Day #6 Kosciusko to French Camp- 23.09 miles

YOU CAN PICK UP YOUR OWN QUARTER

Spent the night at the Kosiusco Super 8. We determined that after 5 days on the road we needed to carb up and decided to eat lunch at the local Italian restaurant that our new friend Charles from the information center had recommended. Delicious. Then, as luck would have it Pizza Hut was right next door to our motel. Pizza for supper, oh and James wanted to try their boneless wings. Also delicious. After a quick breakfast this morning we were back on the road by 9:00am. Today started out much more humid than any of the previous and the sun was already starting to peek out through the clouds. Uh oh. Suzy doesn't like to sweat. Actually the heat just wilts me, but we only have 20 miles to reach our destination today and knew that we could pace ourselves and stop at the historic sites to rest. We saw Hurricane Creek, Cole Creek, Bethel Mission site, and the northern range of the Tupelo and cypress swamps. But the best historic site by far was our destination of French Camp.

Our first priority was lunch. Surprise! The Counsel House Cafe served up Big Willie BLT's claiming 10 pieces of bacon on each and a side of broccoli salad. Can't resist bacon. The menu claims their sandwiches are Nuttin' but Gooooood! They were. Charles said dessert of bread pudding was not to be missed. He was correct. Yum! Following lunch and since our cottage wasn't yet ready we took a walking tour of the area.

French Camp was a stand and was one of the most well known and documented stopping places on the Trace. Louis LeFleur, a Frenchman and hence the nickname French Camp, chose this site in the Choctaw Nation to establish his inn, trading post, tavern, livery and stable, and a dwelling house. Many of these buildings have been restored and capture the essence of that time. We also saw a pottery throwing demonstration, toured the museum and visited with the caretaker about the French Camp Academy, a Christian boarding school. By then our cottage was ready and we moved our things in.  We are staying in the Carriage House, a one bedroom with a sleeping loft.   It is named the Carriage House because on display in a glassed room is LeFleur's son's horse drawn carriage.  His son married the Indian Chief's daughter and became an Indian Chief  himself.  The carriage was used to travel to Washington DC to meet with Andrew Jackson to discuss Indian Treaties. Very cool.  Our cottage is very roomy, however the loft is accessible by climbing the steepest steps ever and we've been pedaling for 6 days now. Not appealing. Who's going to draw the black bean and climb those stairs to the loft. Ever democratic Charlotte pulls out a quarter and says let's flip for the downstairs bedroom. I toss the coin, she calls heads, and sunny beach, it's heads. I told her "you can pick up your own quarter." James and I moved upstairs. It's now supper time! Back over to the cafe for another sandwich and this time Mississippi Mud Pie. An appropriate dessert. All delicious.

Tomorrow morning comes our "Country Breakfast" which is obviously the Breakfast portion of our Bed and Breakfast. We are REALLY looking forward to that!  Surprise!

Posted by Suzy, Charlotte, Mitch and James.