Seniors Scout Out Columbus

Columbus, birthplace of America’s greatest playwright, Tennessee Williams, is the ultimate southern destination in Mississippi. Senior visitors will find over 650 grand historic homes in three National Register Historic Districts.  Columbus was presented as the winner of a “Great American Main Street Award” in 2010.

Columbus was founded in 1821. Before its incorporation, the town site was referred to informally as Possum Town, a name which was given by the local Native Americans. The name Possum Town remains the town’s nickname among locals.

Downtown Columbus offers gorgeous historic homes; treasure-filled antique and specialty shops; and superb southern cuisine.  The Columbus Air Force Base, located approximately 9 miles north of Columbus is a major employer and home of the 14th Flying Training Wing.

The first record of the site of Columbus in Western history is found in the annals of the explorer Hernando de Soto, who is reputed to have crossed the nearby Tombigbee River on his search for El Dorado.

Seniors Find Themselves On The Blues Trail

East of the Mississippi Blues Trail’s Delta region, Columbus tells its own story: one of hometown characters like Howlin’ Wolf amid a cast of traveling musicians, and of the vibrant districts and venues that hosted them.

Blues Trail markers and preserved architecture conjure the past; choose from African-American heritage sites, historic home tours and historic places. Properties range from the first home of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tennessee Williams and an 1843 cottage built by two free black men.

The Whitehall Mansion, the winter home of Henry Flagler, Standard Oil baron from the Gilded Age is a beautiful pillared mansion, built near the street, although the property extended over an entire city block. It includes gardens, stables and servants quarters. During the Civil War, it served as a hospital for Confederate soldiers.

 Seniors Join Spring Pilgrimage

Seniors, time your visit for a Columbus annual Spring Pilgrimage, a house and church tour with carriage rides. “Catfish in the Alley, a Sensational Saturday Fish Fry is a day of live blues and fried fish which nods to Columbus’ erstwhile Catfish Alley, an African-American district where fishermen came in and bluesmen played through.”

In its heyday, Catfish Alley was a vibrant, one-block-long row of businesses just off Main Street in downtown Columbus. A world within a world, the Alley was a gathering place for the area’s fishermen and farmers, merchants and residents, people from every walk of life.

The Chattahoochee RiverWalk is a 22-mile walking and biking area along the Chattahoochee River in Columbus. At my age…I think that biking would fit my body better than hiking that far. Then  stop by Family-style Jones Restaurant that has operated in the neighborhood for 50 years.

Wherever seniors go in Columbus, you’ll be sure to catch an earful of local tunes or regional artists giving their all. Seniors, set your GPS for Mississippi and experience Columbus, one of the outstanding small communities in the nation.  -jeb