COLUMBUS, MS TIMES

OCTOBER 21, 22 & 23

In an effort to catch up and since we spent the majority of all 3 of these days in Columbus, MS I thought I would combine blogs.  Besides that we have some really exciting news I can't wait to post for yesterday's blog and I am anxious to move on so I can get to that.

After 5 nights of anchoring out it was once again time for shore leave.  Our liquor, wine and beer supply was dwindling and we were out of milk!  While heading down the river we were treated to constant fly overs by the pilots from Columbus Air Force base.  About 1 mile out from the marina we started to see all this green stuff on the water.  They got bigger and bigger and John got on the radio and called the marina from advice on how to approach.  We were told it was water hyacinth and it's just floating on the surface.  

You still don't want to hit too much of it though as it looked like it could strangle a propeller.  The stuff is invasive and wrecking havoc on the boaters in the area.  We were tied up to the dock by 1PM.  It is so great to get in early as then we still have the day to clean and make a provision run and have the evening left for fun.

Al & Terri from Terri Ann needed to go shopping too.  The courtesy van was spoken for but the marina manager T gave us his personal pickup truck and so the 4 of us headed for Walmart.  Good thing we had a truck as we filled the bed of that baby right up.  When we got back to the marina several other Looper boats had come in.  We decided to host a docktail party underneath the marina office.  They had 3 picnic tables and the area was shaded.  

I got to work making 3 appetizers and John went out to spread the word.  After 5 days out, it was nice to do some socializing.  Met some old friends and made some new ones.  We even met some folks from Cedar Falls, IA - our first Iowans!

Next morning we had the courtesy van reserved from 11 to 1 so went back into town to pick up a fuel filter and tour the town a bit.  Some beautiful old antebellum homes.  This is the hometown of Tennessee Williams.  We went to an out-of-the-way place called Profitt's Porch for lunch and had an absolutely awesome crab and shrimp cajun sandwich.  Friends Karen & John from Sundowner finally caught up to us and were in a slip in the marina when we got back.  It had been so long since we have seen them so we invited them for dinner and I made homemade spaghetti and meatballs.  Felt good to cook for someone besides my captain!

The following morning Karen & John had the van reserved so we went along. Karen and I got some "girl" shopping in and the boys walked the streets of Columbus.  7 boats left the marina today and 13 more are expected in.  We went for an afternoon bike ride and the Looper exchange began.  We made reservations for dinner at Huck's and the crews of Free Bird, El Nido, Sundowner and Rodalee went out for a nice dinner and a quick tour of town.  

Thoroughly enjoyed the city of Columbus and the wonderful staff at the Columbus Marina. T and Jimmy made us feel right at home! Highly recommend this laid back place if one is ever looking for a great place to stay.