Oct 29 Day 35 Slippin’ into the South: Notable Columbus, Mississippi

Nothing like a small college town (remember how fun Marrietta, Ohio was way back on Day 4 Sept 6?)

We’re spending 3 nights here (and maybe, hopefully, getting out of the pack of boats we were bound up with earlier in the week). So we’ve rented a car to tour around a bit.  We remain in Mississippi (always fun to spell!!) which is why I wonder why the original founders of Columbus thought they were Alabamans?!?!  Apparently it took a few decades for them to realize they were actually in Mississippi and then all sorts of legal petitions had to be done to get the mailing addresses and naming all straightened out.

Regardless of the state, glad we are in Columbus because it is notable for several things:

Home of TWO Pulitzer Prize Winners:  Eudora Welty (The Optimist’s daughter) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2avAy2rx7Ds  and Tennessee Williams (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Streetcar Named Desire, etc) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=763wrhAthqE  . Per capita, I’m not sure any other city can make that claim?!?

Tennessee William’s Birth home. His grandfather was an Episcopalian minister and this was the church’s rectory where his mother lived with Tennessee and his brother since their father was a “traveling salesman/absentee father figure.”

One of the more intent and thorough tourists around:Nick reviewing the info on Tennessee Williams.

Home of Memorial Day: 

Late in April 1866 (or so), some women gathered here to take flowers over to the Friendship Cemetery and put them on BOTH the Union AND the Confederate soldiers buried there.  Word of the concept spread to the North and soon it was a copied and then eventually became a national event.   See poem The Blue and the Gray  by Francis Miles Finch  http://www.riehlife.com/2009/08/31/civil-war-poem-the-blue-and-the-gray-by-francis-miles-finch/

The women gathered here at Twelve Gables Home  (altho it only had 10!) before heading over to Friendship Cemetery.  Tons of other nicely taken care of ante-bellum homes too that were not touched during the Civil War—another reason it is a notable town!)

Here’s Friendship Cemetery (altho only white folks are buried here… not very in-line w/ it’s name.)

Graves of 2,194 Confederate soldiers here.  The Union soldiers were re-interred up at Shiloh (see Days 26 and 27 Oct 20-21!)

Here’s the cemetery for the African-Americans about a mile out of town:

Sandfield Cemetery:  These are recent…not sure of the mounding concept (?) Lots of older graves on the opposite side of the road with minimalist markers.

Home of Henry Armstrong: First boxer to hold world championships in 3 different divisions at the same time

First public college for women  (didn’t sound too southern of an idea to me….so maybe I need to re-think MY thoughts! Welll..unless the curriculum was limited to darning socks, etc) (it’s co-ed as of 1980’s, btw)

We actually ate out TWICE in one day!  One of the good things about the boat is we don’t get stuck eating in icky restaurants and instead we get all our good salads, veggies and grilling every day…..but a college town usually has some pretty good spots and we were not disappointed!

Sorry forgot (aka ate it sooo fast!) to take the pic of the Mongo BLT with Fried Green Tomatoes Po’ Boy Sandwiches we had here in this cute little patio.

Double-Date Night at Huck’s Restaurant…appropriate for us since we are Huck Finn’in  it down the rivers. Yummy crawfish and spinach cannelloni and Crawfish Etouffee!….Ridiculous Selfy…but here it is…w/ Don and Joan from the “sister-boat”.