May 8, 2012. Rest day at Natchez, MS

Today was a rest day, and I always like to rest on rest days, but we had things to do.... we started with the laundry. Dianne and I ate breakfast in the hotel and then walked about 6 blocks to the laundromat. Our hotel is in the Natchez historic district so we saw a lot of grand homes along our route.

We toted the laundry back to the hotel where we were able to peek in on the riders working on their flat tire repair technique. On the left is blonde Jane (two Janes on this tour, one from WI and one from MN... it's easier to go by hair color). Blonde Jane told us last night at dinner that she did not carry a spare tube or tools on her bike and had never even thought about changing a flat tire, and in fact did not plan on having any! Kudos to her for learning how to change one!

They were cleaning our room so we dropped off the rolling suitcase full of clean laundry and walked 6 blocks in the other direction to the post office so I could mail the books I bought for the grandkids and Dianne could send home the stuff she does not need... that should lighten up our load! We also stopped at the souvenir stand in the old train station by the river.



I looked at the bridge we came across yesterday.. there was a riverboat docked at the city dock and a tug pushing some barges along under the bridge.

We are staying at the Eola Hotel in downtown Natchez, so everything is within walking distance, except that I really don't want to walk all that much on rest days... the hotel was built in 1927 and is a real gem.

When we got back from our errands we played Scrabble at a table on the mezzanine, went to lunch in the hotel restaurant, and then played some more Scrabble out in the courtyard of the hotel. Biking and Scrabble... what could be better?

We went down to the lobby at 6 PM and there was a group of WT women talking about going to dinner. Dianne, Jo Ann (from Oregon) and I chose to go to Breauds, a place we had passed on the way back from doing laundry.... once we got there, 6 others arrived but sat at a separate table. The food was great, and our waitress was Marian, who only made one mistake... She thought we were joking when I told her to bring us all water (in addition to the carafe of wine) because we were riding our bikes 83 miles tomorrow. She said "I don't think I could do that" and Dianne said "and we're old ladies". Marian said "I KNOW". That was the mistake, of course.... it's OK if we call OURSELVES old ladies, but no one else better dare to do it! All my kids and grandkids know that!

 



It started to cloud up as we were finishing dinner, so we paid the bill and walked back to the hotel.... now it is pouring rain, accompanied by lightning and thunder. Here we are warm and dry, glad every day that we are not on a camping trip!