Road Trip 2012 - Day 17

Tuesday, May 1st - Montgomery, AL to Natchez, MS

We had breakfast at the hotel and departed at 10:11 am (precisely!)

Beginning odometer = 37,029

We drove through Selma, AL, but did not stop. We agreed this historic city will be on the agenda for our next Southern road trip.

We made it to Mississippi.

Upon arriving in Natchez, we drove around checking out the historic area. The Husband had found Natchez Manor on-line and when we saw it in person we both said, "Yes, let's stay here if they have a vacancy."

The staff was welcoming and helpful. We were assigned a ground floor room and were happily unpacking when The Husband determined the air conditioner was not working. Lynnette (Front Desk) and Judy (Housekeeping) transferred us to another room quick as a wink and helped relocate our bags.

After we settled in, we wandered into the hotel bar and met Calvin (Chef) and Rebecca (Bartender). Both were very friendly. Calvin was so friendly, when we decided not to eat at the hotel, he took a short break and walked us over to Breaud's Seafood & Steak. How's that for service? 

Beverly was our waitress at Breaud's and she took great care of us while we enjoyed a satisfying meal. 

We were in bed at 9:35 p.m. that evening and fell into a sound sleep!

End of day odometer = 37,382

Road Trip 2012 - Day 16

Monday - April 30th - Thomasville, GA to Montgomery, AL

We had breakfast at the hotel and were on the road by 10:15 a.m.

Odometer reading = 36,785

We visited the Thomasville Rose Garden. Thomasville hosts a rose show every year and they consider themselves the City of Roses. We arrived in town the day this year's show ended. We need to work on our timing!

Thomasville is also the home to a beautiful 331 year old live oak, named The Big Oak. It is magnificent.

There is a camera mounted on the light pole across the street from The Big Oak. On the back of the sign The Husband is standing behind is a phone number. You dial the number and hear a recorded message advising your photo will be taken in 8 seconds. All the photos are later uploaded onto a website for viewing.

If you want to see our photo, click here.

Or you can navigate to our photo by clicking here. 

Click on the 2012 link. 

Click on the April, 2012 link. 

Our photo is on the far right of the top row.

The tag on our photo: bigoak2012-04-30_08h_46m_03s.jpg

We drove past the historic Lapham-Patterson House, but they were closed. Again, with our timing!

Years ago, when I visited Thomasville, one of the men I was working with told me if I went downtown I should not go into the Billiards Academy. Why? Because it was not a place for "nice girls," since there were pool tables and card games and who knows what else going on. Of course, I immediately wanted to go there. He said "No, no. People at the office will hear you were there and will talk!" He told me if it was open and I wanted to get coneys, I could order at the walk-up window on the sidewalk. It was 1995, for goodness sakes!

The Billiards Academy was closed during my last visit to Thomasville, unfortunately. It was, however, open during this visit. The Husband and I had coneys for lunch and, yes, I did go inside the establishment. Evidently, "nice girls" can go there now without risking their reputations!

Billiards Academy coneys were good, but nothing like Tulsa's Coney I-Lander. If I had to choose between the two, Coney I-Lander would win everytime!

Me, on the sidewalk by Billiards Academy walk-up window.

We left Thomasville after lunch and headed toward Montgomery, AL. I managed to get this state welcome sign from the car window. There was too much traffic to park and pose for the usual photo.

We did take an hour to stop at a large thrift store. It was really more of a junky antique mall. We saw some interesting items and some interesting people. It was a good diversion from the road.

We rolled into Montgomery, AL in the early evening and found a hotel. We opted for dinner at an Outback. It was easy and quick. Our server was a nice kid named Patrick.

End of day odometer = 37,029