river either borders or passes through the states of  Minnesota,  Wisconsin,  Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. (source - Wikipedia)

There were some nice old homes and buildings in Natchez.

We made sure we were back in time for Hors D'oeuvres at 5.00 pm, and then had dinner in the Quitman Lounge and Study as well. Gumbo, shrimp po-boy and a mint julep to top it all off. Very enjoyable .. oh and a complimentary breakfast tomorrow in the Garden Room !

PS Natchez is pronounced 'natches - sounds like 'matches.