(No Boat Travel)
We plan to leave Demopolis tomorrow, so today was spent making good use of the internet and prepping the boat for travel. The last 217 miles of the Tenn-Tom / Black Warrior Waterway are especially remote. We anticipate having limited to no cellphone service and internet until we reach Mobile, Alabama in about 4-days time. Clark has spent several hours over the last couple of days researching the waterway looking for a usable anchorage between here and the next "marina" called "Bobby's Fish Camp" almost 100 miles downriver. The anchorage choices are few and not super inviting.
Before departing we decided we would walk into town to see the historic sights of Demopolis. We walked the long dirt road from the marina out to Highway 43, and then walked the highway into downtown. The first sight we came to was a park associated with the Demopolis River Walk area.
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| Demopolis, Alabama founded by French and named the City of the People |
For an early Saturday afternoon, I found the streets surprisingly empty of traffic and people. We seemed to have the town almost to ourselves. We wandered around from one historical marker to another looking for points of interest. We found "Rooster Hall" during our wanderings. Rooster Hall was built in 1843 to be used as a church, used from 1868 until 1871 as a temporary County Court House , and in 1876 became the Demopolis Opera House and remained so until 1902.
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| Rooster Hall Demopolis, Alabama |
From there, we found our way to Confederate Park where we saw the "Our Confederate Dead" statue and the cast iron fountain in the town square park. Demopolis came into existence in 1817, and Confederate Park followed soon after in 1819.
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| "Our Confederate Dead" Memorial |
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| Town Square Cast Iron Fountain built 1895 |
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| Mural on Business Wall |
After our depressing tour of Main Street, we decided to head back to the boat via Commissioner's Avenue where we found an old Trinity Espiscopal Church dating back to 1834. As we crossed the street to read the historical marker, a woman driving a pickup truck stopped to tell us the church was unlocked and we could go in if we wanted to. I decided that I wanted to take a peak. This small church had many small stained glass windows that were amazing. Sadly it was so dark inside pictures were not viable. It was beautiful. Clark's assessment? It smelled "old".
From the church we walked a short distance down the street to Bluff Hall. This historic house museum was built in 1832 by the slaves of a lawyer / planter for his daughter and her husband as a townhouse. The family also owned several plantations outside of town. The house was built in the Federal Style and later altered to the Greek Revival Style in 1840 when a two-story portico was added. After numerous alterations through the years, the house was restored to its original state following the purchase of the property in 1967 by the County Historical Society.
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| Bluff House Historical House Museum |
We found that if we continued to walk down Commissioner's Avenue we would eventually intersect with the road back to the marina. As we walked along we came to the River Walk and followed that for a short distance along the waterfront and came back to the place where we entered town and saw the Demopolis sign at the edge of town.
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| Demopolis, Alabama River Walk |
After we got back to the boat, Clark decided that he would spend some time today cleaning it up a bit. Seems that the pressure of the boats on either side of us cleaning their hulls was more than he could take, and he caved in and pulled out the hose and brush. I, on the other hand, decided that the bed looked real inviting and took a nap. While Clark cleaned and I napped, the rain came - initially light and then quite heavy.
After a two-hour nap, I dragged myself out of bed to make dinner, watch some TV, and work on my blog entry. I really needed and enjoyed that nap!
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