Being stuck in Columbus ain't so bad y'all

Columbus Mississippi

So for the few of you who don’t know, we are still in Columbus MS. We arrived here on Sunday 6 October and will probably be here for another 2 weeks. Thank goodness Columbus Marina has a great month- stay deal.

A beautiful caterpillar

Who needs to decorate for Halloween if the spiders can do it for you?

Giant lily pads all around the marina, some close to 2 feet across

Time &Tide tied to the dock at Columbus Marina

White pelicans

Last year we kept seeing the babies on the water. We called them run-flappers  for obvious reasons, this year we saw these adults and the are actually Coots.

Anyhow, so our generator (yes, the one that has been giving us trouble for so long) has a leaky heat exchanger. This we found out after Gary painstakingly took things apart, cleaned and tested everything. So now we are waiting on parts.  Seriously, that took a week to get done.  Gary did all the calling around for parts and spoke to Westerbeke reps for hours. If we were rich people we would have taken the first quote given to us and gone with the flow, but in calling around Gary saved us $700 just on the price of the gaskets!!! He is my hero!

But it wasn't just all work and no play.

Being in a marina you meet way more people than you do while you are out anchored in secluded bays.

We met a lovely couple from Tarpon Springs. Jack is an artist and Arlene is a curry maker extraordinaire. Arlene was born in Trinidad but grew up in Saint John, New Brunswick, so she and Gary were able to talk about stomping grounds they had in common. They are “stuck” in Columbus as well, waiting on repairs for their engine. Read more about their travels with their four cats on the SV Night Music http://oldhickorytotarponsprings.blogspot.com/

Jack and Arlene SV Night Music

Canadian Thanksgiving dinner with  SV Night Music

We enjoyed a lively evening on MV Just Rosie with Jack, Arlene, Rosie and Don. MV Just Rosie are gold loopers who did their loop several years ago. Rosie makes the best appetizers; stuffed jalapeno peppers. They are my new obsession! Their travels are chronicled on their blog  www.cruisingwithjustrosie.com

We also met up with the kayakers that I wrote about in a previous posting. Glenn and Barb are the couple that have been kayaking down the rivers and doing service work where ever they stop. While in Columbus they volunteered at “The Fish and Loaves” soup kitchen. They were thinking about ending their trip in Demopolis because of a lack of facilities for them to stay overnight. We offered to take them all the way to Mobile aboard Time & Tide so they could finish their trip. They will wait in Demopolis for us. Please follow their travels on their website http://paddleforapurpose.net/about/

We also had a wonderful reunion with our Looper friends MV Spiritus. Edie and Linda are now Gold Loopers and on their way home to their “dirt home” as Eddie calls it. It is always a pleasure to be in their company.

Dinner with MV Spiritus ( The boys are showing off their $100 napkins)

We enjoyed some good Southern food at the Main Street cafe, the desserts we amazing!!

We also met another looper, SV Midnight Star who is docked just behind us at the marina. We kept an eye on their boat for them while they were in Houston at a wedding. Unfortunately John and Mary were in a car accident on their way to the airport to fly back to Columbus. Both are sore and stiff from the collision caused by a young man who was texting and driving and not paying attention to the road. We wish them a speedy recovery.

Gary has become quite the event planner getting all the boaters together for docktails in the evening.

Dock tails not cock tails

Another good thing about being stuck and waiting for parts is that SV Teasa caught up with us as well. We have not seen our Brazilian friends since last year when they left their boat at Green Turtle and went home for the winter ( they have the same problem as us , which is that the US government only allows us to stay for 6 months at a time, we went to the Bahamas but they had to go all the way home to Brazil. It has taken them almost 4 years to do the Loop)

Daniel and Angela

SV Teasa ( it means little witch)

Columbus has a lovely  1.25 mile path you could walk all around the river. On Thursday 18 October they had a Grand Opening for the new old bridge....

Excellent Mississippi blues music

Art on display

Very , very good BBQ - seriously, VERY good!!

BBQ and Blues on the bridge T-shirts.

Our parts finally arrived and I left Gary to work on his repairs and went sightseeing with Angela. A nice gentleman we met by the name of Bill Roberts took us for a tour of his home town of which he is very proud. Bill is a retired travel agent who knows about everyone in Columbus. He flew as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam and was a national ski jumper (water). He has traveled the world including South Africa and has a wealth of knowledge and stories about his hometown. We suggested he write a book. It was wonderful to spend some time with him and we thank him very much for adding to our memories.

One of the many gorgeous Antebellum House in Columbus.  This one has a history of unlucky owners , except for the person who is currently living there.

The houses are decorate for Halloween

Itsie bitsie spider

Belle Bridge Mansion - 1956

The Pineapple, a sign of Southern hospitality

This house  was won by it's owner in a poker game!! It looks exactly the same from the front as it does from the back. The house consists of 4 square rooms with removable walls, when the walls are removed, the interior of the house becomes one big room just great for an old fashioned ball.

The building besides the main house was a cooking house. No one wanted the mansion to be hot or smelly from cooking so a separate building was in order. The owner later used it as a home for his children.

Errolton - 1848

Our sightseeing tour also included a trip to the Friendship Cemetery, situated on a bluff overlooking the Tombigbee River. Founded in 1849, it is also the final resting place for veterans of the American Revolution, War of 1812, Mexican, Spanish, Civil , Korean and Vietnam wars among the giant Magnolia trees.

Graves of unknown soldiers - Civil War

Civil war monument

A famous landmark in the Friendship Cemetery

We also visited the Mississippi University of Women, located in Columbus. It is also open to men and is considered one of the best education bargains in the country.

Every day we hear and see the Turbo prop trainers flying overhead from the nearby Columbus Air Force Base. Sometimes we even see T38 Talons flying over us here at the marina, apparently they use the nearby dam a point of reference to begin their down-wind leg.

Yes, it sucks being stuck at a marina waiting for parts but I am happy we are stuck here, Columbus is a wonderful city and the people are friendly and full of smiles. And like Bill Roberts ( our impromptu tour guide) they all seem very proud of their state and city.

Thank you Columbus for your hospitality.





.................to be continued.