Spirit of 76 at dawn in the anchoragePerfect Match heading out of the anchoragePerfect Match in Howell Heflin Lock
We saw a lot of wildlife today:
The White Cliffs of Epes, formed around the same time as England’s White Cliffs of Dover, are cliffs of sheer white chalk stretching for about a mile along the banks of the Tombigbee River. It was truly spectacular cruising past these stunning cliffs!
Perfect Match cruising past the White Cliffs of Epes
Once docked, we took a shuttle to town to have dinner at the Red Barn Restaurant with Herb and Sandy from Spirit of 76.
Red Barn Restaurant
The marina has a courtesy car which we were only able to reserve from 2:00-4:00 which was right in the middle of the Ohio State game so Ellen had to leave Kevin on the boat to finish watching Ohio State beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 54-10. Ellen stopped at the grocery store and made a whirlwind tour of Demopolis in the two hours that she had use of the car.
Gaineswood is a National Historic Landmark has been called one of the most unusual Greek Revival houses in America. While a complete tour of the home takes about two hours, Ellen asked if she could have an abbreviated 30 minute tour since she was the only person there at the time. The wonderful young tour guide obliged and did an excellent job of condensing the tour while still providing a lot of interesting information.
Gaineswood was built over an 18 year period (1843-1861) by owner and architect Nathan Bryan Whitfield and was completed on the eve of the Civil War. The home remains filled with the family’s original antebellum furnishings.
GaineswoodParlor – Whitfield’s portrait hangs above the mantle. The portrait of the young girl above the piano was painted by Whitfield and is of one of his daughters who died of yellow fever in 1842. The original family Bible is on the table. Whitfield designed the 1858 Barrel Organ seen in the right of the photo. The barrels, seen to the right of the mantle, are placed in the organ and tunes are pricked out with pins similar to a music box.Dining Room – the large Epergne Case on the left was designed by Whitfield to hold the beautiful silver Epergne (centerpiece) on the table. Spare rolls of the original wallpaper hung in this room were found in the house and hung during renovation.Lady’s Receiving Room – Whitfield and his first wife had 12 children (six of whom died young). The portrait above the mantle is Whitfield’s 13th child who was born in 1859 and the only child that Whitfield had with his second wife. The visitor’s main entrance is just off this room.Gentlemen’s Receiving Room – Whitfield family books and letters fill the beautiful secretary. The chair in front of the secretary was purchased by Whitfield’s maternal grandfather, Nathan Bryan, who served in the 4th and 5th U.S. Congress in Philadelphia from 1795 to 1798. This chair is one of six sent by him, along with a dining table, to Whitfield’s parents as a wedding present and is the oldest piece of furniture in the house.Drawing RoomWhitfield’s Bedroom during the 10 year period he was a widower from 1847 to 1857. The room served as a kind of “Command Central” allowing him to oversee the home. He could tell when he had guests in the Drawing Room, he could see the Main Door from his bed if the door was open, he knew when dinner was ready and he moved his daughters to the room directly overhead so that he would know where they were and what they were talking about! Whitfield purchased the bed (as well as the bed in the next photo) in the 1820’s. It was packed in a loom harness and placed on a wagon with him for the 721 mile journey over unpaved roads when he moved to Alabama.The Family Bedroom – a wedding present to his second wifeUpstairs bedroom for Whitfield’s five daughters. Three girls slept in the larger bed and two girls slept in the smaller bed!
Bluff Hall was built in 1832 and overlooks the Tombigbee River. Unfortunately, time would not allow for a tour of the inside of this home.
Bluff Hall
Trinity Episcopal Church was established in 1834 and the congregation met in homes until the first church building was completed in 1857. The original building was burned by Federal troops during their occupation of Demopolis after the Civil War. The present church building was built in 1870 and the bell tower was added in 1910.
Spirit of 76 had reserved the courtesy car from 6:00-8:00PM so we joined them for a ride to town and dinner at an Italian restaurant.
