A Fun Weekend Getaway

It was a perfect weekend....  Johnny and I drove up to Natchez, Mississippi for the spring pilgrimage.  We stayed at a quaint bed and breakfast called Bisland House.  The house was built in 1904 and Christine and Byron were wonderful hosts.  When we arrived on Friday evening, we asked Christine to recommend a good restaurant.  She made reservations for us at Magnolia Grill.  The food was delicious!  We had an onion souffle and crabmeat stuffed mushrooms followed by BBQ shrimp.  Yum!

Gotta attempt to replicate that onion souffle...  We sat on the sunporch that overlooks the mighty Mississippi River and watched a glorious sunset.  Then we took a walk down to the Isle of Capri riverboat and won a little money.

Here's a shot of Bisland House and the two porches that are wonderful places to catch a breeze....  It was an aMaZiNg place to stay and I wish we could have stayed longer.

Breakfast was served promptly at 8:30 a.m. in the dining room.  We dined on fresh fruit, hot homemade biscuits, crispy bacon, a scrumptious sausage and cheese quiche, and banana fritters.  What an awesome way to start the day!  It sure would have been nice to spend more time out here on the second floor porch listening to the birds sing....

There are three rooms available at Bisland House.  We stayed here in Jessi's room.  Do you see the photograph on the mantel?  It's of the three young girls who grew up in this house.  Christine said a thoughtful relative sent them to her when she learned the house had become a B & B.

There were so many special touches.... a vintage flowered plate containing fresh strawberries dipped in chocolate in the room, warm cookies in the dining room, a frig stocked with water and drinks.... 

After breakfast, we headed out to tour some historic homes.  Our first stop was Magnolia Hall.  Magnolia Hall is owned by the Natchez Garden Club and the upstairs area houses a costume museum.  Constructed in 1858, it was the last mansion built in downtown Natchez before the Civil War.  Indoor photography was not allowed in any of the homes.  :(

Ladies dressed in period costume were on hand to greet the visitors and take them through each home. 

Our second stop was Shields Town House, a lovely home built in 1860 and currently a private residence that is open only during pilgrimage.  The tour guides kept referring to antiques purchased by the homeowners during their travels in the seventies and I quickly realized that the owners were quite old.  And low and behold, the gray haired lil lady of the house awaited us in the dining room.  She runs a bed and breakfast in her home and the outlying buildings!  Unbelievable!  The gardens surrounding the home are incredible.  Here is a shot of the beautiful azaleas that grow along the property line.

On the south side of the home, there is a beautifully maintained English garden.  Makes me want to go out and plant me some boxwoods!

Wouldn't that shady place to the far left be an awesome place to have your morning coffee?  And out back is a courtyard centered by a huge cast iron fountain that was custom designed just for this home....

Guess who looked at fountains online today?  :)

Trip to Natchez to be continued tomorrow.........

Happy Monday!