In my last post, I mentioned how we were rocking and rolling on the boat. That turned out to be just the beginning of a very bad storm. Rich managed to fall asleep but every time I was almost asleep the boat would get slammed with an extra large wave that would make so much noise I would be wide awake again. About 11 I thought I heard a siren, so I got up, stuck my head out, and realized I was hearing a tornado siren. We had heard a forecast earlier that said there would be a possibility of tornadoes in the area overnight, so I had put passports, cash, jewelry, wallets, iPads, cell phones, and flashlights in a backpack in case we needed to get off the boat in a hurry. I woke Rich up, and we quickly got dressed, grabbed the backpack, and headed to the marina lounge building. The wind was really blowing and the rain was coming down almost horizontally – by the time we got to the lounge we were drenched, but in a safer place than the boat. There were about a dozen of us, plus 4 dogs, gathered there. The sirens continued for the next hour and a half. One of the people there was able to pick up some ongoing info about a tornado that had touched down in Tupelo, about 20 miles away. Fortunately for us, the tornado stayed on the other side of the Tenn-Tom. It was 1:30 a.m. by the time the wind and rain had died down enough to get back to the boat – and the rocking and rolling had finally stopped.

This marina had the most interesting variety of vehicles in the parking lot that we’ve seen thus far, including the red Honda sitting on blocks with all four tires removed.

The bottom floor of this building is where we stayed while the tornado siren was going off.

We awoke at 5:30 to find that the rain had stopped and there was no wind. We left at 7 and headed down on perfectly flat water. We started in a flotilla of 4 boats for the first lock, where we had to wait for 10-15 minutes while the lockmaster powered up all the equipment. It seems the storm had knocked out the power at the lock and the electric company had just restored the power. Another boat joined us at the second lock, where we had to wait for half an hour while a tow went through the lock. On to the third lock, where we got right in. And finally the fourth, and final, lock of the day, where we had to wait while it was filled. Oh how we love locks – not!

Water over the dam at the second lock. There was a lot of debris in the water for the first part of the day because of the heavy wind and rain the night before. The first lock was a long drop, but the rest had a much shorter drop. We could see the waterway on the other side of the gate. You can see how straight and narrow the waterway was here.

We arrived at Columbus Marina in Columbus MS just before 3. We got checked in and got a courtesy car to go into town to get dinner. There’s an Air Force base about 10 miles from here, as well as Mississippi University for Women (which is now coed), so there are lots of goods and services here that we weren’t expecting. We had a great dinner at a restaurant recommended by another looper, with plenty of leftovers for another dinner. We started the meal with broccoli bites, which according to the menu had won the best appetizer award from MS magazine. Rich declared that in spite of having broccoli in them, they were quite delicious (broccoli, cheese, bacon, onions, and jalapeños and deep-fried, of course – we’re in the land of deep-fried food!).

Sunset is just before 5 here, so by the time we got back from dinner it was bedtime dark. Since we had not been able to get much sleep the night before and we had spent 8 hours on the water, we were  exhausted and went to bed about the same time our grandchildren go to bed.

We woke up to a gray morning, looked at the forecast which is calling for more rain for the next couple of days, and decided to stay in Columbus until the weather clears up. The plan is to leave Saturday morning. It poured rain all morning, but finally let up just before noon, so we went up to the marina office to get the courtesy car. We went to enterprise car rental to see if we could get a rental car for a couple of days, but they had no cars available and didn’t know when any would be returned. They thought they might have some coming in later in the afternoon, but didn’t really know. Apparently nobody pays any attention to when they say they’ll bring the cars back. I thought it was a very strange way to run a business. I plan to call in the morning to see if any cars have come in. Unfortunately it’s the only car rental in Columbus. It seems there are at least 3 agencies at the regional airport, which is at least 20 minutes away.

While we had the courtesy car, we decided to go to the visitors’ center which is in the first home of Tennessee Williams. There was a lady there who gave us a tour and pointed out interesting things about the furnishings, as well as background on Williams. She also told us all about how the home had been moved to its current location in 1995 from its old location next to St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where it had been the rectory. It was put on two flatbed trucks, side by side, and moved in tandem over a gravel lot to its new spot 1 block away – that must have been quite a sight to see! There were some damaged floors, 25% of the plastered walls had to be replastered, and fireplaces restored, a new roof put on, and new foundation. It was quite an undertaking.

An interesting tidbit from the tour – Williams’ original name was Thomas Lanier Williams. When he was a student at the University of Iowa his friends nicknamed him Tennessee because of his southern accent. He liked the nickname and eventually had his name legally changed to Tennessee Williams.