Natchez, Mississippi, on the Mississippi River

Natchez, Mississippi celebrated their 300th birthday in 2016. The area is full of history and beautiful old houses. The Natchez Visitor Center has a lot of information, a 20-minute video and tickets to go places. I have separate blog posts for Forks of the Road and the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians.

                                  

For more pictures, please click here.

The things you see on a river walk

When we’re on the river walk in Natchez and Vidalia, every once in a while you see something a little “different”.

The usual daily barges.

The gazebo all set up for an evening wedding.

Christmas on the Bayou

Have you ever seen anyone walk a goat with a leash? As long as someone was in front of her, she would follow. Otherwise she would just eat the leaves on the ground. The lady ended up carrying her back to the vehicle.

A Bengal cat on a leash. The owner felt she was getting fat, so wanted her to get some exercise. But, the cat just wanted to go back to the vehicle.

One of the Mardi Gras parade floats.

And beautiful sunsets.

Have you seen “Love Locks”?

I don’t remember seeing these before, but in Natchez, MS on the River Front Trail bridge there are some padlocks, so I decided to look up what this means.



Per Wikipedia, a love lock or love padlock is a padlock which sweethearts lock to a bridge, fence, gate or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. Typically the sweethearts' names or initials are inscribed on the padlock, and its key is thrown away to symbolize unbreakable love. The history dates back at least 100 years to Serbia. 

In the rest of Europe, love padlocks started appearing in the early 2000s. However, in Rome the ritual of affixing love padlocks to the bridge Ponte Milvio can be attributed to the 2006 book “I Want You” by Italian author Frederico Moccia who made a film adaptation in 2007. In several countries, the local authorities and owners of various landmarks have expressed concern and tried to have the padlocks removed. In Paris, on May 9, 2014, the weight of the padlocks on the Pont Des Arts bridge was blamed for the collapse of the part of the parapet (barrier).

padlocks on the Pont Des Arts bridge

Information and Paris picture from Wikipedia

Have you see love locks before?