ONE OF THE BUSIEST AIRPORTS

November 2, 2011  Dateline: Columbus, MS USA

I am beginning to become lazy.  I traveled only 23 miles today and passed through only one lock.  There was very little fog this morning so the five boats that I was with in Aberdeen Marina left just after 8 AM and immediately passed through the Aberdeen Lock.

Going down the Tenn-Tom Waterway there were a lot of jet fighters flying overhead.   The planes were flying in and out of Columbus Air Force Base where the Air Force trains new and advanced fighter pilots.  The base is one of the busiest airports in the country. One the owners of MARY FRANCES IV is a retired Brigadier General in the Michigan National Guard, he was able to get Rich and Carol onto the base.  Rich said it was a really neat place.

Rich and Carol visited the Waverly Plantation Mansion in West Point, MS.  The mansion was built circa 1850 on a 50,000 acre self-sustained cotton plantation owned by Colonel George Young of Oglethorpe, Georgia.  The house, after the death of Mr. Young’s last son, was vacant for 50 years and amazingly survived incredibility well for all of that time.  Chandeliers, mirrors, and fireplace mantels were found untouched.  The Snow family that purchased the home in 1961 had spent 30 years not only restoring the house but acquiring antiques from the period of the house when Mrs. Snow unexpectedly passed away. The house became a National Restoration Award winner, a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The house is still occupied by Mr. Snow and his daughter.   Each morning their beds must be made and their personal belongings put away so the house can be toured. The money collected from the tours is used to continue the restoration.

Tomorrow, I am off to Pirate’s Cove Marina approximately 28 miles and one lock away.